Posted: July 15, 2024
When you aren’t in “the business,” you don’t always understand all the lingo. And you probably don’t need to understand all of it—CFM or HSPF won’t come up often in your daily conversations like it does in ours! But HVAC can turn up a lot—like when you search for a heating or cooling repair technician. That’s because HVAC stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. It’s about your heating and cooling systems, as well as the system that moves air through your home, whether it’s warm or cool.
Depending on how you heat or cool your home, the components of your HVAC system can vary.
Many modern homes rely on a ducted system. You might also call it “central air.” Ducted systems use a single blower to circulate heated or cooled air throughout your home using a system of ducts or pipes. A ductless system could be a radiant heating system (think radiators) and window ac units, or it could be heat pumps located around your home that both heat and cool your home in zones.
But what about the “V” part—the ventilation? Ventilation is the intake of fresh air, and it can happen in two ways. Natural ventilation is when air moves in and out of a home through windows, doors and vents. Mechanical ventilation uses blowers and other mechanical systems to move air, and also filter it to remove dust, allergens and odors.
Natural ventilation comes from windows and doors that allow fresh air into your home. Older homes tend to have gaps and spaces that provide a bit more “natural” ventilation than might be desirable: Small openings around windows and doors, and old or poorly installed insulation mean that more air can escape or get in from the outside. That means air that you’re paying to heat or cool can escape (and, warm or cold air can get in).
Modern homes are much better insulated—they have a tighter “envelope” to use more lingo—which means very little air can escape. But it also means the “V”—ventilation—part is more important. Vents, an air handler and ductwork work together to allow fresh air to enter, passing through filters that remove dust, pollen and pollutants, and circulate through your home and back to your heating and cooling equipment. If improving air quality is your goal, a variety of products exist to filter indoor air utilizing UV light, particle charge, and other methods of isolating germs and pollutants.
Your thermostat is also a key part of your HVAC system. Depending on how your home and your heating cooling equipment is set up, you may have one thermostat that controls the whole show, or multiple independent thermostats. Additionally, you may have a manual thermostat, a programmable thermostat, or a smart thermostat. With a manual thermostat, the temperature stays at whatever you set. A programmable thermostat can change temperature on a preset daily or weekly schedule. A smart thermostat can be programmed and also adjusted on the fly, from your smartphone—some even connect with your home automation system like Main-Care Connect.
No matter what type of thermostat you have, you can use it to lower your costs by 10% or more. To maximize your savings, set your thermostat for 68° when you’re at home and awake in the winter, and 78° in the summer. Lower the setting by 10° when you’re sleeping or out of the house in cold weather, and raise it by 10° in the summer. Smart thermostats make it super easy, because you can use your phone to raise or lower the temperature a half hour before you get home.
In addition to keeping you and your family cool in the summer and warm in the winter, your HVAC system can play a big part in helping you keep energy costs manageable.
Of course, new HVAC equipment is designed to be more efficient than ever. But no matter how old your equipment is, keeping your heating and cooling equipment tuned up with regular maintenance once a year will help ensure it operates efficiently. Clean filters, oiled motors, and properly working parts mean your heating and cooling equipment doesn’t need to run as hard to warm or cool air and move it all around your home. A tune-up can also prevent minor problems from becoming expensive breakdowns.
Whether you’re ready for a tune-up or thinking your due to replace your HVAC system, with Main-Care Energy, you have a full-service team of HVAC professionals, home-efficiency experts and the best fuel delivery team in the region. Contact us today for more information.
