Maintenance Tips
Gas Furnace Cleaning and Inspections
There are plenty of do it yourself articles available on the internet about how to clean your own gas furnace but I do not believe that any of these articles are really providing anyone with very useful or prudent information. Anyone who cleans or inspects a gas furnace in Ontario has to be a licensed gas technician, and for good reason. Most duct cleaners are not licensed gas technicians, nor are most homeowners.If you’ve gotten some half-information about how to clean your own gas furnace, then how do you know if you didn’t miss something unsafe about your furnace that a licensed technician would have noticed straight away?
Some people could be lulled into a false sense of security thinking that they have cleaned their furnace and now they’re good for another year. But this is really not the case, especially when you don’t really know what you’re looking for.
We’ve posted some information on our site before about keeping your furnace area clear of combustibles and making sure that your furnace is able to get the required amount of air, as well as some other things to watch out for, and that’s about as much information that I think there should be available to the average homeowner anyway.
Those are all easy, common-sense safety items. I would never try to tell someone how to clean their own gas furnace, even if it was going to save them a little bit of money today.
Take this example… If you wanted to save yourself some money, would you search on the internet for some information and then change the brakes on your car? Some people could do it, but it would not be recommended. Some things are best left to a qualified professional.
A gas furnace cleaning and inspection is available with any duct cleaning job that we do at City Duct Cleaning, but we will always send a licensed gas technician to do at least that part of the job.
Also Read : Rip-Off Duct Company Gets Shut Down
Attic Insulation Removal In Progress
Besides cleaning air duct systems and furnaces, City Duct also specializes in removing attic insulation. There are many reasons why someone would want to have their attic insulation removed, and those reasons include contamination by animals or rodents, the homeowner has just found out that they’re allergic to it, or in this case the homeowner was planning to renovate their attic space.
I’m not sure if this insulation was blown in as good as it could have been, to us it didn’t really matter because we were there to remove it anyway.
There is alot to know about attic insulation, much more than you’d think. And its one of the most important energy saving investments that you can make.
After we remove someone’s insulation we usually recommend the Best Toronto Insulation Contractor, a company called Matrix Insulation. I know for a fact that their finished product looks much better than it does in this picture, and they are extremely knowledgeable about what they do. We like working with the best people in their fields and the guys from Matrix can give you a real education about your attic insulation if and when you need it.
If you’re looking for air duct cleaning, furnace cleaning or even attic insulation removal, give City Duct Cleaning a call today! We’re the best in Toronto at what we do, and you already know about all our awards, right?
Also Read : Removing Blown-In Attic Insulation
Dryer Duct Fires and How to Help Prevent Them
There are hundreds of clothes dryer fires every year which causes death, injuries and millions of dollars in destruction.
How many people toss a load of wash in the dryer and then go to work or simply go to bed? Watch this story and you probably won’t want to ever do that again.
What causes dryer fires? Experts say its a combination of heat and lint. Not just the lint you can see on your lint trap but the lint you can’t see in the dryer’s exhaust.
It’s a combination of heat and blockage of proper venting. If there’s a buildup of lint in areas that you may not be aware of, such as inside your dryer exhaust venting or piping, you may have a combustible that’s needed to start that fire.
What can you do to protect yourself from dryer fires?
First, look for the warning signs. Does it take higher temperatures to dry your clothes or multiple drying cycles? Both indicate lint blockage. Clean the lint screen before and after every load of clothes, and clean the dryer exhaust duct and vent periodically.
We recommend that a professional cleaning be done at least every two years, but we do have many customers who have us clean their’s annually. The frequency of cleaning needed would be determined by your particular dryer installation and the amount of use that your clothes dryer normally gets. Everyone who has ever had a dryer duct fire in their home has this service done at least once per year.
More tips to reduce the risk of a dryer duct fire include replacing your plastic flexible dryer venting with rigid or metal material. Also periodically clean behind the dryer where lint can build up.
If you are in the Toronto area and require a dryer duct cleaning or wish to have your dryer exhaust duct replaced or just inspected, then give us a call. This service is noticeably more cheaper or cost-effective when it is combined with our complete home air duct cleaning service.
Duct Cleaning Technicians Versus HVAC Technicians
As the owner of a very successful duct cleaning business as well as a seasoned technician I am often asked by our customers if we are qualified to clean their furnace/AC system and my response is this…
The cleaning that a duct cleaner can do on your furnace/AC only consists of cleaning the components that the air moves through, However, the law is very clear in this matter and states that Duct Cleaning companies may only clean these conveyance components while they remain in tact and they may never be removed or altered in any way whatsoever.
With that being said you should also note that a reputable Duct Cleaning company should be equipped with several unique cleaning tools that will enable them to a good job of cleaning the conveyance components while leaving them in place.
I feel it is my duty as a professional to inform homeowners that what a duct cleaner does on your HVAC system is no substitute for what a certified Heating/Air Conditioning Tech (HVAC Tech) will do on the system when it comes to doing a tune up and diagnostics.
The law is very strict when it comes down to what a Duct Cleaner can and cannot do on an HVAC system
Duct cleaning companies are prohibited from doing any cleaning in the combustion area of your furnace, this is the area where the burners, pilot light, gas valves and electrical components are located and are completely off limits to any unlicensed individuals.
Any unlicensed individuals that are poking around in that area of your HVAC equipment are violating state and provincial laws and should be reported to the proper authorities, it should also be noted that should anything go afoul they will not be covered by their insurance company.
We are often told by our customers that such and such duct cleaning company claims that they will do an inspection on the HVAC system as part of their procedure.
If any duct cleaning company ever claims that will do any sort of inspection or diagnostics to your heating/AC system, I strongly urge you not to retain their services and to report them to your local consumer protection branch.
The only exception to the above would be if the Company employed a properly certified HVAC technician that would be doing the actual inspection or service work or if the duct cleaning company was contracting out to another company that is HVAC Certified, in which case you would be wise to ask for proof of qualifications.
We do provide this service on gas furnaces only, and we do always send a licensed technician to do this.
Pat Johnson – Is President of Enviro-Pure Air Care Residential Duct Cleaning Company located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Pat has many years experience in the Duct Cleaning Industry and has written numerous articles about Duct Cleaning practices. For more information visit their frequently asked questions
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pat_Johnson
Also read: How Often Should HVAC Systems Be Serviced?
Candles Are Pretty But Also Deadly
Did you know that it only takes seconds for a flickering flame to engulf your home? In past years, the popularity of candles has increased greatly and so has the number of house fires.
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People leaving a candle burning on a table do not realize the potential damage awaiting them. Fires will spread quickly and the heat, smoke, gases, soot and toxic fumes could be deadly.Your home’s furnace ventilation system, when running, acts like a vacuum and can draw in all the smoke from a candle and spread it throughout your home in a matter of minutes creating a sooty mess you can’t imagine. |
So in the future, please remember that even though candles are romantic and pretty…they can also be deadly.
How does this relate to an air duct cleaning blog? We’ve been doing fire restoration for over two decades now, and have been to literally hundreds of house fires that have been caused by burning candles… or at least by candles that people thought were extinguished but weren’t. What we do, the air duct cleaning and deodorizing of the HVAC system, is a small part of the complete fire restoration service.
