Furnace filters protect the intricate mechanisms of your HVAC system from getting dirty while also removing particles from indoor air. Manufacturers will use different materials to make them, including spun fibreglass, polyester, and cotton. The material often determines the rating of the filter, telling you how effective it will be! How Furnace Filter Ratings Work Every furnace filter has a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values (MERV) rating. This is a scale from 1 to 20, and the higher the number, the better the furnace filter will be at removing particles from the air.Manufacturers will include the MERV rating on the packaging, and the homeowner has to make sure to check it before purchasing the filter. Avoid options that rate higher than your HVAC system’s recommended MERV rating. They will force your furnace to work much harder than it should!  Now that you know what the MERV rating is, let’s examine the different materials used to make filters.  Fibreglass Fibregla...

Five HVAC Trends To Watch For In 2020 Heating and cooling systems have made huge advancements in the last decade, but where will they be in 2020 and further into the future? It’s good for both contractors and homeowners to be aware of where the industry is heading because they can adapt their services and homes to the changes.   Even Smarter Thermostats A growing number of household goods are enabled with WiFi, making them “smart appliances”: televisions, refrigerators, blenders… and thermostats. It’s called the Internet of Things, and it helps these appliances provide more services and adapt efficiently to changing patterns. Smart thermostats are great for saving energy, and while the addition of WiFi happened some time ago, they are going to be able to connect to the rest of the appliances in the home. T his is because many people are moving their homes towards smart integration, meaning a system that connects everything. Alexa and Google Home run everything with a simple co...

If your heating and cooling just isn’t turning on, a good place to start troubleshooting is with the batteries. Batteries are important for the thermostat, especially newer “smart” models, because when they go out, the thermostat might not be able to gauge what the temperature is, so it can’t send signals to the HVAC system. This prevents it from kicking the system into gear when your home gets either too hot or too cold  Batteries are even necessary for thermostats hooked up to the electrical, because they help to keep thermostat settings in place when the power goes out. When the settings are lost in an outage, the thermostat will probably need to be reprogrammed. So how do you know when the batteries need changing? How Do I Know If My Batteries Are Low Or Dead? The most obvious sign that you need to change your thermostat batteries is when the thermostat literally tells you the batteries are about to die! Most programmable models will now flash a low battery warning, usually...

Many HVAC issues, regardless of whether you’re using the heating or air conditioning, start with clogged air filters. When too much dust and debris gets sucked into your system and accumulates in the filter, it can severely restrict the system’s ability to force air through it, meaning your system has to work a lot harder to achieve the same results.    This often means it takes more energy for your system to do its basic cooling job when the temperatures start soaring. Changing your furnace filter in the summer can prevent overworking, and many other problems, too.  How Your HVAC Works The most common heating and air conditioning system is called the forced-air system. This uses a heat exchanger to heat or cool incoming air (it does both, don’t be put off by the name) before the air handler forces it out with a fan through your entire home via the supply system of ducts that snake their way through your home. As the cooled air flows throughout your home, the fan o...