How Your Gas Furnace Runs Safely Each Winter

December 26th, 2022
scared-woman-covering-mouth

“Are gas furnaces dangerous?” People often ask us this question, and the answer is a conditional “no.”

If gas furnaces posed major safety dangers, they would not be permitted in homes in the first place. A gas furnace can develop safety issues due to neglect and age, which is why we strongly recommend that our customers arrange for annual maintenance to keep their furnace in the best shape.

This gives us an opportunity to catch potential problems before they become problems. One of the reasons gas furnaces can operate at safe levels is because they’re constructed with several safety features to minimize risk. We’ll look at some of these features below.

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Tips to Lower Your Heating Costs This Winter

December 12th, 2022
money-savings-seesaw

Everybody is looking for ways to cut down costs and save money. You might not have realized one place where you could reduce your cost of living is with your heating system.

We don’t mean you have to shut off the heater for long stretches of time so you and your family need to bundle up in full parkas when you’re indoors. There are some simple ways you can lower the amount of work your heating system does without making major sacrifices in comfort. 

Below are a few of our best tips for less expensive heating this winter (and every winter to come).

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The Advantages of a Propane Fireplace

November 28th, 2022
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You’re considering getting a fireplace for your home, or else you want to change your current wood burning fireplace for a different type. But there’s a problem: your house doesn’t have access to a natural gas line, so you can’t have a standard gas log fireplace put in. 

Without natural gas in your home, your best option when it comes to a fireplace in Parksville, BC is to have a propane fireplace installed. You don’t need to expend large amounts of money trying to get a gas line to your house (if that’s even possible in your situation). Instead, a propane fireplace works from a tank of propane you have periodically refilled—and propane is an abundant and easily accessible energy source. You can fill a standard 18 liter  propane tank for around CAD$20. 

If you want more convincing, here are several major benefits of switching to a propane fireplace.

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The History of the Tankless Water Heater

November 14th, 2022
tankless-water-heater

We often recommend our customers look into tankless water heaters as an option when they’re shopping for a water heating installation or replacement. Tankless systems have a great deal to offer: they save energy, last longer than traditional water heaters, take up less space, and won’t run out of hot water. 

The tankless water heater does sound like a piece of nifty new technology. But here’s the surprise: tankless water heaters aren’t “new” at all. The technology of the tankless water heater is almost as old as the standard storage tank water heater. What’s new is the popularity and presence of the tankless water heater. We’ll explain more below as we look at the interesting history of this alternative method of keeping hot water flowing from the taps in a house.

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Watch for These Signs of Problems With Your Boiler

October 17th, 2022
boiler-residential

One of the best advantages of using a boiler to heat your home is that a boiler runs into fewer malfunctions than a furnace. This is because a boiler has fewer moving mechanical parts that can suffer from wear and tear.

However, a boiler can encounter its own set of problems, and to help reduce the inconvenience of having to call for an emergency repair for your boiler, we’ve listed some of the signs to watch for that will give you an early warning of trouble. When you notice these boiler issues, call us for boiler repair in Campbell River, BC so we can get your heating system fixed before the trouble gets worse—and you’re trapped in the middle of winter with no heat!

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Some Tankless Water Heater Problems You May Encounter

October 3rd, 2022
tankless-water-heater

We think tankless water heaters are a fantastic choice for many homes. Not all homes, necessarily, but we strongly recommend our customers consider installing a tankless system the next time they need a water heater. The benefits of going tankless are enormous: energy savings, space savings, unlimited hot water, and longer equipment life.

We won’t pretend that tankless water heaters are perfect. They can run into problems over their service lives that will require calling professionals for water heater repair in Qualicum Beach, BC. Our team of water heater experts will see that your tankless water heater gets back to doing what it does best.

We’ll look at several tankless water heater malfunctions you might run into:

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Fall Is Officially Here: Time to Schedule Your Heating Maintenance!

September 19th, 2022
testing-a-furnace

It’s now officially fall—or at least it probably will be by the time you read this. (The first day of fall—the Autumnal Equinox—is September 22 this year). We often experience hot days in the early fall, but we all know that the cold days will soon arrive, and possibly sooner than we expect.

This is why we recommend our clients take advantage of this transitional time, when you won’t need your heater and HVAC technicians to have less busy schedules, to arrange for your annual heater Maintenance in Comox, BC.

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How a Tankless Water Heater Can Save Money

September 5th, 2022
tankless-water-heater-small-on-wall

Is it time for a new water heater installation in Parksville, BC for your house? Then you may have already considered going the “tankless water heater route.” If you haven’t, we encourage you to give it some consideration.

Tankless water heaters are becoming more popular each year, appearing in more new homes, condos, and apartment complexes. They save space compared to standard storage tank systems, and they have a host of other benefits. They cost more to purchase upfront, but as we plan to show you in this post, they offset that cost with the ways they can help you save money.

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Is a Dead Compressor the End of the Line for an AC?

August 22nd, 2022
compressor-in-ac-unit

You’ve likely heard this bit of conventional wisdom about the compressor in an air conditioning system: 

When the compressor of an AC dies, the whole AC must go with it. A compressor is an expensive piece of equipment, and replacing it is too costly compared to the long-term benefits of getting a new air conditioner.

Like most nuggets of conventional wisdom, there’s some truth to this, but also some myth. A dead compressor in an AC is not an absolute command to have the entire air conditioning system replaced. There are several options a homeowner can consider when the compressor fails, and a complete replacement isn’t always the best. Below we’ll look at the variables involved in what to do when you’ve got an AC with a dead compressor.

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5 Ways to Prevent Your AC From Overheating

August 8th, 2022
air-conditioner-with-clipboard-on-top

The heatwaves just keep rolling in, and with that, we’re running our air conditioning units harder than ever before. Not only is continuous AC use an intense strain on power grids and electricity bills, but the wear and tear can easily break down units at accelerated rates. This leads to an all-too-common problem at the height of seasonal extremes—permanent AC failure!

As costly as it is problematic, experiencing a unit breakdown is a huge issue on these scorchingly hot days! Thankfully there are plenty of methods to mitigate disaster and save homeowners from such a hassle. The keyword here is certainly prevention, as those in need of a fix have to give their local AC repair folks a call.

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