Most of us take heating and cooling for granted. We expect our heating systems to keep us warm during the winter, and we depend on air-conditioning to keep us cool during the summer.

When the house is cold in winter or hot in summer, the natural reaction is to call for professional service. Fortunately, there is an alternative. You can cut service costs drastically and keep your heating and cooling systems working efficiently by doing some maintenance and quick fixes yourself. But first, it's important to know how the basics of how heating and cooling systems function.

All climate-control devices or systems have three basic components: a source of warmed or cooled air, a means of distributing the air to the rooms being heated or cooled, and a control used to regulate the system (e.g., thermostat). The sources of warm air, such as a furnace, and cool air, such as an air conditioner, in a house often use the same distribution and control systems. If your house has central air conditioning, cool air probably flows through the same ducts that heat does and is regulated by the same thermostat. When a heating or cooling system malfunctions, any of these three basic components may be causing the problem.

Both heating and air conditioning work on the principle that heat always moves from a warm object to a cooler one, just as water flows from a higher to a lower level. Furnaces and heaters put heat into the air to make your home warmer; air conditioners remove heat to make your home cooler.

All heating and cooling units burn fuel. Air conditioners use electricity. Most home heating systems use gas or fuel oil; other systems use electricity. The heat pump -- an electrically powered climate control unit -- both heats and cools air. In summer it extracts heat from the air inside your home. In winter it pulls heat from the air outside and uses this heat to warm the air inside.

When the furnace is turned on, it consumes the fuel that powers it, whether it be gas, oil, or electricity. As fuel is burned, heat is produced and channeled to the living areas of your home through ducts, pipes, or wires and then is blown out of registers, radiators, or heating panels. Older systems use the heat they produce to heat water, which in turn heats the air in your home. These systems use a boiler to store and heat the water supply, which is then circulated as hot water through pipes embedded in the wall, floor, or ceiling.

When an air conditioner is turned on, electrical power is used to cool a gas in a coil to its liquid state. Warm air in your home is cooled by contact with the cooling coil, and this cooled air is channeled to the rooms of your home through ducts and out registers or -- in the case of room air conditioners -- directly from the unit itself.

In the next section, we'll review the different distribution systems used for heating and cooling the home.

More:
Heating and Cooling System Basics: Tips and Guidelines ...

Fairfax, Va (PRWEB) January 29, 2015

Heating and air conditioning repair in Fairfax, VA can sometimes be daunting in a home. No matter how good a homeowner may be around the house, HVAC systems are better left in the hands of professionals. When a homeowner experiences too much sweat during summer and feels extreme chills during winter, there must be a problem in the HVAC system. Usually, this is unfixable using DIY methods and seeking the help of an expert is still preferable. This should be the time when Local HVAC Pros should come in. Homeowners are assured to be in good hands once Local HVAC Pros take over.

Residents of Fairfax shouldn't let issues with their heating and cooling systems impede on their daily activities. HVAC systems can always be fixed just with the right experts to do the job. With Local HVAC Pros team of experts, the homeowner does not have to suffer the deep cold effect of winter or the melting heat of summer. All it takes is a call and they would do their best to be there immediately. They offer one of the most professional air conditioning and heating repair services in Fairfax, Virginia.

Fairfax, VA residents do not have to look any further as Local HVAC Pros have all the tools, products, and services needed to get HVAC systems up and running. It doesnt matter whether the property is a house or an office. As long as it is in Fairfax or nearby areas, Local HVAC Pros are there to help. They can take a look at it and identify the problem as well as propose a solution. They can even give estimates for free and tell the best places to install heating and air conditioning systems.

Their team has certified members which of course mean that they have been trained and have been readied for any trouble that might come from their clients air conditioning systems. Their local company is also fully licensed, bonded and insured to relieve their customers of much trouble later on should any mishaps occur. Warranties are also being given to assure that our quality of their work is a guarantee. Call them at 703-348-9740 to get more information.

For more information on heating and air conditioning repair Fairfax, Va services please visit the link below:

See the article here:
Heating and Air Conditioning Repair in Fairfax, VA: New Video Release by LocalHVACPros.info

By Bryan Betts

bbetts@alamogordonews.com @BryanBetts21 on Twitter

The Plaza building, the adobe building on the corner of Tenth Street and White Sands Boulevard, has taken many forms over the years: a tattoo parlor, a flower shop and a bar.

A contractor will began to transform the 76-year-old building Friday yet again, this time into a form that suits its historical importance the Tularosa Basin Museum of History.

The Tularosa Basin Historical Society finished a bidding process last month in which the Otero County Commission selected Las Cruces-based C D General Contractors to renovate the building into the society's new home.

Society Vice President Joe Lewandowski said the renovations will cost $405,000 and will be funded with $525,000 awarded to the historical society by the state legislature about three years ago.

Lewandowski said workers will install a new roof and heating and cooling system, renovate the interiors and bathrooms and redo the parking lot, among other changes.

He said the renovations will also seek to preserve the Plaza Pub, including the building's old doors. Lewandowski said the Plaza Pub was once the center of activity in Alamogordo and is one of the only adobe buildings in town.

"What makes it unique is that it's an adobe building, and Alamogordo's not known for adobe buildings," he said.

The society's plans for the Plaza facility meet state guidelines for renovating buildings on the New Mexico historical register, Lewandowski said. The Plaza building was placed on the State Registry of Cultural Properties in June 2012.

View original post here:
Plaza building renovations begin Friday

Insteon 5282-242 Connected Kit $380.00

Insteon's Connected Kit is a very inexpensive, but its weak camera and clumsy installation procedures (in some areas, but not others) drag down our opinion of the system as a whole.

For simple, yet flexible home lighting control, Insteons dual-band technology is hard to beat. The company has been in the market longer than just about anyone else (more than 20 years), it has 200 connected-home products in its inventory, it offers great tech support, and it even operates its own online store dedicated to the connected home.

As great as all that is, Insteon still has a ways to go when it comes to effectively integrating its disparate collection of devices with the smartphone app and the web portal that are designed to manage it all. Thats the conclusion I reached after reviewing Insteons 2582-242 Connected Kit plus a couple of connected LED light bulbs that the company recently submitted for review.

The Connected Kit consists of Insteons latest hub, which you hard-wire to your home router/Internet gateway; a standard-definition pan/tilt security camera; motion, door/window, and leak sensors; and a wired thermostat. Insteon also sent a pair of 60-watt-equivalent LED light bulbs (these arevery expensive at $30 eachthats twice the cost of the GE and Cree bulbs recently reviewed).

If you buy an Insteon starter kit, make sure that it comes with the latest Insteon hub, as this kit does.

I wasnt able to test the thermostat, but it represents another weak spot in the Insteon ecosystem. On the one hand, it supports advanced features such as support for two-stage heating and cooling systems, duct dampers, and remote sensors. On the other hand, its aesthetically ugly compared to just about any modern thermostat on the market, it lacks a touchscreen user interface, and it doesnt support heat pumps or three-stage HVAC systems. Fortunately, youre not limited to Insteons thermostat. The company just announced that it has joined the Works with Nest program.

I installed everything besides the thermostat and the IP camera in less than two hours. That includes the time it took to download and install the control app on my iPhone (there are Android and Windows Phone versions available, too) and to program rooms (groups of devices) and scenes (rules for controlling those devices). So far, so good.

Insteon's thermostat is no great shakes, and the only alternative is Nest Learning Thermostat.

My living room is lit by an overhead light and several lamps. I replaced one light bulb with a dimmable Insteon 60-watt-equivalent LED bulb and plugged two other lamps into plug-in dimmer modules (these cost $50 each if you need more than the two that come in the kit). Insteon also offers in-wall dimmers and switches (priced from $50 to $80, depending on their capabilities).

Excerpt from:
Insteon Connected Kit review: Strong lighting controls; weak app integration

CLAYTON -- The city may approve a Property Assessed Clean Energy program allowing homeowners to make energy-efficient home improvements that are financed as a property tax assessment instead of a regular loan.

Homeowners could now take advantage of a program first offered to commercial and multiresidential property owners. Funds for water- and energy-efficient projects such as windows and water pumps requires no credit or income verification because homeowners essentially tax themselves.

Jack Cooper, of Custom Exteriors Inc. explained the Home Energy Renovation Opportunity program to the Clayton council at their Jan. 6 meeting because city approval is required before the program can be authorized by the state in each municipality.

"Everybody benefits," Cooper said later. "It reduces water and energy use, improves home values, and creates jobs. Lower utility bills help cover the cost of the payment and you get a tax deduction."

Community Development director Charlie Mullen said the city staff is researching Cooper's proposal and will likely make a decision soon. HERO and CaliforniaFIRST have been approved in Martinez. Walnut Creek recently approved HERO and San Francisco voted for CaliforniaFIRST on Jan. 5.

"CaliforniaFIRST came to us last fall and has cleared the state validation process. We think HERO will be available in Martinez by summer of 2015," said Michael Chandler, senior management analyst in Martinez.

"We liked the idea that there is a friendly competition between the companies and we can give residents more options. There is a CaliforniaFIRST page on our website (services, sustainability, PACE) and we will put one up for HERO when it is ready."

There is no cost to the cities involved, and Cooper said energy improvements increase home values because trained, certified contractors install energy-saving products.

HERO also helps resolve issues between homeowners and contractors, who are not paid until the customer signs a notice of completion, according HERO's website.

Heating and cooling systems (including solar), lighting upgrades, doors, insulation siding and other improvements can be financed over periods of time from five to 20 years depending on durability and energy/water savings. In other words, the improvement has to outlast the financing.

Read more here:
Clayton: Setting the PACE for energy efficiency

By John R. Delaney

When we reviewed the Nest Learning Thermostatback in 2012, it was the very first digital homethermostat we had tested (not to mention one of the first we had seen). Fast forward to 2015, and there are now numerous smart thermostats out there from companies such as Trane, Ecobee, LockState, and Honeywell. We got our hands on the $279 Honeywell Lyric, a slick Wi-Fi thermostat from the company that invented the puck-shaped thermostat more than 60 years ago. The Lyric is controlled and monitored via an iOS or Android smartphone app, and uses your phone's location services (geofencing) to save energy. Although it doesn't use a conventional scheduling menu to heat your home, it is very easy to configure, and the app is well-designed and colorful. A Web app would be a welcome addition, however, as would detailed heating and cooling usage reports.

Design and Features Measuring 3.7 inches in diameter and 1.3 inches in depth, the Lyric is a tad larger than the Nest (3.2 inches in diameter and 1.3 inches thick). The thermostat's white, glass-covered, touch-sensitive face and shiny chrome trim give it a stylish, Apple-esque look that will work with any dcor. In the center of the Lyric is a round 1.4-inch (diameter) LCD that, by default, displays the current temperature. Pressing the weather cloud icon to the left of the LCD changes the display to a 12-hour weather forecast with the time, expected temperature, and expected humidity levels. Pressing the home icon on the right launches an Away menu that lets you inform the Lyric that you'll be out of the house for X amount of hours (up to 24 hours), which in turn resets the heating or cooling temperature to your specified Away setting. A small motion sensor at the top of the thermostat wakes the Lyric up when you approach; otherwise it remains dimly lit to conserve energy.

Above the main display is a smaller display that shows you the temperature setting and either a sun icon for heating or a snowflake icon for cooling. You can use these icons to turn the system on or off. A halo ring at the rear of the Lyric briefly glows orange when the thermostat goes into heating mode, blue when it goes into cooling mode, and green when it enters energy saving mode. As with the Nest, you can manually raise and lower the temperature setting by turning the Lyric like a dialleft to lower the temperature and right to raise it. An audible tick accompanies each degree mark, making it easy to adjust to an exact temperature.

The Lyric can be controlled from a smartphone using an iOS or Android app, but you can't control it from a PC using a Web browser. The mobile app is colorful and makes it easy to configure the thermostat to fit your schedule. When you launch the app, you're presented with a screen that contains a dial (orange when in heating mode and blue when in cooling mode) that you can swipe to the left or right to change the temperature setting. The Lyric doesn't offer a typical scheduling procedure; instead you set Home and Away temperatures, and create shortcuts with triggers that tell the thermostat what to do. You can create a shortcut with a trigger that has the heat come up and go down at a certain times of the day. You can also create shortcut buttons that reside on your home screen. For example, you can assign a button that turns the heat down five degrees for when you're working out, or have the air conditioning kick in early if you're expecting company. Each button is listed on the main screen to the left of the dial.

Above the dial are the same readings found on the actual thermostat, including the current temperature, the temperature setting, and the icons for the weather forecast and the Away menu. Tapping the settings wheel in the upper right corner takes you to a screen where you can adjust your Home and Away temperature settings, adjust screen brightness, and enable the Fine Tune and Adaptive Recovery features. The Fine Tune feature uses local weather information, indoor conditions, and factors in things like humidity and the temperature outdoors, to make sure your home is heated or cooled correctly. The Adaptive Recovery feature, also found on the Honeywell Prestige IAQ thermostat, will have your heating or cooling start early so that your house is up to temperature at the time you scheduled.

The jewel in the Lyric's crown is its geofencing feature. Geofencing uses your smartphone's location services to automatically trigger the thermostat depending on where you are in relation to your home. For example, you can have the Lyric switch over to Away mode when you leave the geofence perimeter and switch to Home mode when you re-enter the perimeter. You can choose one of four geofence perimeters, including a quater-mile, two miles, four miles, and seven miles. With geofencing you never have to worry about turning off the heat or air conditioning when you leave, and you'll always return to a comfortable home.

The Lyric lacks the comprehensive power usage reports and multiple alert options that you get with the Ecobee3, but it does offer a Smart Cues feature that will send a reminder when it's time to change your filters or when someone has left or entered the geofencing perimeter. Additionally, the Message center keeps a log of activities, including when the thermostat is not responding, has lost its Wi-Fi signal, has lost power, or is offline.

Installation and Performance Installing the Lyric is fairly easy, but if you're not familiar with thermostat wiring, Honeywell provides step-by-step illustrated directions. To start, download the iOS or Android app. You have to create an account which requires your name, email address, and a password. Once you've received the verification email, click the Activation button to complete the account setup.

After you log in using your email address and password you are taken to a setup page that is broken up into four sections: Install, Configure, Connect, and Personalize. The Install section walks you through the process of removing your old thermostat, including cutting power to it. The instructions advise you to take a picture of your current wiring to help you with wiring the Lyric. You are also presented with a list of wires containing common terminals and additional auxiliary connections. Check off a box for each wire so the app knows what your wiring system looks like. Once you've recorded your wiring you can remove the old wall plate from the wall and replace it with the Lyric wall plate and optional trim ring (included). The wall plate has 12 push-in connectors for power, heating, and cooling, a one or two wire selection switch, a switch for heating only or heating and cooling (R, RC), a AAA battery, and a small level to help you mount the wall plate properly.

Visit link:
Honeywell Lyric

By John R. Delaney

When you think of digital homethermostats, the Nest Learning Thermostat is probably the first product that comes to mind. But before Nest burst onto the scene in 2011, Canadian-based Ecobee had already introduced a smart thermostat two years earlier. The company has been at it ever since, and recently released the $249 Ecobee3, an attractive Wi-Fi thermostat that you can control from your iOS or Android phone and from your PC via the Web. The thermostat is easy to install and even easier to program, and it's loaded with features including a remote sensor for heating and cooling rooms outside of the thermostat zone, numerous reminders and alerts, a capacitive touch display, and a Home IQ system monitor that tracks heating and cooling usage. It's our new Editors' Choice for smart thermostats.

Design and Features The Ecobee3 eschews the puck-shaped design of the Nest and the Honeywell Lyric. Instead, the thermostat has a stylish 3.9-inch square housing with rounded corners that is under an inch (0.90-inch) thick. Behind the Ecobee3's black faceplate is a 3.5-inch full color capacitive touch display, and behind that is a white wall plate with 11 terminal connections for heating, cooling, heat pumps, air handlers, and accessories. The Ecobee3 is compatible with most 1- and 2-stage HVAC systems and can control compatible dehumidifier, humidifier, and ventilation devices.

In the middle of the display is the current temperature, and to the right is a vertical slider for manually setting the temperature. I found the slider to be a bit too sensitive, forcing me to slow down my finger swiping to land on the desired degree mark. Other than that, the screen is very responsive and easy to navigate. A snowflake icon appears above the temperature readout when the system is in cooling mode, and a flame icon appears when it's in heating mode. Below the temperature readout are icons for the Main Menu, Live Weather, and Quick Changes. Quick Changes lets you override your current heating, cooling, and ventilator settings without changing your programmed schedule. Live Weather shows the current local weather conditions with temperatures and icons for snow, rain, clouds, or sun. It also displays the extended weekly forecast.

The Main Menu is where you go to enable and disable your HVAC system and set fan runtimes. Here you can also set Comfort settings for when you're home, away, or asleep, and create daily and weekly schedules using these settings. You can also set a vacation schedule based on your departure and arrival dates and times, and set a temperature for that timeframe. The Ecobee3 offers a nice selection of alerts and reminders for things like maintenance, filter replacement, UV lamp replacement, low and high temperature, and low and high humidity. You can have notifications pushed to your smartphone and sent to an email address.

The iOS and Android apps offer the same basic functionality as the thermostat menus, but you can't configure the remote sensors from the app; that must be done directly on the thermostat. The Web app looks similar to a Windows 8 desktop, and is populated with tiles for Weather, Quick Changes, Vacation, Settings, Reminders and Alerts, Schedule, and Home IQ. The Home IQ feature, which is only available on the Web app, offers colorful graphs that show you a historical track of HVAC usage for the entire system. You can also see what the outside temperature was during a specific time to see how it impacted your HVAC system.

Included in the box is a single remote temperature and motion sensorthatcan be placed in any room. The sensor measures the temperature in the room and sends a call to the thermostat to ensure that the room is heated or cooled to the house temperature setting. It also works with Ecobee's Smart Home/Away feature, which uses the sensor's motion detector to bring the room up to temperature (Home mode) when it is occupied, and suspend heating and cooling (Away mode) when it is empty. Additional sensors go for $79 for a two-pack, and the Ecobee3 supports up to 32 sensors.

Installation and Performance Installing and configuring the Ecobee3 is fairly easy. If you're not familiar with thermostat wiring, you can refer to the comprehensive and easy to follow printed installation guide. It does require a C (common) wire, which supplies power to the thermostat, but if your system doesn't have one, don't despair: The Ecobee3 comes with a Power Extender Kit that supplies power to the thermostat. The power kit is not difficult to install, and Ecobee provides explicit instructions. It does require tinkering with your furnace wiring, so if you're not comfortable with that, you might want to bring in a professional.

After powering down my HVAC system I removed my old thermostat, labeled the wires, hooked up the Ecobee3, and attached it to the wall (I have a C wire and did not have to install the power kit). Upon powering up the system, the Ecobee3's display showed a wiring diagram and asked me to verify if it was correct. It then asked if I had any dehumidifier, humidifier, or ventilator devices installed, and asked me to choose Fahrenheit or Celsius and to verify my heating system type. Next, I was prompted to enter my ideal home temperature (for when the home is occupied), and I enabled the Smart Home/Away feature. Now it was time to connect to my Wi-Fi; I chose my SSID, entered my password, and was connected within 15 seconds. At this point a registration code (required to create a user account) was generated. I went to the Ecobee site to register the thermostat, and was asked to enter my 4-digit registration code, my name, email address, and password. I was then asked if I wanted to set up my weather, which involves accessing my location and supplying an address, and if I wanted to enable the Home IQ feature. I answered yes to both and that was it. The entire installation process took less than 30 minutes.

Enabling the sensor was simply a matter of standing in front of the thermostat and pulling out the battery tab. The sensor was identified and paired with the Ecobee3 in just a few seconds. I named it and placed it in my office, which is on the other side of the house from the thermostat and is usually a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house.

See original here:
Ecobee3 Smart WiFi Thermostat

DES MOINES | A bill that would keep convicted kidnappers in prison longer made it through a House subcommittee Thursday.

Similar to a bill the House and Senate couldnt agree on last year, House Study Bill 31 adds where the victim is 15 years of age or younger to the states definition of second-degree kidnapping and makes those convicted of such an offense ineligible for sentence reductions. Its in response to a 2013 abduction and slaying of 15-year-old Kathlynn Shepard and her companion, Dezirea Hughes, who escaped. Their alleged kidnapper, Michael Klunder, apparently committed suicide.

Republican Reps. Chip Baltimore of Boone and Darrel Branhagen of Decorah signed the bill sending it to the full Judiciary Committee.

A bill making it an aggravated misdemeanor to install counterfeit air bags in a vehicle is headed to the House Judiciary Committee.

Chairman Ken Rizer, R-Marion, said the use and sale of Chinese-made counterfeit air bags by web-based retailers has become a problem, according to representatives of auto dealers associations that spoke at the subcommittee hearing.

A Senate bill banning the sale of alcohol in powdered or crystalline form moved, to the full Commerce Committee.

Powdered alcohol is not available for sale in Iowa and the Alcoholic Beverages Division is asking the Legislature to ban its sale.

Despite objections from attorneys groups, a House Judiciary subcommittee signed off on House Study Bill 35 to limit cities liability for damages incurred when sledding.

David Adelman, representing the Metropolitan Coalition of Iowa's 10 largest cities, said the risks cities face is too high based on previous lawsuits.

Iowa corrections director John Baldwin said he is hopeful a new state penitentiary in Fort Madison that has been plagued by construction delays will be able to open sometime this summer.

Follow this link:
Capitol Digest: From kidnapping to catfishing

Smart thermostats are so hot right now, so its no wonder heating and air conditioning specialist Carrier is getting into the game. At CES 2015, the company introduced Cr, its own smart thermostat.

The market isnt exactly crowded, but it is dominated byNest and Honeywells Lyric. Still, it makes sense for Carrier to get in the game. The company has been in business for 100 years and was founded by Willis Carrier, the inventor of modern air conditioning.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Its clear Carrier has the expertise to back up Cr, but whats less obvious is what sets the device apart from its predecessors. Carrier claims the thermostat will reduce heating and cooling costs by 20 percent, which is on par with Nest. Users can control the device via mobile apps and get reports on their energy usage, much like with similar thermostats. While Cr claims its simple to use, Carrier recommends professional installation. Its competitors are usually fairly easy to self-install.

The style of heater your home has hasnt been much of a problem for Nest or Lyric, which are compatible with most all of them. Carriers products include air conditioners and furnaces, so if it can get ahead of the innovation game there, it could have the upper hand on its competition one day.

Go here to read the rest:
Carrier turns up the heat on Nest with Cr, its own smart thermostat

When Red Mountain Inn owner Arthur Rothman wanted to do some upgrades to improve energy efficiency at his 40-unit lodge in West Glenwood, he turned to Garfield Clean Energy for help.

Now, thanks to energy rebates, special financing and other incentives offered through GCE, he has been able to add insulation to the heating and cooling system, began converting his outdoor lighting to LED fixtures and, most recently, replaced several refrigerators in his guest units with super-efficient Energy Star-rated appliances.

The savings in energy costs are just starting to pay off, but will be huge over the long run, Rothman said.

We have a lot of kitchen units, and when we started looking to upgrade we couldnt afford to do as many of the Energy Star refrigerators, he said. Working with Garfield Clean Energy really made the difference.

Rothman also obtained a free energy audit for his business and coaching that pointed him in the right direction to take advantage of the many incentives available to do the upgrades.

He is just one of the dozens of business owners and residents in Garfield County who benefit each year from GCEs efforts to make it easier for both the private and public sectors to become more energy efficient and tap clean energy.

The collaborative, formed in 2012 after about three years operating under a state grant, is funded by 10 partner governments. Those include Garfield County, the countys six municipalities, Colorado Mountain College, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority and the Garfield County Public Library District.

LONG-TERM FUNDING QUESTIONS

The GCE collaborative is pushing forward this year with a full slate of projects and programs aimed at helping businesses, residents and local governments.

Just this week, the town of Silt, working with GCE and its contract program manager, Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER), will dedicate a new 234-kilowatt solar electric array at the towns water treatment plant.

View original post here:
Garfield Clean Energy works toward future