CJS Heating and AC Repair

How to Save on Energy Bills this Winter

When the snow starts falling and the wind starts howling, your energy bills start increasing. You want to be comfortable, but you don’t want to pay more than necessary for home heating. Follow these tips to keep your energy bills down and your spirits up this winter.  Turn Down the Temperature  Dress for the season and lower the thermostat. Every degree you do saves you 5 percent on your heating costs. Save another 10 percent by setting the temperature back 10 to 15 degrees while you’re at work all day. Prevent this from becoming a comfort issue by installing a programmable thermostat with automatic recovery periods based on your schedule.  Weatherproof the House  To keep heated air inside, you must seal and insulate your home. Here’s how: 

  • Use caulk and weatherstripping to seal leaky windows and doors. 
  • Install clear plastic film on windows and sliding glass doors. 
  • Seal attic floor penetrations with expanding spray foam. 
  • Add more insulation to the attic. 
  • Seal and insulate the ductwork. 
  • Keep the fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning. 
Change the Furnace Filter  A dirty air filter restricts airflow and makes your furnace work harder than necessary. Check the filter once a month and change it when it appears dirty. This task also improves indoor air quality to help you breathe easier this winter.  Use Solar Heating to Your Advantage  On sunny days, throw the curtains wide open to allow the sun to heat your home for free. Remember to close the drapes again at night to insulate the windows.  Run Space Heaters Wisely  Why heat your whole house when everyone is in the family room? Consider using space heaters in the living area during the day and moving them to the bedrooms at night. This form of zoning allows you to turn the thermostat down for energy savings without feeling uncomfortable.  Put the Ceiling Fans in Reverse  Hot air rises, but you can bring it back down to ground level by running the ceiling fan on low in reverse. This is especially effective if you have vaulted ceilings that allow heated air to rise way above your head.  Inspect Your Air Registers  To ensure heated air gets where it needs to go, check that all return and supply registers are unblocked by furniture, rugs or curtains. During your inspection, check to see if dust and cobwebs are obstructing airflow. If so, vacuum the grilles with the brush attachment.  Tune Up Your Furnace  A well-maintained car gets better gas mileage, and the same goes for your furnace. A tune-up addresses leaky air ducts, mechanical failings, intake blockages and other problems that could force your furnace to work harder than necessary. Preventative furnace maintenance every fall keeps your heating system running at maximum efficiency.  If you’re looking for more home heating tips, or you want to schedule furnace maintenance to help you save on energy bills this winter, please contact CJS Heating and Air in Columbus, OH.]]>

Get Your Heating System Ready for Winter

Winters here in Ohio can be downright bitter. You want your heating system to be prepared when the first freeze hits! Here’s what it takes to get your heating system ready for winter.  Schedule Professional Heating Maintenance  Many homeowners make the mistake of ignoring their furnace until something goes wrong. However, by scheduling heating maintenance at the beginning of winter, you can: 

  • Avoid emergency repairs 
  • Extend the life of your heating system 
  • Reduce energy bills 
  • Improve indoor air quality 
  • Boost home comfort 
Heating maintenance includes cleaning various components, checking safety controls, measuring carbon monoxide levels, lubricating moving parts, making minor repairs and adjustments, and much more. There’s no better way to get your heating system ready for winter.  To maximize the benefits of annual heating maintenance, consider signing up for a CJS YES Club membership. In addition to yearly furnace and air conditioner inspections, you enjoy discounts, priority service, and a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.  Make Other Preparations  After the visit from your heating technician, take these additional steps to prepare for the upcoming winter season: 
  • Replace the furnace filter. This is a task your heating technician should take care of during routine maintenance, but remember to change the air filter once every one to three months throughout the winter or as directed by the manufacturer. 
  • Tidy up around the furnace. If you stored anything near or leaning against the furnace during the summer, move it to a different location now. Keeping combustible objects away from the heating equipment prevents creating a fire hazard. 
  • Switch the thermostat to heating mode. When the furnace kicks on for the first time, pay attention to the way it operates. There might be a slight musty or stale odor at first, but once the furnace has run for a few minutes, everything should sound and smell normal. 
  • Upgrade to a programmable thermostat if you don’t already have one. This helps to lower costs and reduce energy waste by only heating the house when people are home. 
  • Clean the air registers. Ensure heated air flows smoothly by vacuuming dust and cobwebs from return and supply registers. If it’s been a while since you had air duct cleaning performed, consider scheduling this service before winter gets underway. 
  • Install a whole-house humidifier if you don’t already have one. This reduces static electricity buildup, makes your home more comfortable and reduces heating bills. If you already have a humidifier, clean it and change the evaporator pad to get it ready for another winter. 
  • Test your carbon monoxide detectors. The risk of CO poisoning increases in the winter when you close up your home tightly and rely more on combustion appliances, including your gas furnace and water heater. Testing your carbon monoxide detectors once a month gives you peace of mind that they’re working correctly. 
To schedule heating maintenance or other furnace services in Columbus, OH, please contact CJS Heating and Air.]]>

5 Common Sense Reasons To Get Furnace Maintenance Before You Need It

You’ve felt those chilly mornings. So has your thermostat. Chilly mornings will soon become frosty nights. Before you put your furnace to the test, a little preventative maintenance can save you a lot of expensive headaches—as well as chilly days and nights.

Why get Furnace Maintenance Before You Need It?

Dayton indoor air qualityHere are five common sense reasons to schedule a CJS Furnace Safety Check and Tuneup.

1.    ‘Tis the Season

Because your furnace has the summer off, dust and residue may have built up inside. It’s time to get it cleaned out properly and ready to roll for the winter. Our clean, screened, trained and timely CJS Techs will clean out the system and take apart key components to inspect them for damage. They’ll also change your furnace filter and re-ignite your pilot light if you shut it off over the summer.

2.    Temperatures are Dropping

It’s not going to be long before the thermometer starts living in single digits making a functioning furnace more than an issue for comfort in your home, but safety as well. The time is now to identify any potential problems with your system when you’ve got control over your schedule and when the weather is pleasant enough. You don’t want to have a disaster strike in the middle of the night in January.

3.    Carbon Monoxide

You do everything you can to keep your family safe, right? In that case, you definitely need to schedule a furnace tune-up on your to-do list. Carbon monoxide is tasteless and odorless, which makes it hard to detect. To protect against deadly carbon monoxide poisoning, have a detector installed. Also have routine furnace inspections, where your CJS tech cleans your system and looks for leaks where carbon monoxide can escape into your home.

4.    Cost Efficiency

Would you rather pay a little to fix a small problem or a lot to fix a big problem? It’s a no-brainer. However, without one of our clean, screened, trained and timely CJS techs to do the work, you won’t be able to uncover potential problems until they become more expensive to fix.

5.    Improve Air Quality

Getting your furnace serviced means that it is running clean and smooth. This translates into improved air quality for your family. Furnace maintenance is particularly important if you or one of your family members has asthma or allergies, or if you have a pet releasing dander in the air.

Why wait till your house is an icebox?

Scheduling your CJS Furnace Safety Check and Tuneup today will give you peace of mind, knowing you’ll be warm and cozy during the season ahead. Give CJS Heating & Air, in Dayton, OH at (937) 488-4758 to get scheduled.

Tips to Lower Your Heating Bill This Winter

Lower Your Heating Bill This WinterWhen the snow is falling and the temperatures drop below freezing, all you can think about is cranking up the heat and staying nice and warm inside your home. While this may be good for your soul, your bank account may not agree – especially when the monthly energy bill arrives! However, there are several easy ways to save money on your energy bills if you plan ahead. Take a look at these simple tips to keep your costs down and your spirits up this winter.

Wear warm clothing and drop the interior temperature

For every degree you drop your thermostat in the 60° to 70° range, you can save up to 5% on your heating costs. For additional savings, crank the thermostat down to 55° when you’re asleep or away from home for an extended period of time.

Install a programmable thermostat

Remembering to turn the heat down every time you leave the house or go to sleep is no easy task, so make your life a whole lot easier – and reduce your heating usage by 10% to 12% – by installing a programmable thermostat. These hassle-free devices automatically adjust room temperatures to follow your usage patterns and preferences, heating your home only when you are there and awake to enjoy it.

Get your furnace inspected

Air duct leaks, intake blockages, mechanical failings, and dirty filters force your furnace to work overtime to produce the desired amount of heat. A pre-season inspection and tune-up is a great way to optimize your heating system and reduce energy consumption.

LED light bulbs

Residential LED light bulbs use 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent lighting, so switching out your conventional bulbs can lead to significant savings.

Replace worn weatherstripping

Those little chills you feel when you walk through your home are often caused by worn and torn weatherstripping. In fact, 7% to 10% of a home’s heat is lost through windows and doors! By replacing your weatherstripping, you are actually keeping more warm air inside, so your heating system does not have to work as hard to maintain your ideal temperature.

Seal air leaks in ductwork

Leaks, holes, or poor connections in ducts are responsible for losing 20% to 30% of forced-air heating. By properly sealing your ducts, more warm air will get where it needs to go and you won’t have to keep upping the thermostat to stay warm.

Capture the warmth of the sun

Want free heat? Just open the curtains! Sunlight streaming through south-facing windows during winter days is a great way to bring warmth into your home without spending a dime. Just remember to close the curtains when the sun goes down to keep all of that warmth inside. If you are interested in finding out more useful tips and tricks for lowering your winter energy costs, then contact the knowledgeable and experienced team at CJS Heating and Air. CJS means YES to keeping your home at the ideal temperature all year round, so you can count on us to provide you with fast, easy, and affordable solutions for all of your heating and cooling needs. Find out more useful tips and tricks for lowering winter energy costs by calling (614) 388-9241!]]>

The Different Types of Furnaces

Choose Right FurnaceThere’s nothing worse than your furnace going out during the biggest cold spell of the year. Fortunately, you have a variety of options to choose from when it comes to furnace replacements, the most common of which are oil, gas, and electric. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, so take a look at this comparison provided by the clean, screened, trained and timely technicians at CJS Heating and Air to determine which furnace may be right for you.

Oil furnaces

Oil furnaces offer reliable heat from clean-burning fuel. The oil is first pumped into the furnace from a storage tank where it is turned into a mist, sprayed out through the blast tube, and ignited with a spark. The fine droplets mix with the air and produce an efficient and powerful flame, which heats a heat exchanger. The combusted gases then exit the oil burner through a chimney. Pros
  • Average lifespan: 30 years.
  • You own the fuel supply.
  • You choose when to buy oil.
  • More efficient than electric furnaces.
  • No equipment or monthly charges.
Cons
  • An on-site storage tank is necessary to store fuel.
  • Maintenance requirements of the oil tank and fuel system are more demanding than gas.
  • Requires more maintenance than a gas or electric furnace.
  • Having oil around the property brings with it a hint of oil smell especially during refill periods.
  • It’s more expensive to maintain than a gas or electric furnace
  • Fewer technicians understand Oil than those technicians who understand gas or electric.
 

Gas furnaces

The burner in a gas furnace responds to the controls of the thermostat by switching on automatically. The natural gas is delivered to the home via underground pipes and is regulated by a gas meter. When the burner is on, the furnace blower brings in cool air from a particular portion of the house and pushes it through the heat exchanger. Air warmed by the burner is then pushed in the direction of the living area via air ducts. When the desired temperature is reached, the burner switches off. Pros
  • Gas is less expensive than fuel oil and electricity.
  • More efficient and effective at heating than electric furnaces.
  • Gas burns cleanly.
  • Low furnace maintenance requirements.
  • Easy to install.
  • Requires only a single gas line and a vent pipe to the roof.
Cons
  • Average lifespan: 15 years.
  • Higher upfront cost to install than an electric furnace.
  • Can be noisier than an electric furnace, especially if not well maintained.
  • Complicated to install and maintain compared to an electric furnace.
  • Installation is dependent on available gas infrastructure.
  • Poses the biggest safety threat with the possibility of carbon monoxide escaping or combustion issues causing a risk of explosion.
 

Electric furnaces

When the thermostat sends an electric signal to relays inside the furnace, those relays apply voltage to the heating elements, which are similar in appearance to heating elements in toasters and hot plates. These tightly wound coils of resistive wire build up heat as the electricity encounters resistance. Then, forced-air blowers automatically disperse the hot air through the furnace cabinet and into the living areas. Pros
  • Average lifespan: 20 to 30 years.
  • Lowest upfront cost.
  • Convenient, quiet, and easy to install.
  • Small and manageable in size.
  • Automatic breakers keep the furnace from overloading.
  • Simple and inexpensive maintenance.
Cons
  • Electric furnaces tend to have higher running costs.
  • Least environmentally-friendly option.
  • Less energy- efficient than oil and gas.
  To find out more information, contact the furnace experts at CJS Heating and Air:  (614) 388-9241!]]>