Comfort Insights

Comfort Insights is the name of Precision Comfort’s blog where Energy Man Dan shares his home comfort tips. Below you will find the best advice on energy efficiency, home heating and air conditioning and tips to lower your energy bills. Precision Comfort Systems, Inc. is the heating and cooling specialist in Central Indiana and we’re here to help with all your home comfort needs.

Crawlspace vents can cause Moisture Problems

Opening and closing the crawlspace vents and understanding moisture control is one of the most conufusing topics for homeowners. So, what should you do when you need information? Google it! Well I’ve done this I can see how it could get very confusing. There are too many opinions and some are too technical to understand. So we need some simplified tips.

Why is Precision Comfort Systems interested in this? As your Indianapolis area comfort specialists (serving all of Central Indiana) we are expected to control the humidity in our customer’s homes. You need a source that understands moisture science. Here are some important clarifications.

• First and most important… liquid water is different than water vapor. If any part of your home has liquid water problems, you need some help from experts in drainage, plumbing, pumping, water proofing and maybe all of the above. Fix all liquid problems first! Then you can read the rest of this post.
• Next, if you have air conditioning and if any part of your cooling system is in the crawlspace, you have even more reason to understand moisture. If you live in a humid summer climate, you cannot allow humid air to come in contact with your cooled surfaces. This will cause condensation and voila… now your have a liquid water problem.
• Here is the simplest way I know to help you understand  and visualize what to do with your crawlspace: TREAT YOUR CRAWLSPACE AS A CONDITIONED BASEMENT. By “conditioned” I mean heated, cooled, dehumidified, insulated and closed off from the outside. Treat this area under your home just as you would treat an extravagant basement entertainment room in a luxury home. Would you open a window to this area on a hot summer day and expect to stay comfortable? No. The outside air is the source of moisture in the summer.
• A legitimate question is: “So why does my crawlspace have vents? I close them in winter and now you suggest I close them in the summer.” The answer is, crawlspace venting is a leftover design from a time with little air conditioning or perhaps a design borrowed from a drier climate. In fact, even in Central Indiana we do have a few summer days that could be considered drying days and then a little fresh air could benefit this area. But most summer days have enough moisture in the air that as soon as it passes into the cool crawlspace, the air temperature decreases, the moisture content is now closer to 100% saturation and much of the masonary and wood surfaces in your crawlspace are cool enough to condense the water vapor to liquid.
• And then you turn on the AC to help comfort your home and your problems increase by creating very cold AC system parts. After a few days of continuous condensation your basement may look and smell like this…

I could go into more science on specific humidity, dew point, wet bulb temperature, etc., but the above is really all you need to know. Close and seal the vents in your crawlspace walls. Condition the crawlspace area as if it were a short little basement entertainment area. You may need to add a dehumidifier to help out the air conditioner. I will go into this topic in my next post. Check back soon.

Don’t fall for these AC service specials!

What’s going on? Why do some Indianapolis AC service companies insult your intelligence with these gimmicks? Precision Comfort Systems thinks you deserve the truth about these “too-good-to-be-true” air conditioner service special offers.

We think you should know, Noblesville, Carmel, Westfield and Fishers Air Conditioning service companies are not really making a profit when they visit your home for a $29.95 air conditioner clean and check. In fact, some homeowners have discovered they paid this fee to simply become a target of an in-house sales presentation. Is your 10-year-old air conditioner really about to die? Or worse, is your furnace a safety threat to your family? How do you know the truth?

Precision Comfort Systems recommends getting a second opinion. Our experienced technicians each have many stories about inspecting a supposedly condemned furnace and finding nothing wrong. It’s unfortunate, but there are some individuals who think that any furnace over a certain age is not reliable. These technicians (some who may be pressured with a sales quota) create just enough alarm to scare customers into a purchase that may not be needed.   Precision Comfort System has no charge for a second opinion. We have been to many homes in the Westfield, Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel and Zionsville area that did not really have a furnace about to blow up. You would be amazed at how many loyal customers we have acquired by simply giving them an honest answer. We would much rather impress you with our honesty than scare you into a sale.

Now let’s have some fun with those ads and give you a little Precision Comfort insight into your junk mail offers:

Free! To the first five people. (The Precision free second opinion is really free. Our other products and services have a fair price. We find it’s hard to pay the best technicians when we hand out free products.)

Truckload over shipment; our mistake, your fortune! (No one really brings in a truckload of anything anymore. Our distributors do most warehousing and they deliver to us every day as sales dictate.)

Cheap and Quick! (Precision Comfort Systems is more the “Fair and Precise” type. Our customers approve of our strategy wholeheartedly.)

Pounds of free refrigerant for your leaky air conditioner. (This is a great one and worthy of more detail. An air conditioner or heat pump should not be administered a compulsory, seasonal shot of refrigerant for good measure. Overcharging is as much a problem as under-charging a system. But what if your system is actually leaking? Shouldn’t you call the company offering free refrigerant?  How better for a contractor to identify who needs a new air conditioner or heat pump? If your system is really leaking refrigerant, you likely need a new system, not more refrigerant.  They know this. What you need is an honest and precise analysis of your situation.)

AC is now free, you pay installation. (Do advertisers really think that smart customers fall for this?)

Thanks for your continued trust in Precision Comfort Systems.

Geothermal Home Show in Zionsville

Watch this video to learn more about the geothermal systems installed in the Homes of Distinction home show in Zionsville.

DIY test: is heat pump causing a high electric bill?

If you receive a high electric bill in the winter and if you heat your Indianapolis area home with an electric heat pump and if you notice your heat pump runs 24/7, you might presume the heat pump is the problem. The trouble is, you normally have to call your heating contractor to see if the heat pump is working properly. Well here is a do it yourself test to check the heat pump, to see if it is working properly. This test is so easy, you will find yourself checking the heat pump operation every time you pass by. It’s almost as alluring as checking wet paint!

Before we start, I suggest you read an earlier blog (follow link) where I explain that it is normal for your heat pump to run non stop in cold weather. But even though your system is supposed to run often, you should know that a heat pump compressor can fail and the outside unit will still appear that it is working since the outside fan is still running. So how do we know the heat pump is doing its thing?

From the link above, you know a heat pump is two to four times more efficient than your backup electric heat. If the heat pump compressor fails, the backup heat takes over, the heat pump fan never shuts off and 6 weeks later you get a high electric bill, three times what it should be.

Here’s how to test if your heat pump is working. The outside unit is connected to the inside furnace by two copper refrigerant lines. One is the size of your thumb, the other the size of your little finger. In the winter, when the outside unit is running, feel the larger of the two copper lines. It is probably covered by a black foam insulation, so you will need to get under this foam to feel the metal pipe. This line should be very warm to the touch. It will not burn you, but on most winter days above 20 degrees, you will want to pull your finger off pretty quick. This pipe is carrying lots of heat. It was robbed from the outside air and is now being sent to your home.

If the line is not hot:

• Is the outside unit running? Can you get it to run by raising the thermostat? Is your thermostat improperly set to emergency heat? If you cannot get the outdoor heat pump to run… and this is a tough one… it’s broke.
• Is the heat pump in a defrost cycle? (That’s when steam is coming off the unit.) If so, wait until it’s done and test later.
• Do you really have a heat pump? (An air conditioner is not supposed to run in the winter.) Call Precision Comfort Systems and let’s get your electric bills cut in half!

If none of the above apply and the copper line is not hot, your heat pump is probably not working. The indoor electric furnace has taken over and this is costing you two to three times what you should be paying. Call Precision Comfort Systems now and we will find out exactly what is wrong.

Repeating from my last blog (but it is very important and worth a second post):

Some nasty advice is given, even among heating contractors who do not know any better, that you can use the emergency heat setting on your thermostat and “give the heat pump a break when the weather gets cold”. Well take it from me. This switch named “em. ht.” is misnamed. It has nothing to do with getting extra heating capacity or being a cold day setting. It should be named, “DOUBLE OR TRIPLE MY BILLS!” When you switch to “em. ht.”, you turn off your heat pump and now the more expensive backup furnace (toaster coils) are heating your home at two to three times the cost. Don’t do this! Allow the heat pump to run and love it. New heat pumps are very efficient and they are designed to run non stop when you need it most so your heating bill is normal. Even older heat pumps are much better than the electric furnace.

If your heat pump is too old, then its ability to move heat may be less than what it should be. Call Precision Comfort Systems, your Central Indiana heat pump specialists, to evaluate your current heat pump. We can tune it up or eventually replace it so you are getting the most from the current heat pump technology.

Is your heat pump running non-stop?

It is worrisome for many homeowners when they realize their heat pump is running all the time. If you live in Central Indiana, or any state with weather similar to Indiana, then you are familiar with your electric heat pump running non-stop on the cold days. If this concerns you, then perhaps your heating contractor is not a heat pump specialist. A heat pump specialist will explain to you the truth: your heat pump is a very efficient means of heating your home and it is designed to run 24/7 during the cold days and nights. Here is the honest science, compliments of Precision Comfort Systems in Westfield, Indiana, your heat pump specialist for all the Indianapolis area.

Unlike a conventional gas, oil or electric furnace that consumes a raw fuel and makes heat, a heat pump is gathering heat from the outside and moving the heat into your home. In the summer, a heat pump reverses the heat moving process and moves unwanted heat from the inside of your home and disperses it outside. Back to winter heating, moving heat takes much less energy than making heat. How much less?

The efficiency of a heat pump is easiest to understand when it is compared to simple electric furnace. Most electric heaters such as your hair dryer, electric stove/oven or portable heater, are similar to what you see in an old toaster; bright red coils. Since electric heat has no combustion exhaust, we gain any heat made by the electric coils so the efficiency is 100%. But straight electric heat is not the most efficient. That is why the electric heat pump is more commonly used when heating homes. The outside portion of your heat pump does not have any electric coils. Instead, it has a compressor motor that captures the heat from the outdoor air. This heat is actually free, but we do pay a bit to move it. For each dollar that you would spend in an electric furnace to get one unit of heat, a heat pump will use the same dollar of electricity and provide up to 3.5 units of heat. As the temperature outside gets colder this efficiency decreases, but it is still a very efficient 2.5 times better than straight electric coils.

So why does my heat pump run non-stop, 24/7?
Your heat pump is sized for your air conditioning needs and in Central Indiana, this means it will not meet all your heating needs. So here is what happens. In outdoor temperatures above 30 degrees, the heat pump should cycle off and on as a normal furnace. Somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees outdoor temperature, the heat pump for your home will reach a “balance point” where the heat needed by the home is equal to the heat moved by the heat pump. So now it will run all the time. As it gets colder than the balance point temperature, the heat pump will continue to run non-stop, and occasionally backup electric coils will supplement the heat pump. But do not be alarmed by this. The heat pump is designed to run continuously to give you as much of the cheap heat as you can possibly get from the unit, in order to minimize the heat made from the backup coils. As long as the heat pump is allowed to run as it is designed, the backup heat will only account for 10% to 15% of the entire Indiana winter heating needs.

Do not turn off your heat pump!
Some nasty advice is given, even among heating contractors who do not know any better, that you can use the emergency heat setting on your thermostat and “give the heat pump a break when the weather gets cold”. Well take it from me. This switch named “em. ht.” is misnamed. It has nothing to do with getting extra heating capacity or being a cold day setting. It should be named, “DOUBLE OR TRIPLE MY BILLS!” When you switch to “em. ht.”, you turn off your heat pump and now the more expensive backup furnace (toaster coils) are heating your home at two to three times the cost. Don’t do this! Allow the heat pump to run and love it. New heat pumps are very efficient and they are designed to run non stop when you need it most so your heating bill is normal. Even older heat pumps are much better than the electric furnace.

If your heat pump is too old, then its ability to move heat may be less than what it should be. Call Precision Comfort Systems, your Central Indiana heat pump specialists, to evaluate your current heat pump. We can tune it up or eventually replace it so you are getting the most from the current heat pump technology.

Part II: How do you know if your heat pump is working properly?

Indiana demands geothermal high efficiency

We are fresh back from last week’s Indianapolis Home Show and, WOW! What a great show. Here’s the bottom summary: Indiana demands geothermal high efficiency. Central Indiana’s most popular heating and cooling tax credit is the geothermal federal tax credit of 30%. The Indianapolis area will see many new homes built this year. Precision Comfort Systems will see many new geothermal high efficiency heating and air conditioning jobs in the very near future. Here are the details on my observations.

Our home show booth was very busy and this is what we learned. Geothermal high efficiency heating and cooling is very popular. Not only because it is the most efficient choice, but also because of the 30% geothermal federal tax credit. Our visitors liked our prices, loved the savings estimates, left their names and now we are frantically trying to get back with all of them.

Couples planning on building a new home this year were much more plentiful than last year. And the most popular heating choice for the new homes was the same as the existing homes. Geothermal high efficiency systems are an easy decision when the investment is part of a low interest home mortgage. The upfront cost is reduced with the 30% federal geothermal tax credit and the small amount added to the monthly payment is offset by the monthly energy savings!

Those who heat with propane and oil are upset! Their propane and oil bills are very high! They are so high, many new geothermal installation costs can be paid off in one to two years when you compare the geothermal price (minus the federal tax credit for geothermal) to a non-geothermal installation. What a no-brainer!

We had a very popular drawing at the show and you can read about the winner on this page. Thanks for stopping by. Especially if you were one of our past satisfied geothermal customers and you just stopped by to say how much you love your geothermal system. We love to hear from you. Thanks!

Heads up to Indiana Builders regarding geothermal customers

This is just a quick update regarding our tremendous success at the Indianapolis Home Show. I am happy to report that we have visited with many new home buyers and they simply love the geothermal technology for which Precision Comfort Systems is known. Most  new home buyers attending the fair enter our booth with an undecided position and leave with some new HVAC specs for the builder of their new home.

So heads up builders! Here is what you can expect. Your home buyers that have been to the Precision Comfort booth will be requesting a new geothermal heating and AC system for their new home as well as a suggestion that the system be installed by Precision Comfort. To the builders we have already worked with, we look forward to doing another Precision geothermal installation for our mutual customers.

To the builders that we have not yet met, we look forward to meeting you. Your home buyer was smart enough to seek out the most energy efficient new home heating and AC system available, and it is our opinion that they also found the most experienced geothermal heating contractor in Central Indiana. We look forward to meeting you and we are anxious to prove to you that our new home HVAC system design and installation is the best.

If you are building a new home, we encourage you to attend the Indianapolis Home Show (Dates from January 20 to 29) and find Precision Comfort Systems in booth 362. We can show you in just a few minutes why geothermal heating is your best choice for your new home.

Indiana Energy Code Update, April 2012

Welcome to the first blog post on the new Indiana Energy Code. As most of you know, we held a meeting last week at the Precision Comfort Systems campus in Westfield. We discussed the new 2012 Indiana Energy Code and how it would affect the new home building process.

Every builder I talked to felt this type of meeting is useful. Most of the builders who did not attend had already been to similar meetings so we can assume that we all are as educated as we can be, until the enforcement begins. As we know from the past, the enforcement is ultimately the final rule. And that is where this blog should be useful to you.

With this blog I hope to achieve the following:

1. Provide a location where we can give our new home Builders a forum to share their experiences with the enforcement of the new Indiana Energy Code.
2. Provide an access to Dan’s blog which will allow you to ask questions online about the new code
3. Provide a collection of good feedback for code enforcement officials to view

For this first post, I will try to capture the most important points from our meeting.

• New code applies to all homes permitted after April 5, 2012.
• There are three “paths” or sets of rules you can choose from.
  Prescriptive path is a black and white set of restrictive energy related criteria you must follow
  “Total UA” path (typical non descriptive title) is an averaging method that allows trade offs between different energy related specifications. In a computer program, a compliant model of your home is created and then your new assortment of varying materials are compared to the model.
  Performance path involves a reduced list of mandatory criteria and then the results of a blower door test and a duct blaster test are considered. This is the most flexible method and the one we think will be used for almost all homes going forward.
• Learn the Mandatory Requirements! This was one of the handouts from our meeting and these apply to all homes regardless of the path chosen.
• Get to know your Energy Inspection Company. You will need to involve them from start to finish.
• Build the home tight and get a good Blower Door performance test result.
• If possible, keep all HVAC ducts and air handlers within the conditioned space. If this is not possible, let’s get those ducts built properly, installed professionally and air sealed!

Check back soon. In my next blog I want to discuss more about duct sealing and the duct blaster test. In the meantime, let me know your most important concerns. I will do this research for you.

Honest furnace repair in Indianapolis area

If you are looking for honest furnace repair in the Indianapolis area during the Christmas holidays, you would think it should be as easy as reading the advertisements and calling any one of the many HVAC contractors who claim to be the most trustworthy, reliable, honest and overall best heating contractor in Central Indiana. It should be this easy to find honesty, especially during the holidays! But unfortunately, there are a few sales motivated individuals that cause false alarm and thus cast a bit of suspicion across the entire trade.

But first thing is first. If your furnace is not working properly, please have someone check it now. Think about it. What other appliance do you depend on for so much comfort and safety? It must work properly. So if it’s broke, get it fixed!

Now, assuming you have someone in your home for furnace repair, you may be surprised when they say the furnace needs to be replaced. This diagnosis changes a furnace repair bill of a few hundred dollars to a furnace replacement of several thousand dollars. This is not an uncommon occurrence. But are they telling the truth? Most people never know. What should you do?

Precision Comfort Systems recommends getting a second opinion. Our experienced technicians each have many stories about inspecting a supposedly condemned furnace and finding nothing wrong. This is unfortunate, but there are some individuals who think that any furnace over a certain age is not reliable. These technicians who are pressured for sales quotas, create just enough alarm to pressure customers into a purchase that may not have been needed.

Precision Comfort System has no charge for a second opinion. We have been to many homes in the Westfield, Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel and Zionsville area that did not really have a furnace about to blow up. You would be amazed at how many loyal customers we have acquired by simply giving them an honest answer. We would much rather impress you with our honesty today, and then have the opportunity to impress you with our installation skills in the future.

Precision earns heating and AC Services Award

Precision Comfort Systems has just received another services award and the new badge has been installed on the bottom of our web page. This award reflects Precision Comfort System’s consistently high level of customer service. If you are looking for the heating and air conditioning company that is the best in honest, skilled customer service, Precision is a north side Indianapolis company you can trust.

This award means a lot to us. As a result of our long standing commitment to customer satisfaction, we are, perhaps, the most referred heating and air conditioning company in the City of Westfield and other nearby communities. Our past, satisfied customers are the most powerful and effective type of advertising we possess and we depend on our long standing, “best in the area” reputation to keep our referrals coming in.

Customer referrals are the perfect way for Precision Comfort Systems to be recognized and discovered by new customers who demand the best in heating and air conditioning service. Read the testimonials on our website.

Our customers are the most valuable asset we have acquired over the years and we intend to maintain their trust. We hope we get the opportunity to earn your trust and impress you with our services.