Do family members in your home have asthma or severe allergies? Do you notice that family members seem to get sick frequently? Are you worried about the quality of the air in your home? It’s time to think about ways that you can improve the quality of the air in your home. Of course, keeping living spaces clean is one place to start, but it’s difficult to keep common contaminants out of the air, no matter how clean the house is. Here are three reasons your indoor air quality may suffer, and what you can do to remedy the situation.
Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog
2 Reasons for Poor Indoor Air Quality (and What to Do about It)
April 20th, 2015How Zone Control Benefits Your Heating and AC System
April 13th, 2015Have you ever had an argument with a member of your household about the temperature in the home? Do you find yourself frequently adjusting the temperature throughout your home in an attempt to control only a single area? Does the size or shape of your home make it difficult to keep the entire house at a consistent temperature? A new zone control system may be for you.
What Is Zone Control?
Zone control allows you to control different areas of the home individually with separate thermostats, Installing zone control involves putting dampers into the ductwork leading out to various vents in the home. You can divide your home up into different zones which you would like to control, and each zone is wired with its own thermostat. When you adjust the temperature in a single zone, the dampers open and close to let air in or restrict airflow. There is also a master thermostat to control all of the zones at the same time.
What Are the Benefits?
- Even Heating and Cooling – If you have trouble cooling and heating your home because of its unique architectural aspects or because it has several stories, zone control is the solution for you. If you want to heat a two-story home to 74 degrees, for example, it is much easier to do so in this way. Often, you have to raise the temperature to 75 or 76 just to keep the downstairs as warm as the upstairs, since heat naturally rises. But with separate thermostats in each area, the system is better able to make sure each zone is exactly 74.
- Greater Comfort – Zone control allows everyone in the home to choose the temperature they want when they move to a different area.
- Energy Savings – With zone control, you don’t have to run the air for longer throughout the home just to cool or heat a single area, which saves you money. You’ll also save money if you decide to shut off air to areas of the home that are unoccupied throughout the day.
Call the experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning for air conditioning and heating service in Colorado Springs, and to discuss optional upgrades like new thermostats and a zone control system.
3 Components of Heat Pumps That Make Them Different from ACs
April 6th, 2015When describing how heat pumps work to people unfamiliar with them, it is easiest to compare them to air conditioners. The two systems operate in almost the same fashion, and they look identical on the outside to someone who doesn’t have professional HVAC knowledge. In essence, a heat pump is an air conditioning system that can switch the direction it moves heat. The outdoor and indoor coils can swap functions, so either coil can release or absorb heat depending on what the homeowner needs.
However, there are a few key internal differences in a heat pump that allows it to alter the direction of heat exchange. Below are three of these different components that set apart the dual-action of a heat pump from the single action of an air conditioner.
If you have a heat pump that needs service, or you are interested in heat pump installation, call the Colorado Springs, CO HVAC experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning.
#1. The reversing valve
This is the essential piece that sets a heat pump apart from an air conditioner. The reversing valve is what permits the heat pump to move refrigerant in a different direction, so that it brings heat to the indoors instead of removing it to the outdoors. The reversing valve sits on the refrigerant line where it leaves the compressor, and depending on how it is set, it will either send the refrigerant to the outdoor coils or the indoor coils first.
#2. The suction line accumulator
When a heat pump operates in heating mode, it uses less refrigerant. The suction line accumulator, which is attached between the reversing valve and the compressor, stores the additional refrigerant when the heat pump switches over to heating and prevents it from re-entering the compressor.
#3. The crank-case heater
This heater sits atop the compressor and serves to protect the compressor from any cold refrigerant that could migrate back into it. The heater evaporators any liquid refrigerant still in the compressor and sends it back into the line so it will not cause damage to the compressor.
The staff at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning is glad to help you out with any problems you may have with your heat pump. We offer repairs, maintenance, and new installations. We have more than 40 years of experience keeping homes comfortable no matter the season.
Ways to Reduce Commercial AC Repair
March 27th, 2015The spring air has finally arrived and if you haven’t already switched your commercial HVAC from heating to cooling, you will be soon. As the business owner, it is in your best interest to know some simple ways that can help reduce the potential for repair with your commercial AC system in Falcon, CO. Here are some tips from our commercial AC experts:
Don’t DIY
Many business owners are pretty handy or have someone on staff who is, but unless you or that person are trained commercial air conditioning experts, it’s best to always call a specialist for help. Commercial air conditioning systems are large and complex, and attempting to make repairs on your own when you don’t have the necessary knowledge can lead to more problems and potential safety issues for you and your system.
Don’t Ignore Strange Sounds
Your commercial AC will make some basic operational noises, but anything other than these noises should be considered a reason to call for an expert. Sounds like banging, buzzing, screeching and clunking are typically indicative of a problem, so it’s best to have an expert look at your system as soon possible.
Don’t Miss Annual Maintenance
Annual maintenance for your commercial air conditioning is a full tune-up of the system. Maintenance helps increase energy efficiency, improve comfort, extend the life of the system and prevents repair. It’s estimated that for each year your system isn’t scheduled for maintenance it loses 5% of its overall efficiency – something you’ll start to see in your business’s energy bills.
Don’t Let the System Run with a Known Problem
Problems don’t work themselves out, and once a problem has developed with your commercial AC, it will likely become worse over time. If you are aware of an existing problem with your AC, try to fix it as soon as possible to avoid further cost to your system.
There is no way to guarantee that your commercial air conditioning system will never need repair, but taking these simple steps can help you reduce and/or avoid problems.
Have questions? Call the experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today and schedule an appointment for commercial AC repair services in Falcon, CO.
What Types of Products Improve Indoor Air Quality?
March 20th, 2015The job of your home’s HVAC system is to keep your indoor temperature regulated, but the system can do so much more when indoor air quality products are integrated with it. Many HVAC system come with a standard air filter, but this air filter is not designed to help with indoor air quality. As such, if you are looking to improve your home’s indoor air quality, it’s time to schedule an Indoor Air Quality Services appointment with a Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning expert for your Larkspur, CO home.
IAQ Product Choices
Choosing the right indoor air quality products for your home will depend largely on what your needs are. Some households need to focus on removing allergens while others may want to focus on biological contaminants. Knowing what the products are and their capabilities plays a big role in your decision-making, so here is an overview of the types of IAQ products available:
Air Cleaning Products
“Air cleaning” is a general term that applies to both air filters and air purifiers. The main difference between air filters and air purifiers is that the word “filters” refers to mechanical air filters and the word “air purifiers” refers to electronic air cleaners and UV germicidal lighting. Air filters vary in strength and effectiveness, and the way to know how effective a particular air filter will be is by reviewing its MERV number. Air filters capture contaminants in their filter media while electronic air cleaners use ionization to charge particles and then capture the particles electronically. Both air filters and electronic air cleaners can capture allergens, but each can capture only some biological contaminants. This is where UV lighting comes in.
UV germicidal lighting destroys and eradicates biological contaminants by destroying the cell’s DNA; this disables the cells from reproducing. However, UV germicidal lights do not have an effect on non-biological contaminants like dust, so they are often paired with air cleaners or air filtration systems.
Humidifiers
We can have very low humidity in our area, which can lead to both property and health issues. One of the best ways to help balance the low humidity in your home is with the installation of a whole-home humidifier. These devices become part of your home’s HVAC system, so all you have to do is set your humidistat at the percentage you want and the humidifier does the rest.
Ventilation Devices
Maintaining good ventilation and indoor air quality can be a challenge for homeowners, especially during the very cold or very hot weather. But with an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) or heat recovery ventilator (HRV), you can have the benefit of pre-treated, fresh air flowing into your home while also reducing your energy usage.
A trained professional from Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning can help you determine which products will meet your needs and install them. Call us today and schedule an appointment!
Why Inspection Is an Important Part of Heat Pump Maintenance
March 13th, 2015Spring is just about here, and while it will likely be a few more weeks before we switch from heating to cooling, it’s always a good idea to get your heat pump ahead with a spring maintenance appointment. There are a lot of different tasks performed during a maintenance visit, but one of the first and very important ones is the thorough inspection of your heat pump system in Peyton, CO. Many people equate maintenance with a quick once-over, but that is not the case when you hire professionals to perform maintenance on your heat pump, like the ones at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning.
The Purpose of Inspection
The first step your technician will take during a maintenance appointment is to thoroughly inspect your heat pump system. This includes the entire unit, the valves, electrical connections and connection to ductwork, if there are any. The reason for this is simple: thorough inspection helps the technician to detect any existing or developing problems with your heat pump system. One of the benefits of a maintenance appointment is to help prevent repair, and a thorough inspection can reveal such things as loose, frayed or corroded wiring, dirty air filters, low refrigerant levels and problems with your fan. Small things, like the wiring and a loose fan belt, will be repaired during the appointment. If there is a larger issues, such as a refrigerant leak, you’ll be alerted so that you can make additional plans to have the problem repaired. This kind of attention to detail helps you get ahead of potential repairs and manage existing ones before they can lead to malfunction or even shutdown of your heat pump.
Without inspection, your technician can’t get a clear idea of what’s happening with your heat pump system. The inspection process also allows the technician to see what has to be cleaned, adjusted and lubricated during the maintenance appointment. Your heat pump runs year-round, so it’s recommended that you schedule your heat pump for maintenance bi-annually.
If it’s been more than 6 months since your last maintenance appointment, call the experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today!
Common Problems That Can Develop with Home Automation Systems
March 6th, 2015Home automation systems can put the control of your house’s operation literally at your fingertips. To achieve this, a combination of hardware, software and application-based interfaces is used to create your entire home automation system. Sometimes combining these systems can be challenging, and there may be bugs in the system that need some time to be worked out. Should you start experiencing problems with your home automation system in Colorado Springs, call the experts who can help you successfully troubleshoot: Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning.
Common Issues
Here are some of the more common issues that can develop with a home automation system:
Problems with Integration
It would be nice if all home systems were brand new for every home automation job, but this is rarely the case. As such, integrating older electronic systems with the new one of your home automation system can be a challenge, and it may take a while to see where the integration problems exist. Problems with integration can present as limited functionality or non-response. Experts know how to repair these issues, so it’s important to call for a professional if you are seeing these types of problems emerge.
Electrical Issues
Your home automation system relies heavily on wiring as the system is completely interconnected and connected to your home’s main electrical system. As such, any kind of short, poor wiring or faulty wiring can result in malfunction in the system. The electrical layout for a home automation system can be complex, so it’s important to hire a professional to manage any kind of electrical problem with your automation system.
Physical Damage
Should physical components of your home automation system sustain any kind of physical damage, it’s important to allow an expert to replace the component(s) to ensure that your system regains full functionality.
Home automation systems can be great tools for your home, but they do require expert handling.
If you are in need of troubleshooting for your home automation system in Colorado Springs, contact Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today!
Some Things to Know Before Installing a New Hot Water Heater This Spring
February 27th, 2015April is the time of year for flowers, taxes and this year, new water heater regulations. While new water heater regulations may not scream “headline” to you, these new mandates will affect those who purchase a new hot water heater after March of this year. What are the new regulations? They are a set of mandates that requires new standards for hot water heater manufacturing that increases the efficiency factor (EF) of all water heaters moving forward. This may seem like something of a nuisance, but it’s estimated that improving the energy efficiency of hot water heaters will save, on a nationwide basis, 152 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over the next 25 years as well as $63 billion in energy costs.
The best way to see what the changes will be are to look at water heaters by type. For the most part, tankless water heaters already meet all the standards set forth in the updated regulations. This doesn’t mean that if you have a storage tank water heater you have to run out and purchase a new one; your current water heater will be grandfathered in. Rather, it means that if you purchase a new tank water heater after March of this year, you may be looking at increased costs for purchase and installation, and you may have to make more room for your storage water hot water heater, as it will likely be larger in size. Here’s why:
Required Changes for Hot Water Heaters Powered by Gas, Oil or Propane:
- Better insulation (this mostly affects tank water heaters)
- No more standing pilot ignition, only electronic ignition (for combustion hot water tanks)
- Condensing capability
- Better baffles and dampers for flues
Required Changes for Hot Water Heaters Powered by Electricity:
- Better insulation, including on valves and piping
- Heat pump technology for storage tanks over 55 gallons in size
These new regulations become law as of April 16th of this year.
If you are in need of a new water heater in Colorado Springs and have concerns about how these new mandates will affect you, call Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today.
How Does Zone Heating Work?
February 20th, 2015If you’ve been looking for a way to customize your heating, you may want to consider the installation of zone heating in your Woodland Park, CO, home. Zone heating allows you to heat your home in independent zones, as designated by you. There’ll be no more complaints about being too hot or too cold, issues with uneven heating or wasting energy heating space no one is in. So how does zone heating work? We’ll explain below.
The Main Components
These are the main components in a zone heating system:
- The motorized dampers
- The main control panel
- The thermostats for each zone
The first step of any zone heating installation is determining with your technician what the zones will be. Zones can be individual rooms, a group of rooms, a floor of your home, etc.; the decision is yours. Once the zones are designated, your supply ducts are outfitted with motorized dampers that are connected to a main control panel. The technician will then install a thermostat into each zone and connect each thermostat to the control panel. When the system is operational, the control panel will open and close the motorized dampers as needed to maintain the temperatures set in each zone.
Why Consider Installing Zone Heating?
Here are some reasons why zone heating may be a good choice for your home:
- Customized comfort – as mentioned above, zone heating systems allow you to customize your comfort throughout your home, increasing comfort and functionality.
- Better energy efficiency – a zone heating system allows you to use only the heating you need because you can shut down a zone without affecting the rest of your duct system.
- Less wear on your heating system – when you use only the amount of heating you need, your system runs less; this helps reduce the amount of wear on your system.
If zone heating in your Woodland Park, CO, home sounds like it may be a good option, call Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today!
Some of the Unusual Movies Released for Valentine’s Day
February 14th, 2015Hollywood has always tried to match movies up to the seasons to draw droves of viewers to the theaters: October is packed with fright-offerings, while the winter holidays skew toward warm and pleasing family films (as well as Oscar hopefuls). Valentine’s Day falls in an odd spot when it comes to the movie release calendar, however, since February tends to be a slower time for the film industry. The studios are as likely to slot strange movies that don’t fit anywhere else in their annual schedules into the Valentine’s Day weekend as they are films with powerful romantic appeal.
So, while the second weekend of February has featured hugely successful romantic comedies like Hitch, The Wedding Singer, and (of course) Valentine’s Day, some truly weird choices have debuted in this weekend as well. And a few have even gone on to tremendous success despite the bizarre match with the holiday. Here are a couple of the odder Valentine’s Day movie releases:
- Dracula (1931): Yes, this Halloween perennial and the start of Universal Studio’s Classic Monsters actually came out on Valentine’s Day! But perhaps this makes some sense, as the Dracula legend has often received a “doomed lover” approach in the many years since Bela Lugosi made the aristocratic vampire a screen icon.
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Does any film seem less appropriate for Valentine’s Day than this unnerving and sometimes very violent psychological thriller? What’s even more astonishing than the film’s release date is that The Silence of the Lambs eventually nabbed the Oscar for Best Picture, an almost unheard of occurrence for a movie released so early in the year.
- Daredevil (2003): This Marvel comic adaptation featuring Ben Affleck as a blind superhero does contain a romantic subplot, but the stronger connection to Valentine’s Day may just be that Daredevil wears a bright red costume.
- A Good Day to Die Hard (2013): The least successful of the Die Hard film franchise, this is an excellent example of a studio dropping a film into a weekend where it doesn’t fit in the hopes that it works as counter-programming. (It didn’t.)
- Wayne’s World (1992): Now here is an example of counter-programming that clicked with audiences. This comedy based on a Saturday Night Live sketch turned into one of that year’s biggest hits and spawned a sequel.
Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day with a trip to the movie theater, or you have your own special plans, everyone here at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning hopes you and your loved ones have a wonderful weekend.
