Heating and Heating Systems

How much does winter commercial or home heating cost you?
Heating and cooling takes up to 55% of utility bills in the US and is a major concern to families and businesses battling already with the economic crisis which has hit the whole world. As a result everyone is looking for cost effective and efficient heating systems.
Whether you use radiant or solar heating, electric or gas heating, pellet heating or furnace and boiler heating, expenses incurred through home and commercial heating are heavy on the finances of every home owner, business or tenant. Portland Plumbing Plus is here to help you manage your heating both as your best heating systems installation and service provider and also as a heating professional partner who tells you secrets you need to know in order to minimize cost of heating. Now, only Portland Plumbing Plus can do this for you.

People using small space heaters and those that have central heating installation will find helpful tips to keep their heating and furnace systems running in top condition through the winter and beyond.

Know Your Heating Systems - Boilers and Furnaces

Almost every home use furnaces and boilers for heating so let's focus our tips on furnace and boiler heating. While boilers heat water, providing either hot water or steam for heating, furnaces heat air and distribute the heated air around the house via ducts.

Maintaining these two appliances is very vital and we'll show you how. If you use radiant heating drawing energy from either a radiant floor heat, electricity, boilers or other energy sources that power a radiant heating system, our tips will also be beneficial to you.

Other topics to cover in this heating tutorial are heat pumps, fireplaces installation and maintenance, electric and gas water heater, hot water boilers and many more plumbing and heating care.

Safety Precaution Before Troubleshooting Heating systems
Turn off all electrical power to your heating and HVAC systems. This is very important. Please never forget.

Boilers and Furnaces Tips For Home Owners & Tenants

Heating Don't Don't and Care
When turning your furnace heating ignition switch on or off, never touch the gray glass part.
Make sure your heating professional installs same brand of your ignition  with same specification as old one if you need your ignitor replaced.
Always verify the voltage of your heating home line as running it on high voltage can damage your appliance. An ideal voltage should be between 110 - 125 volts.
Contact a heating contractor or electric company if your voltage rises above 125.
Have a professional carry out a routine check on your furnace filters to determine when it's due for replacement. A dirty furnace filter can cause over heating and in some cases fire out break.

Air Conditioning Evaporator Care:

If you have a vacuum cleaner, a coil cleaner or coil fin cleaning tool, which can be purchased from any plumbing supply store, clean your coil regularly to make sure it is not plugged up. Note though that cleaning must be done in the direction the coil fins are running to avoid bending the fins and causing more damage. Attention: Let your heating or HVAC contractor handle your heating systems if you are not sure what to do.

Thermostat Heat Setting

It is recommended to set your thermostat's anticipatory setting to a value greater by 1 from the amp draw. For example, if your gas valve's amp draw is 4 amps, then it is best practice to set your thermostat at 5 amps. This ensures a longer run time as well as a longer off time.

Heating Tips For Heating Contractors and Professionals

Before you start any heating systems repair or maintenance, first carry out an inspection of the systems involved. These are a few things you can look out for:

1. Verify that heat exchangers are in good condition. If the boiler heat exchanger leaks water, then it needs a repair.

2. Make sure that the furnace heat exchanger is not leaking. Note that you need to inspect carefully for a leaking furnace heat exchanger as these are not easily detectable. It's important to note that leaking furnace heat exchangers mix combustion gases with house air and is a high danger threat. So inspect carefully and repair.

3. Check the condition of all vent pipes and chimney. Overlooked chimney and vent connecting pipes can cause major problems which may call for a total re-installation of a heating system. So verify that every part of the venting system is in good condition and if not, carry out a repair as soon as possible.

4. Perform a combustion efficiency test before heating systems installation. This saves your clients lots of money in the long run and puts you in a high standing with your customer. Never do a rush rush job for a client you hope to retain.

5. After heating replacement or installation, adjust the controls on the boiler or furnace to provide optimum water and air temperature settings for both efficiency and comfort. Your client will love your work for that. Don't set it too high or too low. A balance is super.

Steam Systems Guide for Heating Contractors and Professionals

• Improve heat exchange efficiency by draining water from the boiler to remove sediments.
• Also drain the float chamber to remove sediments that clog the low water cutoff control.
• Inspect the boiler water for corrosion and put measures in place to check the build up of corrosion and deposits. Use appropriate solutions for this.
• Test the condition of the low-water cutoff control
• Check the high-limit safety control for possible pointer that the hot water system needs replacement or a repair
• Clean the heat exchanger of the steam system
• Contact Portland Plumbing Plus for further heating help.

Disclaimer:

Heating systems services, installation and repair should be performed by heating professionals. Never try any tip or repair if you are not properly equipped with enough information and mastered the process. Call a heating contractor instead.

Didn't find answers to your plumbing question or problem? Ask a plumber online Now. Click here ► Free online plumbers help to receive answers to your problem or question.

Check out our home page for full service overview. Click here Portland plumbers to go to home page.

Portland Plumbing Plus... Affordable Plumbers For Top Quality