A hammer against a wooden board with multiple bent nails.

Why DIY HVAC Repair is a Bad Idea

by wfcadmin

With the internet, it’s easier than ever for the DIY enthusiast to learn about the intricacies of the equipment that he uses every day. And most of the time, that’s a great thing. People should want to know how the things around them work. It’s exciting, and it helps you appreciate what you have more.

But HVAC systems should under no circumstances be worked on by anybody other than a licensed professional. Here’s why:

You’ll Probably Break Something

There’s a reason that most states legally require HVAC technicians to go through special training and certification programs: HVAC systems are complicated. Your air conditioner is a complex contraption of gears, chemicals, parts, and electricity. For the unit to work properly as a whole, each piece has to function correctly. If you don’t know how all the components work together, it’s easy to mess something up without realizing it.

And since the whole point of a DIY fix is to save money on some sort of repair, it seems counter-intuitive to us to pursue a DIY repair that’s more likely to fail than anything. And believe us: you’ll spend more to get a botched repair fixed than if you had just called a specialist in the first place.

It’s Dangerous

HVAC certifications aren’t just for show—they exist to protect the technicians and the people whose HVAC systems get worked on.

Air conditioners use various gasses as refrigerants, and furnaces typically burn either oil or natural gas. The coolants in air conditioners and natural gas in furnaces are both oxygen displacers, which means that in a small space, they’ll take the place of oxygen. This means if you get enough of either gas in your lungs, oxygen won’t be able to force it out, leading to loss of consciousness and even death. Not to mention, natural gas is explosive.

Even if you spring a link that doesn’t hurt you, it’ll still mean that your air conditioner won’t do any cooling, which, again, defeats the whole purpose of repairing it yourself in the first place.

Also, many air conditioners are high voltage. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since air conditioners are one of the highest-energy-using appliances there are. With this high voltage comes a very real risk of electrocution if you don’t know what you are doing. So leave it to the pros.

You’re Likely to Void the Warranty

If you aren’t concerned about your health, maybe this will sway you: by forgoing professional HVAC maintenance, you’re also forgoing your manufacturer’s warranty. If you have an owner’s manual for a Trane air conditioner or heating unit, you’ll notice this bit of text:

“The Products must be properly installed, operated, and maintained by a licensed HVAC service provider in accordance with the Product specifications or installation, operation, and maintenance instructions provided by Company with each Product. Failure to conform to such specifications and/or instructions shall void this limited warranty. Company may request written documentation showing the proper preventative maintenance.”

In other words, your HVAC unit’s warranty isn’t valid unless it was properly installed and maintained by a certified professional—and it’s on you to prove that.

A warranty is a company’s way of saying that they believe in their products. By offering a warranty, they’re telling you that their equipment is guaranteed to last a certain amount of time, and if it doesn’t, they’ll replace the part at no charge to you. But no HVAC unit can run for long without (proper) maintenance, just like your car couldn’t go 200,000 miles without an oil change. So hire an HVAC company for maintenance and spare your wallet the trouble.

By the way, Steve’s Heating has great warranties on both parts and labor.

Let Steve’s Heating & Cooling Handle Your Maintenance Needs

If it’s time that your furnace or air conditioner was maintained, get in touch with us. We’ve been serving Florence, KY for over 30 years and pride ourselves on making the community a better place.

If you’re a member of our comfort club, you’ll get a yearly or bi-annual tuneup and professional cleaning. Not to mention a 10% discount on all repairs and no overtime charges! If you’re interested in becoming a comfort club member, give us a call today at 859-795-2172.

A close up of a calendar.

Why You Should Upgrade Your HVAC System Every 15 Years (Even if it Still Works)

by wfcadmin

When you think about your HVAC system, do you only think about how cool (or toasty) it keeps you when you need it? Or do you also think about its declining health, inevitable death, and the effect it has on the environment? The average HVAC system lasts anywhere between 10–30 years, and that depends on many things: the climate you live in, how cool you like it in the summers (68º and 72º are farther apart than you’d think), how well your system has been maintained, and so much more.

The standard is to replace your central air conditioner or furnace whenever one of them dies. And it’s no wonder: buying and installing a new furnace or air conditioner is extremely expensive.

But there’s another option: replace your whole system every 15 or so years. In today’s article, we’ll talk more about why that’s not as crazy of an idea as it sounds.

Note that we’re going to focus on air conditioners in this article, but the same information applies to furnaces. We are also only going to talk about central, ducted HVAC systems.

A Note on A/C Efficiency Over Time

Efficiency is probably the number-one factor you should consider when looking at air conditioners. High-efficiency air conditioners will do a great job of cooling while remaining affordable to run. Low-efficiency units, on the other hand, don’t make use of some of the energy that’s used to power them, effectively wasting it.

The efficiency of an A/C unit is measured by its SEER rating, which stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. To put it simply, SEER is a ratio of how much a unit cools over a year divided by how much energy it takes to power that cooling. The higher the SEER ratio, the more efficient the unit.

There are both federally and EPA-mandated SEER minimums. The federal minimums must be met by manufacturers. The EPA minimums are not required, but qualifying machinery receives an Energy Star certification, which marks it as roughly 25% more efficient than the current federal minimum.

According to Wikipedia, the federal SEER minimum in 1992 was 10. In 2016, the minimum rose to 13. It rose again to 14 in 2015. It is this gradual growth in minimum that’s the basis for our article today.

You’ll Save a Lot of Money

There is a considerable opportunity to save money by upgrading to an air conditioner with a higher SEER rating. If, in 2006 when the federal SEER minimum rose to 13, you upgraded your 10-SEER unit to a 13-SEER one, you would have saved a lot of money over the course of 15 years. That’s using data from Lexington, KY, where electricity costs $0.1028 kw/h on average, and where air conditioners only run about 1080 hours a year. The more you run your HVAC system, the more you save.

Air conditioners are getting more efficient fast, and if you make a significant upgrade, say, from a 10-SEER unit to the Trane XV18 Variable Speed unit that’s featured on our website (which has a SEER rating of 18), you would save around over half of the cost of the average A/C installation!

But if you went even further and upgraded to a 22-SEER unit like the SV20i TruComfort™ Variable Speed, you would save even more over 15 years.

There are also rebates available for installing energy-efficient HVAC systems, saving you even more money.

When you consider that new advances are constantly made in the HVAC world, it makes sense why you’d consider upgrading every 15 years. But that’s not the only reason.

You’ll Avoid Emergency Replacement

One of the best things you get from upgrading your HVAC system on a schedule is peace of mind. Though it’s possible your A/C unit will die after 10-15 years, with proper maintenance it will almost certainly make it to 15. After that, though, it will be at constant risk of failing, even with regular maintenance and upkeep. By not waiting until it breaks, you’ll get to replace it on your own time. You won’t have to pay a premium for emergency service, and you won’t have to sit in a sweltering house while you sort out the details. It’s much easier to arrange a stay at grandma’s when you can give a few days of notice.

You’ll Help the Environment

If you care at all about the environment, you should look into a high-SEER air conditioning unit. Not only does a good SEER rating save you money, it also cuts way back on your carbon footprint.

Put simply, the less electricity you use to cool your home, the less energy power plants have to generate to cool your home, and the less pollution is created.

Call Steve’s Heating for Your Next High-SEER Installation

If you’re in the market for a higher-SEER air conditioner, give Steve’s Heating a call. Our experts will work with you to find an HVAC system that’s perfect for your home and family.

Electric Bill Savings Guide

by wfcadmin

Save on your electric bills by taking action with these 14 tips:

  1. Examine and clean your ventilation system or have an HVAC expert do it for you. The more dust that has collected in the vents, the more you’re going to pay to heat and cool your home or apartment. It takes longer to push air through clogged vents.
  2.  Invest in energy-efficient devices. A few examples include smaller devices that don’t use as much power, energy-saving light bulbs, and Energy Star certified appliances and machines.
  3.  Don’t use ceiling floodlights. Replace these with the energy-saving light bulbs.
  4.  Change your energy supplier to a fixed rate supplier. After finding out the rate that your provider offers, check competitors’ prices in the area. Take note that a provider can be different from a supplier.
  5.  Switch off and unplug everything when they’re not in use. Meaning, appliances and fixtures that are plugged in still use power even if they’re turned off.
  6.  Move big energy consuming devices away from direct sunlight and into the cold. For example, cooling devices (such as the air conditioner) need to be placed away from heating devices, and vice versa.
  7.  Keep the door to refrigerators, freezers, etc. closed when not using them.
  8.  Keep cooling and heating devices at least two inches away from the wall so air can circulate properly.
  9.  Increase the inside temperature of freezers and refrigerators.
  10.  Check the sealing gasket or have an expert do it for you. If damaged, it will need to be replaced. It’ll save on energy consumption in the long run.
  11.  Defrost the freezer if there’s ice along the edges.
  12.  Replace old appliances.
  13.  Dry clothes on a clothesline instead of a dryer.
  14.  Put your PC on energy-saving mode.

Some other tips include being smart about how much energy you’re using. If you’re comfortable with the current temperature, turn the heat or air conditioning off.

Steve’s Heating and Cooling is here for you! Give us a Call or Fill Out a Form today to setup an HVAC appointment.

What to do with Your A/C when You’re On Vacation

by wfcadmin

Air conditioning is one of those inventions that are so wonderful we couldn’t imagine life without them. Before air conditioning, people did all sorts of wacky stuff to stay cool. In fact, air conditioning completely changed the way that houses and buildings were built! A/C tends to fall into the “out of sight, out of mind” category, but when vacation time hits, many people start to wonder what they should do with their air conditioners while they’re gone. Do you turn them all the way off? Do you just turn them down? This all depends on the kind of air conditioner you have, and your thermostat. We’ll cover everything so you know exactly what to do with your air conditioner while you’re vacationing.

Keep your A/C on during vacation

In short, no, you shouldn’t turn off your air conditioner when you’re on vacation. There are many reasons for this, and we will go over them all in this article. But for a quick summary, you should set your air conditioner either 6º above what you usually have it at, or no higher than 86º, or 80º if you have a pet. Let’s go over why that is:

Your air conditioner keeps your house dehumidified

When air conditioners were invented back in 1902, their purpose was to keep the humidity low at a New York paper plant. The cooling was just a side effect. The amount of water that air can hold is directly related to its temperature. The warmer the air, the more water it can suck up. In short, a hot house is a humid house, too.

Of course, humidity is uncomfortable, but that doesn’t matter while you’re away. But as awful as humidity is for us, it’s even worse for your house. Humidity causes your paint or wallpaper to peel; your window frames, floorboards, and door frames to warp; and in the worst cases it can cause mold, algae, and other nasties to start growing on your wall. Keeping your air conditioner on during vacation will prevent these things from happening.

However, your air conditioner uses a lot of energy to keep you cool

Everybody knows that it’s expensive to run their air conditioner, but few people know just how expensive. Of course, the actual price of your air conditioner depends on your specific unit, the size of your home, the cost of your energy, and your climate, but all across America, air conditioners are the biggest energy suckers of them all. Air conditioners can cost as much as $2 per hour to run! That’s a lot of money wasted if you’re on vacation.

Your air conditioner uses about 5% more energy for every degree cooler it makes your home. The opposite is true as well: for every degree you raise your air conditioner, it uses 5% less energy. So, it makes perfect sense why people would assume it’s best to just turn off their air conditioners while they’re gone. However, there are a few reasons why that isn’t the case:

Your fridge has to work harder

The hotter your house is, the harder your fridge has to work. While this does cause your energy bill to rise slightly, it isn’t likely to break the bank. The real kicker is that those weeks of extra-hard work will shear a good chunk off your fridge’s lifespan. Since a new fridge is a multi-thousand dollar purchase, you probably don’t want to rush it into the grave.

Your savings get lost in the extra cooling your air conditioner has to do when you get home

A lot of the energy you save by turning off the air conditioner during vacation will be eaten back up when your air conditioner has to bring the temperature all the way down to where you usually have it set.

Your air conditioner might not be running at peak efficiency

We’re not talking about SEER or Energy Star ratings here, we’re talking about the loss in efficiency that every air conditioner experiences the longer it goes without maintenance. We find that vacation is a time that gets people thinking about how exactly their air conditioners interact with their energy bills, and that it is one of the best times to talk about maintenance.

Regular maintenance is the single most important factor in a long life and continued efficiency for your air conditioner, but it’s something many people skip. Avoiding maintenance is never a good idea, because for every year your air conditioner isn’t maintained, it has to work harder to achieve the same level of cooling. This amounts to a 5% increase in its energy usage every year, and those costs add up.

Also, many air conditioner manufacturers specify that their warranties are only valid if regular maintenance has been performed on the unit by a trained professional. So, if your air conditioner breaks down within the warranty period but you haven’t had it serviced, you’re out of luck.

The HVAC Company for all your vacation needs

At Steve’s Heating and Cooling, we know how important your air conditioning is. We hope these tips gave you a better idea of how your air conditioner works and how best to take care of it. If you’re worried about how your air conditioner is performing, or if you want to get everything in tip-top shape before vacation, give us a call or request a free quote today.

HVAC Replacement

by wfcadmin

Why Replace a Furnace Sooner Rather Than Later?

When a family comes into a bit of extra money, they may decide to take a trip or buy a new car. They rarely jump right to, “Let’s replace the furnace.” However, there are several reasons why HVAC replacement may be a necessity, including:

  • Impending cold weather – many homes in sub-freezing climes depend on the furnace to keep pipes from freezing and bursting. Furnace replacement can lessen the possibility of much more expensive repairs.
  • Keeping utility bills under control – older furnaces tend to be less efficient.
  • Keeping HVAC operation safe – older or faulty units can pose a hazard to the family.

Warning Signs

Many families wait until their furnaces fail before taking action. However, a better strategy for reducing repair costs and keeping the HVAC system in tip-top shape is to watch for furnace warning signs.  These include:

  • The age of the furnace – units have an average life expectancy of 16 to 20 years. If your unit is long in the tooth, consider an inspection.
  • Rising gas or electric bills – aging units operate less efficiently than new or well-maintained units. This means that they run longer to heat the homes to the desired temperature. The high costs of utilities can quickly approach the replacement costs for a new unit.
  • Frequent repairs – like a car, a furnace will need more frequent repairs as time goes on. If the interval between repairs reaches the two year mark, replacement may be a good option.
  • The burner flame changes from a healthy blue to a sickly yellow – a yellow or flickering flame is an indication of poisonous carbon monoxide. Homeowners should take immediate action.
  • Furnace making strange noises – an older unit tends to make popping, rattling, banging, or squealing noises. Before you call the Ghost Hunters, let us inspect your unit.

Before these signs appear, consider setting up a program of annual inspections, in order to maintain your unit properly.

Let Us Take Care of You

Our experts at Steve’s Heating & Cooling are well-qualified to inspect, and if necessary, perform your HVAC replacement. Contact Us today for more information.

Why You Should Be Proactive With Your HVAC System

by wfcadmin

It has been another hot summer in Cincinnati. The last thing you want is your air conditioning system dying out on you. Unfortunately, if you haven’t run your AC or HVAC unit since last winter, you stand a serious risk of it malfunctioning. And while we are always happy to come out and perform emergency maintenance on your unit, you would be much happier to avoid the problem in the first place! Here are just a few of the problems you can avoid by regularly maintaining your heating and cooling system throughout the year.

Inadequate Performance

First and foremost, your air conditioner exists to provide you with comfort. It should provide you with a cool, steady flow of air exactly when you want it and especially when you need it. Far too often, though, we fall into the mindset that air conditioning is a luxury, leading us to put off maintenance because the current quality of air is “good enough”. And while, at times, cool air is indeed a luxury, it’s never a benefit of owning an AC unit. You wouldn’t settle for a car that couldn’t provide transportation, so why would you settle for a cooling system with inadequate performance? An improper refrigerant charge, or the amount of refrigerant in the system, is one of the most common reasons why units fail to perform. While in some cases, too much refrigerant is to blame, the majority of problems are caused by a system having too little. This often occurs when the system has developed a leak. If this is the case, simply adding more refrigerant is not going to resolve the problem. Instead, a qualified AC or HVAC technician can identify the location of the leak, fix it, test the repair, and then charge the system with the correct amount of refrigerant. Doing so will ensure that your system has what its need to do its job.

Electric Control Failure

Compressor and fan controls wear out with use. Electrical wires also start to corrode over time. All of this, of course, means that an electrical malfunction is inevitable. This is why electrical connections and contacts need to be checked routinely by a professional. If serious damage has occurred, only a trained technician should handle the repairs.

Drainage Problems

An air conditioner’s drain line, or condensate line, helps remove condensation produced by an AC unit’s evaporator coil. Humidity can cause algae and mold to grow inside the drain and clog the system. When this happens, musty odors and water damage inside the home may occur. Cleaning is the condensate pan and drain line is a regular part of AC maintenance. In fact, the earlier a clog or blockage is treated, the less algae and mold you, your family, and—of course—your system has to deal with.

Receive AC or HVAC Maintenance from Steve’s Heating

All of this, of course, is why we recommend regular AC and HVAC maintenance. At Steve’s Heating and Cooling, we are proud to offer a professional HVAC maintenance plan. It’s not only a proactive way of maintaining the comfort in your home, but it will also help reduce allergens, dirt, and dust. Contact us at Steve’s Heating and Cooling to prevent problems, repair your units, or replace your systems altogether. Start enjoying cool air this summer with services your neighbors recommend!

Nest thermostat on a grey wall

5 Ways A Nest Thermostat Could Save You Money

by wfcadmin

Maybe you saw it at your doctor’s office, or the first time you walked into your friend’s newly renovated home. Maybe you saw a story about it on the news, or it was in the background of a photo you saved to your “Home Inspiration” board in Pinterest. We’ve all seen one: that small, circular surface with the brightly lit interface that always seems to pop up in trendy spaces. What is it?
It’s a Nest brand thermostat, or more specifically, the Nest Learning Thermostat. The “learning” feature is perhaps the most innovative; the thermostat learns what temperature you like and builds a schedule around it. Something so high-tech has to be completely out of budget for the average homeowner, right? Wrong! A Nest Thermostat can actually save you money—here’s how.

1. Never forget to adjust the temperature again

After using the Nest Thermometer for a week, it will remember your heating preferences. Do you turn the heat down when you leave for work in the morning, or adjust it to cool your home right before you go to sleep? By remembering these preferences, the Nest Thermostat automates these changes so that you don’t have to think about it, and more importantly, will save you from accidentally leaving your heat on all day and running up your bill.

2. Get rid of costly standing fans and heaters for priority rooms

Maybe you like a warm home but a cool bedroom, or maybe you can only get work done in your office while it’s nice and toasty but the rest of your family hates the heat. With Nest thermostats, you can set up zoning in your home so that different areas can be heated or cooled differently. This means you can say goodbye to additional space heaters or standing fans. Those are notorious energy-wasters, and having a solution for those will save you money long term.

3. Have complete control over temperature with mobile app, wherever you are

It’s your house, so you should be in control. Never worry about the temperature of your home again. Your house can be set to “Away” mode for extended periods of time. This is great for things like vacations. Do you have pets at home, or maybe a relative will be in your home while you’re away? Nothing to worry about, your temperature can be easily adjusted and then readjusted to accommodate changing situations, even when you’re remote.

4. Safety features save you from costly home disasters

If your home is experiencing extreme heat or cold, Nest will send you alert to avoid damage being done. This is a safety net against huge potential dangers–and thus, potential expenses– for your home, like pipes freezing or overheating your home. Never worry about an unexpected heat or cold wave again, with a Nest Thermostat, your home and your money can be safeguarded with the touch of a button.

5. The first thermostat to get the ENERGY STAR CERTIFIED

If you’re not yet convinced, you can trust the experts at Energy Star. They are committed to putting their stamp on products that benefit the consumer and the planet, so having a thermostat be energy star certified is huge. One of Nest Thermostat’s ultimate is Eco mode, which can optimize and choose the best, most cost and energy efficient temperature for your home. This type of innovation is what earned them their energy star certification, and also makes them the best choice for cost-conscious consumers.

Those are just the obvious reasons a Nest Thermostat can save you money. Get in touch with the experts at Steve’s Heating to start taking advantage of this new, efficient, money-saving technology today.

Piles of snow on a slightly bumpy field

How Snow Affects Your HVAC System

by wfcadmin

Kentucky doesn’t get nearly as much snow as, say, upstate New York. Even so, we have had a few snowy winters lately, and this one looks to be no different. And even though we don’t live in the tundra, it’s still perfectly normal to wonder how all that ice and snow affect the things that are constantly sitting out in them.

When snow starts to fall, you might start to wonder how your HVAC equipment stands up to the snow. Is it bad for your outdoor air conditioning unit? How about your heat pump? We’ll answer those questions (and more) for you today.

How Snow Affects Your Air Conditioner

It just takes one look at an air conditioner piled high with snow and ice to panic. Should you have covered it? Will it be dead come springtime? Let us quell your fears: your air conditioner will be just fine.

While it might be alarming to see your air conditioner halfway covered in snow, take heart: air conditioners are made to withstand that sort of weather. Manufacturers perform rigorous testing all to ensure that your air conditioner can make it through the harshest winters unscathed.

In fact, you shouldn’t even be covering your air conditioner in the winter. At least, not entirely. By covering your entire air conditioner the way you would cover a grill, you are trapping moisture inside. This will lead to mold and rotten electrical components. If you decide to cover your air conditioner at all, only cover the top to keep any falling debris or icicles out.

How Snow Affects Your Heat Pump

Although air conditioners and heat pumps are extremely similar, heat pumps don’t have the luxury of taking a 6-month break every year. Since heat pumps need to keep your house warm (especially when it snows!), they need to have ways to deal with the cold.

Heat pumps can operate when covered in snow, but their efficiency takes a massive hit. Because of that, all heat pumps have a defrost function. We won’t go into specifics, but it effectively reverses the flow of the heat so the inside of the heat pump warms up and thaws any ice in there. Once the snow melts, the heat pump resumes normal function. The defrost isn’t terribly energy efficient, but it’s much more so than your heat pump powering through frozen coils.

If it gets too cold, though, your heat pump will have a difficult time pulling heat from the air. When that happens, most heat pumps switch to an alternative heat source, often labeled “emergency heat” by the thermostat. This emergency heat usually comes through induction wires. It’s like using a toaster to heat your home. As you can imagine, it’s not terribly efficient. The cost is similar to using a giant space heater to warm up your entire home.

The best-case scenario is something called a dual-fuel system. It uses a heat pump when the weather is around 40-50º and a furnace for when it gets colder than that.

How Snow Affects Your Furnace

Basically, not at all. The more snow there is, the colder it is, and the more your furnace will have to heat your home. However, since your furnace lives inside, it doesn’t have to contend with freezing temperatures and snow.

However, snow can block the vents that let your furnace take clean air from outside (and expel dirty air from inside). If those vents get blocked, the results can be dangerous! So when snow falls, make sure your exhaust vents aren’t stopped up.

Check Back Monthly for More HVAC Tips

We write HVAC blogs every month. If this helped you find some peace of mind about your A/C’s ability to withstand the snow, check back soon! We’ll have more great articles for you.

Or, if you’re in Northern Kentucky, fill out this form for a no-cost in-home installation.

Winter 24/7 Emergency HVAC Services

by wfcadmin

XXAs we all know, you can’t plan emergencies. The reality of this, of course, is universally true for every type of crisis, but it can be particularly poignant when your furnace breaks down in the middle of winter.

And while, unfortunately, you can’t reschedule a heating emergency for a more convenient time, you can have a plan ready for solving your heating problem and – ideally – have a plan for preventing your heating problems in the first place.

Winter is here in Northern Kentucky and, if you haven’t been properly maintaining your furnace with preventative maintenance throughout the year, your furnace is at risk of breaking down during the coldest nights of the year. You need a plan now before an emergency arises.

Don’t wait until your furnace starts acting up to start thinking about emergency HVAC services. Steve’s Heating has come to the rescue of hundreds of homeowners experiencing furnace problems. Far too often, we’ve seen these furnaces break down in the middle of winter when families need them the most.

Aside from the obvious discomfort of losing heat during freezing temperatures, a broken furnace will also impact your home, your finances, and – most importantly – the safety of you and your family. Here are three reasons to keep the phone number for a reputable HVAC company on hand this winter.

A Faulty Furnace Can Cause House Fires

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, faulty heating systems are the second leading cause of residential fires during winter, second only to cooking. Freezing weather, in particular, can lead to ignition problems which in turn puts you at greater risk of a more serious incident. But, aside from the risk provided by the time of year, there are already a number of problems that can arise at any time in the year even from something as simple as buildup in your furnaces heating ducts.

If you have a furnace in your home, you need routine maintenance for your heating system, even if it’s only an annual check-up before winter begins. However, if at any point you sense that you may have a problem, it’s important to call an HVAC professional immediately.

A Broken Furnace is Expensive

In general, the cost of replacing a furnace is greater than the cost of standard furnace repair and far greater than the cost of furnace maintenance to prevent your problem in the first place. Of course, similar to other home appliances, there will be instances when completely replacing a furnace is one of the best home investments you can make. If your need to replace your furnace is primarily due to a lack of proper maintenance, however, it can be a costly and otherwise avoidable expense.

An Unmaintained Furnace Creates Safety Hazards

It’s no surprise that homes are sealed tight during winter. And while keeping warm air in is often at the forefront of our minds during winter, there’s still a need to allow pollutants to escape.

Your furnace plays an important role in determining the quality of the air you and your family breathe for hours at a time. Even if a furnace is not “broken” in the traditional sense, a poorly maintained heating system can still lead to safety hazards in your home either by producing excess moisture that leads to mold or by releasing carbon into the air. Worst or all, the signs of a problem are not always overt. While smoke is an obvious cause for concern, mold can grow without detection and carbon won’t be detected at all without a working detector. These subtle signs make the need for regular maintenance even more crucial than they would otherwise be.

And while maintaining the air quality of your home can be easily achieved through routine furnace maintenance, a complete breakdown of your heating system during winter can leave you in conditions not meant for habitation.

Stay Warm and Have Peace of Mind this Winter

When you have a problem with your furnace or another component of your HVAC system, you need a solution now rather than later. And you need a professional that you can trust to do the job right.

When your home or business is experiencing a heating problem, Steve’s Heating can come to your rescue. We offer year-round 24/7 emergency furnace repair and other HVAC services to residents of Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. Have peace of mind and reduce the time it takes to solve your problem by keeping our phone number on hand. Our trained HVAC technicians are always available and just a phone call away.

Along with emergency services, we also offer regular maintenance and replacement services for your heating and cooling systems. Learn more about all of our HVAC services or request an appointment today. Thank you for reading, and Steve’s Heating and Cooling looks forward to keeping you and your family comfortable and safe this winter.

Spring AC Repair-HVAC Maintenance

by wfcadmin

Spring is officially here which means summer is right around the corner!  Spring has seemingly decided to be hot to this point, prompting people to use their AC.  We’ve already repaired a lot of AC units, and it’s early in the season.  If you don’t want your AC to break, consider now is the ideal time to make sure your home HVAC systems are working perfectly with proactive maintenance.

With spring, the weather can be very unpredictable, so it is important to have your systems working in order to keep your home comfortable at all times.  This will also make the transition into summer easier, which is important because we all know that the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky summers can get extremely hot.  Taking precautions to make sure you have AC the moment you need it will be well worth it when the time comes. When maintenance is a regular happening through the seasons, it is much more infrequent to experience problems.

You may be wondering, what is included in HVAC maintenance?  We check if dust is accumulating, dirt on coils, allergens or bacteria in duct systems, and much more.  This is just a small part of our maintenance program, the “comfort club.”  If something does happen unexpectedly we also offer repair services where we send our team out, examine the problem, and fix what we need to.  As we said before, with a maintenance program this is much more unlikely.

Maybe you want to gear up your AC for spring, or maybe you’d just like to be on top of thingswith your HVAC system. Steve’s Heating can fix, monitor, and replace your system.  If you’d like to join the comfort club, or have any questions, contact us!