When the temperatures start to cool down, you may be thinking about what you can do to get your home ready for the colder weather. By taking the time to winterize your home now, you may be able to avoid some costly repairs in the future. While it can take at least several hours to tackle winterization tasks, it will ensure that the interior of your home stays warm even when the temperatures start to drop outside. There are five tips that you can utilize to make winterizing your home easy.

1. Assess Your Gutters

It’s not uncommon for many homeowners to forget about checking their gutters when winterizing their homes. If there is too much debris in them, they won’t be able to divert rain or melted snow away from your home. This can eventually lead to issues with the foundation. Climb up on a ladder to look for things blocking your gutters, like leaves or branches. You should also check to make sure that your gutters are securely attached to your house. If they are too loose, then they could fall if you get a big snowstorm. If you aren’t comfortable cleaning or making simple repairs to your gutters, you can hire a professional to do it for you.

2. Have Your Chimney Cleaned

When it’s frigid outside, your chimney can provide a lot of warmth to your home. However, a buildup of soot can increase the risk of a chimney fire. Therefore, you need to have your chimney cleaned well before you plan on using it. While a chimney sweep is cleaning it, the professional can also inspect it to ensure that the flue works properly and that there isn’t any interior damage that needs to be addressed. Even if you don’t use your chimney very often, you should still have it cleaned at least once a year.

3. Schedule HVAC or Furnace Maintenance

You don’t want your heat to go out in the dead of winter. Because of this, you should schedule HVAC or furnace maintenance when you are winterizing your home. Regular maintenance can help you avoid certain issues, and our technicians at Dugan Air Heating Cooling can look for problems that need to be corrected. Even if it doesn’t appear as if you have any issues with your HVAC system or furnace, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t some sort of problem that will become bigger and more expensive to fix later on.

4. Drain and Cover Outdoor Spigots

Freezing temperatures can damage your pipes and outdoor spigots. Fortunately, you can easily winterize them yourself in a short amount of time. To begin, you will need to find the shut-off valve that’s located inside your home. Once you shut it off, you can turn your hoses on to drain out all the water. Wait a few hours so that they can fully drain. Turn them off, then inspect the spigots to make sure all the fittings are in good shape. If needed, make any needed repairs. Put a faucet cover over the top of each spigot. This will help insulate them and keep them from sustaining damage once the temperatures drop below freezing.

5. Check Your Window and Exterior Door Seals

Many people don’t realize that drafty windows and doors can really cost them a lot of money. Even small leaks will let cold air in, and this will make it more difficult to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. You can easily check the seals on your windows and doors by walking in front of them and putting your hand near where they shut to see if you can feel any air. If you do, you can simply replace the weatherstripping. This is also the perfect opportunity to walk around the exterior of your home to look for any gaps or cracks that need to be filled with exterior caulking.

If you haven’t begun the process of winterizing your home in Franklin, IN, now is a good time to start. While you can complete some of these tasks yourself, we can help you with all your heating and cooling needs. We also offer UV lights, air purifiers, humidifiers, and more. Our licensed technicians can do everything from providing general maintenance and repair to replacing your entire system. Call us at Dugan Air Heating Cooling today so that we can make sure your HVAC system is ready for winter.

Are you concerned about the quality of the air in your home in Franklin, IN? If you or a loved one suffers from allergies, asthma, or another respiratory condition, it’s important to ensure the air in your home is as clean and pure as possible. One way to do this is by investing in a home air purifier. Here are some common questions about home air purification.

What Is an Air Purifier and How Does It Work?

An air purifier is a device that helps to improve indoor air quality by trapping harmful airborne particles and pollutants. These contaminants include dust, pollen, mold spores, pet dander, and smoke particles. Air purifiers pull in dirty air and pass it through a filter. The filtered air is released back into the room, and the contaminants are trapped in the filter.

Do I Need an Air Purifier?

If you’re concerned about the air quality in your home, an air purifier can be a great way to help improve it. An air purifier can be especially beneficial if anyone in your household suffers from allergies, asthma, or another respiratory condition. Other signs that you might need an air purifier include excessive dust in your home, musty or stale odors, and visible mold growth. An air purifier can also be a good choice if you live in an area with high levels of outdoor pollution or if you smoke cigarettes.

How Do I Choose an Air Purifier?

When choosing an air purifier for your home, you’ll need to decide what type of unit you want and what features are important to you. The three main air purifiers are mechanical filters, activated carbon filters, and ozone generators. Some units also come with additional features like UV lights, which can help to kill bacteria and viruses.

Mechanical filters are the most common type of air purifier. They use a mesh or paper filter to capture contaminants as they pass through the unit. Activated carbon filters effectively remove odors and chemicals from the air; they work by adsorbing pollutants onto their surface. Ozone generators release ozone gas into the air. This gas oxidizes contaminants, which effectively destroys them.

How Often Should I Use My Air Purifier?

The frequency of use will vary depending on several factors, including the type of air purifier you have, the level of pollution in your home, and your personal preferences. However, most air purifiers need to run continuously to be effective.

The best way to determine how often to use your air purifier is to consult the manufacturer’s directions. They can give you specific guidance based on the type of air purifier you have and the conditions in your home. By following their recommendations, you can ensure that your air purifier works optimally and that your home’s air quality is high.

What Are Some Common Maintenance Tips for Air Purifiers?

It’s important to replace the filter to keep your air purifier working properly. Depending on the type of filter and the level of contaminants in your home, you may need to change it as frequently as every month or two.

In addition to replacing the filters, you’ll also need to clean the unit regularly. Depending on the model, this might involve simply wiping the exterior with a damp cloth or using a vacuum attachment to remove dust inside the unit. Consult your owner’s manual for guidance on cleaning your particular air purifier model.

Also, be sure to allow for proper airflow. Air purifiers rely on a steady flow of air to work effectively, so keep the area around the unit clear of clutter. In addition, ensure no gaps or cracks in the ductwork leading to and from the unit.

Are There Any Health Risks When Using an Air Purifier?

When used properly, air purifiers are safe for most people. However, there are a few potential health risks to be aware of. If you have asthma or another respiratory condition, it’s important to consult your doctor before using an air purifier. In some cases, using an air purifier can trigger asthma attacks or other respiratory problems.

Ozone generators release ozone gas into the air. This gas can be harmful to your lungs if you’re exposed to it for too long. For this reason, it’s important to choose an ozone-free air purifier or one with a low ozone gas output.

An air purifier can be a great way to improve indoor air quality and create a healthier environment for your family. If you have any questions about home air purification, Dugan Air of Franklin can help. We will help you choose the right unit for your home and provide guidance on how to use it properly. We also offer heating and cooling repairs, installations, and maintenance services as well as services for heat pumps. Contact us today to learn more!

When you’re looking to invest in a new air conditioning system, one of the very first things that you’ll likely be concerned about is its energy efficiency. Energy costs always seem to be going up. You want to ensure that you pick a system that is affordable to run, which is why understanding the SEER rating scale is vital.

What is a SEER Rating?

SEER stands for season energy efficiency ratio. Each air conditioner that is sold will have this SEER rating, which will help you as a buyer to determine how energy efficient the system is. SEER is determined by taking the unit’s total cooling output for a whole season and dividing it by the system’s total energy usage in that same season.

It’s easiest to think about this rating as miles per gallon in a car. A car that gets more miles per gallon than others is considered more efficient and less expensive to run. The same holds true for a higher SEER rating air conditioner. These ratings run from a minimum of 13 to a maximum of 25 for centralized air conditioning systems. Mini-split ductless units have even higher efficiency ratings.

It’s crucial to note that the minimum standard for all air conditioners set by the federal government is 13 SEER. Energy Star air conditioners have a SEER rating of 14.5 or higher. Most typical units will have a SEER of around 16. If you’re looking for a high-efficiency system, then you’re going to want to get a SEER of 19 or more.

SEER is Considered a Maximum Operating Efficiency

It’s important to realize that a system’s SEER rating specifies its maximum operating efficiency. It’s highly unlikely that your system will always operate at its SEER rating. Think of your air conditioner like your car. If you’re operating in the city, your car is going to get much less gas mileage than when you’re operating on the highway. If your air conditioner’s filter is dirty, it’s not going to operate at maximal efficiency and so forth.

What SEER Rating is Best For Your Home?

The simple answer is that it really depends. While purchasing a system with the highest SEER rating will ensure maximal efficiency, it can be very expensive for the average homeowner. Determining what SEER rating is ideal for your home depends on a number of factors. These include things like the amount of insulation you have in your home, how much you pay per kilowatt of energy, the size of your home, and so forth.

It’s typically best to approach investing in a new air conditioning system by being mindful of the performance of your old system. Most older air conditioning systems will have a SEER rating of 8 or 9. Just switching to the minimum of 13 or 14 for a modern-day air conditioner can drastically lower your energy bills. Take a few moments and assess your old air conditioning unit to determine its SEER rating so that you have a basis to start making decisions.

Benefits of Higher SEER Units

Investing in a higher SEER air conditioning unit comes along with many great benefits. The most obvious is that it will run on less energy, which means lower power bills for your home throughout the summer months. This can turn into a lot of cash savings if you’re switching from a lower SEER unit system to a much higher SEER unit system.

When you purchase a new air conditioning system that has a high SEER rating, you can cash in on some great tax rebates and incentives. Federal, state, and some local governments are offering these tax advantages to homeowners who are investing in more efficient systems to reduce their carbon footprint.

Another great benefit of high SEER units is that they come with modulating speeds. Most standard SEER units come with a one-speed operation. This doesn’t help to control humidity overly well, can be quite noisy, and can’t offer the specific level of comfort that higher SEER rating systems can.

Reliable AC Services

Dugan Air Heating Cooling offers reliable AC services for the whole Franklin, IN, region. We’re also available for all of your heating, thermostat, new construction, and air quality needs. Give us a call today to set up your next service appointment with our experienced technicians.

Replacing your HVAC system can be a monumental and costly task. However, it can be even worse for you if you try to replace it when it is already too late. Choosing the right time to replace your HVAC unit can make all the difference. Like most things in life, your HVAC system is most likely to break down when you desperately need it: during a heat wave or a snowstorm.

That is why you will need to replace your system before it fails. Planning ahead allows you to replace it at a time that’s convenient for everyone inside your home. After all, you don’t want to go through summer or winter without your system working.

Is There a Good Time?

As with anything in life, there are trade-offs when deciding when to replace your HVAC system. For example, it gets sweltering in Festus, MO, but it also gets really cold in the winter. That means you are bound to pay a massive cost when trying to replace your system in either one of these seasons. You might also think you can get your system through one more season before it needs replacing.

Many people pay over the market rate because they thought their system would make it through one more season, but it broke down in the middle of bad weather. When that happens, you can check with our experts at [company_name]. We can provide you with the heating repair, maintenance, and installation services that you need. We also do the same with air conditioning installation, maintenance, and repair. We provide services around the Festus, MO area.

The Off Season

The best time to have your HVAC unit installed is during the off-season. This is typically spring or fall or when it isn’t too hot or too cold to do without a system. During this time, since the overwhelming majority of people do not plan ahead, you will get much better rates on your HVAC system installation. You can get an affordable job done at an optimum time. The only question is whether or not you will want to replace your system if it’s not completely broken. This is an important question that our experienced technicians can help you answer.

Scheduling Ahead

As mentioned above, it is imperative to schedule ahead when installing your HVAC unit. If you don’t, you don’t get to control when the job gets done. You might end up in a long queue behind other people who did not think to plan ahead either. In peak months, HVAC installers are incredibly busy. That means it’s almost impossible for you to get served quickly and affordably. You might wait weeks for them to get around to your unit. Like many others, this is a seasonal business that needs careful consideration based on the condition of your system and where you live. Many people have found that they can save up to 15% by simply picking a good time to have their HVAC system installed.

Certain Times Are Cheaper

Is there a great time to replace the HVAC unit? The answer to that is a resounding yes. However, the nuanced view is to look at the weather in your local area and decide when your off-season is. It should be a decision you’re completely confident in because sometimes summer or winter might last a bit longer than you hoped. You will then be in a situation where you have to decide between enduring the harsh weather without your system or paying more to install it when it’s the most expensive.

Either way, we can help you get your HVAC system installed. Contact [company_name] to get started. We offer heating, cooling, and special services like water heaters, ductwork, and sheet metal fabrication.

As a homeowner, you want the air inside of your home to be as safe and clean as possible to breathe. You need to remove impurities that can make the air dirty and might compromise the health of you and your family. Before you invest in an air purification system for your house, however, you may want to get some answers to some of your most pressing questions about it.

1. Can Air Purification Help Relieve Allergies and Asthma?

Air purification may help to relieve some or all of your allergy or asthma symptoms if they are caused by factors like dirt, dust, and pet dander that get in the air inside of your home. An air purification system is effective at removing these agents. Once the number of these agents is reduced in the indoor air, you might suffer less often from allergy flare-ups or asthma attacks.

2. Can Air Purification Remove Odors in My Home?

If your air purification system relies on an activated carbon filter, it can be effective at removing odors caused by factors like:

• Cigarette or cigar smoke
• Cooking
• Dirty diapers
• Rotting food
• Kitchen garbage

You can use this system in areas of the house that experience foul odors most commonly. However, if your air purification has a HEPA filter in it, it might remove odors less successfully. A HEPA filter is more suited for removing allergens from the air inside of your home.

3. Will My Air Purifier Work for My Entire House?

Your air purification system may work for your entire house, depending on how large your property is and how many levels it has. The size of your air purifier can also determine how large of an area in which it can function. When you invest in an air purification system, you can find out how many square feet for which it is designed. You may opt for one that covers the largest amount of space if you want it to purify most or all of your home.

4. Can I Also Keep My Windows Open While I Run My Air Purifier?

You might like to open your windows and let in fresh air. However, when you run an air purifier in your home, you may cause it to work harder because it must remove the allergens, dirt, and dust that come in through the windows from the outdoors. When you want to keep the indoor air as clean as possible, you may open your windows less. You might instead opt to run your air conditioner to keep your indoor air cool.

5. Where Is the Best Area of the House to Use an Air Purification System?

You can effectively use an air purification system anywhere you want to clean the air in your house. Some people like to use these systems in the hallways and around the bedrooms where their children sleep. Others like to use these systems in and around the kitchen or living room to remove odors from cooking or smoking. It is important, however, that you place your air purifier away from areas where it can be obstructed with fixtures like draperies or doors.

6. How Long Should I Run My Air Purification System?

The length of time you run your air purifier will depend on factors like its size and the cleanliness of the air inside of your home. Smaller air purifiers typically benefit from being run for an hour or less at a time. Larger purifiers can tolerate being run for several hours.

7. Is Air Purification Noisy?

Air purifiers do make noise, much the same as air conditioners and heaters. However, their noise should not be overly bothersome. You may still be able to hold conversations and watch and listen to TV normally while running your air purification system.

[company_name] in Franklin, IN offers the heating, air conditioning, and ventilation services you need as a homeowner. You can rely on our professional technicians for services like installation and repairs of your heating and AC units. You can also have fixtures like thermostats serviced and get emergency repair services on the weekends or during overnight hours. Find out more about the services available for your home’s heating, AC, and ventilation systems by contacting [company_name] in Franklin today! We are looking forward to serving you.

Do humidifiers improve air quality? This is a question many people have been asking themselves lately and for good reason.

The simple answer is yes. When used correctly, humidifiers can make the air in your home more comfortable and lead to better air quality. Springtime means dry air, as well as high pollen counts, which can worsen allergy symptoms.

Dry air is a problem for your health. It can cause coughing, make you more susceptible to colds and flu, and aggravate allergies. Dry air also causes static electricity, which may seem like an annoyance, but can actually be dangerous — it’s a fire hazard.

How Humidity Affects Health

Humidity affects health when it’s either too high or too low. Dry air causes dry skin, sinus problems, and sore throats, among other issues. Extremely dry skin can lead to bleeding; extreme dryness of nasal passages can cause nosebleeds.

Too much humidity in the summer can lead to mold growth and damage to furniture and home structures.

A Healthy Solution

Humidifiers can solve these problems. They help people breathe easier when they have colds and congestion by loosening the mucus in their respiratory tract so it drains more easily. This helps those with asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory ailments.

Moist air is healthier for you. In fact, doctors often recommend using humidifiers to improve indoor air quality as part of their treatment for respiratory illnesses and allergies. Airborne contaminants in dry air can make it harder to breathe, get sick more often, and stay sick longer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) even found that using a humidifier in the winter can reduce your heating bills by up to 4%.

Increased moisture alleviates dry skin and eyes; chapped lips; cracked furniture; warped floors, window sills, and peeling paint. Humidifiers can also increase the efficiency of furnaces in the winter because moist air feels warmer than dry air at the same temperature.

How Humidifiers Work

These devices are designed to raise moisture levels in the air. They come in various sizes, from portable units to whole-house systems. The most basic models have a reservoir that holds water to be vaporized slowly into air by a fan. Cool mist models spray water into the air, while warm mist types use steam to raise humidity levels.

Different Types of Humidifiers

Humidifiers come in many types: tabletop humidifiers, whole-house humidifiers attached to your furnace or HVAC system, portable room humidifiers with large tanks that need refilling every day or two, ultrasonic humidifiers that create a mist using high-frequency sound waves, and cool-mist humidifiers that use fans or impellers to move water from the tank into a fine mist.

Maintaining Humidity Levels

The air quality in a home can be greatly improved by using a humidifier. However, it is important to remember that humidity levels should be monitored at all times so that mold, mildew and bacteria don’t grow from over-humidification.

Maintaining the proper humidity level in your home is important. When the air is too dry, it can cause skin irritation and lead to colds, coughs and other upper respiratory problems.

However, if you over-humidify your home, it can lead to mold growth, which will worsen any allergies you have and cause respiratory problems for everyone in your house. This is why it’s important to monitor the humidity levels in your home and ensure they are not too high or too low.

The key is to maintain moderate humidity levels, which vary depending on the area of the country you live in. For example, people in the Southwest, where the climate is hot and dry year round, should aim for 30% humidity, while those in the Northeast should aim for 40 percent.

A whole house humidifier is installed directly into your HVAC system (built into the ductwork of your home’s heating and cooling system) and will dispense water vapor throughout your entire house. This helps maintain a proper humidity level in every room of the house. Portable humidifiers offer a lot of flexibility, but they’re not as efficient as whole-house systems, particularly if you’re using multiple units throughout your house.

If you’re dealing with humidity issues in your home and are concerned with your indoor air quality, contact Dugan Air. Our team will come out and assess your home and suggest the appropriate system that will keep humidity levels comfortable for your family.

We provide service for Franklin and the surrounding areas: Greenwood, Bargersville, Martinsville, Nineveh, Morgantown, and more. We also offer services such as new installations, repair, maintenance, and emergency services for your heating and cooling systems.