Air-source heat pumps, the most common type on the market today, extract warmth from the outside air to provide heat to a home. They are relatively simple to install, are more energy efficient than furnaces, and can work in reverse as an air conditioning unit in the summer.

If you like the idea of reducing your carbon footprint, an air-source heat pump may be right up your alley. The pump is low maintenance and should last at least 15-20 years. The pump runs on electricity, though it can provide up to four times the amount of energy as it consumes. Even a high-efficiency furnace is doing well when it’s providing 90-95 percent efficiency. This is possible with a heat pump because rather than converting heat from a fuel, it moves heat instead.

As appealing as this may sound, air-source heat pumps tend to lose efficiency during extended periods of below-freezing weather. That’s why many heat pump owners in northern latitudes use dual-fuel or furnace backup systems, so that during cold weather, the more efficient heating can take over.

If you’re considering an air-source heat pump, first ensure that:

• you have plenty of space outdoors for a unit, which is usually affixed to a wall or placed on the ground. Either way, it will need a large, unobstructed area so that air can move freely around it.

• your home is fairly well insulated to minimize heat loss.

• you don’t plan to use a radiator-based heating system, as these require higher water temperatures.

Air-source heat pumps are a good option for both improved energy efficiency and home comfort. But don’t leave such an important decision to just anyone; call the experts at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.We’ll inspect your home and meet with you to decide if this technology is the right fit for you.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

Replace Old Carpets

Old wall-to-wall carpets are dust magnets, and can hold on to more dust than vacuuming can get rid of. Replace these old monsters with hardwood floors, and use smaller area rugs to carpet individual areas.

Mop, Don’t Sweep

Sweeping can clean up a little dust, but mostly it just moves it around and releases it into the air. Clean your floors with a Swiffer-style mop – or just a regular mop – to more effectively remove dust.

Clean, Don’t Dust

Dusting is even worse than sweeping. All it does is take dust that was minding its own business on your shelves and release it into the air you breathe. Dusting actually creates airborne dust. Instead of dusting, use a slightly damp cloth sprayed with a little bit of an all-purpose household cleaner to wipe dust away.

Change Your Furnace Filter Regularly

With cold weather upon us, chances are you’ve been using your furnace more and more. If you haven’t installed a fresh filter in a while, now’s the time. Clean filters trap airborne dust more effectively, so change yours at least once every three months.

Upgrade your Furnace Filter

HEPA filters, pleated filters and electrostatic filters are much better at removing airborne dust than the cheap disposable fiberglass filters that many homeowners use. Look at a filter’s MERV-rating to judge its efficiency.

Have Your Ductwork Cleaned

If your heating ducts haven’t been cleaned in a few years, you might be stunned to discover how much dust is lurking in this hidden area of your home.

To schedule a duct cleaning, or for more information on ways to reduce dust in your Connecticut home, contact Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about airborne dust and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

• Have enough batteries to operate your flashlights and radios. Stock up on suitable candles or oil-burning lamps to illuminate a few living spaces. Always extinguish the candles or lamps before going to sleep. Keep them away from flammable materials.
• Fill a bathtub with water. Use the water for toilet flushes and set aside water in clean containers for drinking. If the power is going to be out for hours or days, let faucets drip in the house to prevent your pipes from freezing.
• Bring some firewood close to an exterior door if you have a hearth product to create additional heat. If you’re dependent on a furnace, hang heavy blankets over the windows and doors to retain as much heat inside a room as possible. Select one room to occupy to make the most of the remaining heat in your home. If you can’t stay warm, strongly consider staying with friends or using a local motel.
• Stock up on groceries. During a power outage, you’ll have to be resourceful for heating the food, so having canned food in the pantry provides quick meals. Never use a barbecue inside your home to heat food. Small camping stoves or backpacking stoves are handy during a power outage to use briefly for heating food or beverages.
• Layer your clothing to trap body heat better than a single, heavy garment.
• Protect your computers, televisions and furnace from power surges or spikes when the electricity comes back on. Make sure your cell phone is fully charged, or remember that you can use your car charger. Leave a light on, so you’ll know exactly when the power does come back on.

If you have any questions about how to weather a Connecticut power outage or any other HVAC issues, please contact us at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioningto learn more.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about power outages and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.

Preventative Maintenance image via Shutterstock 

1. Reduce water use. Two important ways to do reduce hot water use include fixing leaks and installing low-flow fixtures. A leaky fixture that drips once per second will cost you up to a dollar per month. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends installing fixtures that use less than 2.5 gallons of water per minute. Some older shower heads (especially pre-1992) flow more than twice as quickly as the national standard of 2.5 gallons per minute. It’s also helpful to do your part and use less hot water when possible. It can be tempting to take long, hot showers during a cold Connecticut winter, but shorter showers can significantly reduce your water-heating costs.
2. Perform regular water heater maintenance to reduce your water-heating costs and extend the life of your water heater. A professional can service your water heater for you, or you can do most of it yourself. One easy and important step is to make sure your water heater isn’t set to higher than 120 degrees. You can also partially drain your water heater tank into a bucket from time to time to check for rusty or cloudy water, which indicates a mineral buildup that a professional might need to fix.
3. Only purchase energy efficient water heaters, clothes washers, and dishwashers. Many old appliances use much more energy and hot water than new ones, though it’s important to look for the most efficient appliances among a selection of new models. If your old appliances are really inefficient, it might be worth it in energy savings to upgrade them even before they completely wear out. Use the Energy Star program to help you choose efficient appliances.

For help servicing your water heater, choosing and installing an energy-efficient water heater and reducing your hot water use in your Connecticut home, contact the helpful experts at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about water heating costs and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

This is because if you’re like most people, you want to block off the cold outdoor air, so you close the overhead garage door in a hurry. The problem is, you’ve also trapped the emissions from your vehicle, which trail into your home and reduce your indoor-air quality.

There are other sources of pollutants and emissions in most attached garages, including gas-powered tools such as snow blowers and chain saws, whose emission systems are not as advanced as those in cars. Chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides are other emission sources that should be stored as close to the overhead door as possible.

What you probably don’t know is that many of the fumes and emissions from these pollution sources can find their way into your home, helped along by the common pressure differences between the garage and a well-ventilated home. The fumes are actually being drawn into many homes.

In some ways, your home is protected against some of these issues. Namely, your home should have at least one layer of drywall between the walls and the garage, not to mention a thick layer of insulation.The problem is, air can seep through small cracks in the walls between the garage and your house and through the top floor ceiling, as well as through holes for electrical and plumbing fixtures. Seal cracks and openings with caulk. Do so in the light of day, and direct a bright light on the walls. Also inspect your garage drywall and finish it with compound and then two coats of paint. Finally, consider installing a simple exhaust fan in your garage, to remove harmful fumes while equalizing the pressure between your house and the garage.

To improve the indoor-air quality of your home, call Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.to schedule an air quality evaluation. We’ll inspect your garage from top to bottom and make it as airtight as possible.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

For most people, the first thing they do is call a contractor for an estimate. If it’s not an emergency, however, take some time to eliminate drafts in your home. Weatherstripping, replacing or adding insulation, caulking foundation cracks – cover these basics before you make the call. Why? The less heat your house loses, the less furnace you’ll need.

And yes, in the world of furnaces, size does matter. With a properly sized furnace, you’ll pay less for it initially and in the long run. A furnace that’s too big wastes fuel and wears out faster because it cycles on and off more often. A properly sized furnace may also mean you won’t have to up-size your ductwork or install new vents, saving you money on the installation.

After you’re finished with your weatherization project, how do you know how big of a furnace you’ll need? When you do call your contractor, make sure he does a standardized calculation of the local climate, the size of your house, and its design and construction features to determine how much heating power you really need.

What features should you look for in a new furnace? You definitely want a furnace with a high “annual fuel-utilization-efficiency” (AFUE) rating, preferably at least 90 percent. This measures how much heat your furnace can wring out of the fuel input. The higher the percentage, the better. Features such as variable speed blowers, variable heat outputs, and dual heat exchangers can also increase your furnace’s efficiency.

If you have questions about furnace replacement, contact us at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning. We’ve proudly served our Connecticut customers since 1994. Our professional technicians can help you figure out which furnace is best for your home and your wallet.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about furnace replacement and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

Here are some steps to prevent frozen pipes:

• Make sure you home has effective insulation, especially in areas where pipes are vulnerable to freezing.
• During extremely cold weather (below 20 degrees Fahrenheit) turn your faucets on slightly so that water drips very slowly from them. This drip allows pressure to be released if water freezes and expands in your pipes. Moving water also freezes less rapidly than motionless water. Frozen pipes are much less likely to burst if the water fixtures are slightly open.
• When going on a trip, don’t turn your thermostat down more than several degrees, and definitely don’t turn your heat all the way off. If your home has a zoned heating system, you can save energy by turning heat on only in rooms next to pipes. Have a neighbor stop by and check your home during excessively cold weather.
• Drain your water system before a big freeze or before going on vacation during cold weather. To drain the system, turn off the main water valve and allow all faucets to run until water stops flowing out of them. Once the water stops flowing, pipes should have little to no water in them. They will not burst during cold temperatures if there is not enough water in them to freeze and expand. When you need to use the water again, turn the main water valve back on.

For more information on preventing frozen pipes in your Connecticut home, or for help updating your home to prevent frozen pipes, contact the friendly experts at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about frozen pipes and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

Ductwork image via Shutterstock

The Yardstick form is simple to use. It requires you to know the square footage of your home, the home’s fuel sources, and your home’s energy bill information for the past year. You input this information into the Energy Star Yardstick form, and the form scores your energy use score along a “ruler.” It also tells you how much energy you use per year and what your costs are.

Once you use the Yardstick to calculate your home’s recent energy efficiency, you can use the form to calculate how much you would save by reducing your home’s energy usage by different percentages. As you know all too well, heating costs can get high during cold winters in Connecticut, and proper winter preparation can save a lot on energy costs.

After filling out the Yardstick form, the Yardstick website recommends strategies to help reduce your energy usage. Programming your thermostat to conserve energy and setting your home up for energy efficiency are two ways to reduce energy usage and costs. The site recommends keeping your thermostat below 72 degrees during winter and above 76 degrees during summer to prevent excess energy usage. It’s also a great idea to have your HVAC system serviced at least once a year for maximum efficiency and reduced chances of breakdowns when you’re least equipped to deal with them.

For help with weatherproofing your home, installing energy-efficient heating and air conditioning, and servicing existing HVAC systems in the Connecticut area, contact Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about energy star and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

But how can you be sure? And what are you paying for?

Most HVAC service agreements offer a basic plan, as they do at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. This plan usually includes a basic air conditioning checkup and a furnace checkup.

At Glasco, we set up service contracts and system maintenance schedules to cater to our customers’ home and business needs.

• For oil furnaces we offer preventative maintenance and cleaning plans.
• For natural gas, we schedule regular safety checks
• Air conditioning and heat pump systems have special maintanence needs, such as inspecting outside compressors and attic units for leaking and other issues.

During a service call, our NATE (North American Technician Excellence) certified technicians will trouble-shoot problems and ensure your HVAC system is properly maintained.

You know that the experts at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning are ready to work with you to decide on the service contract that’s right for your needs and home HVAC system. Contact usto discuss a service contract or for any other home-comfort need. We serve the state of Connecticut with pride.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about service and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.  

HVAC contractor image via Shutterstock

To understand what makes dual-fuel systems unique, you first need to understand a little bit more about each of the components that make up the system.

The first component, the heat pump, works by extracting heat from the air outdoors and transferring it inside in the winter (and reversing the process in the summer). As long as the temperature outdoors remains above freezing, heat pumps are one of the most efficient heating solutions. However, as soon as the temperature drops below freezing, they start losing efficiency.

This is where the second component, the gas furnace, comes into play. Unlike heat pumps, furnaces don’t rely on the surrounding air for heat. Instead, they burn fuel to actively produce their own heat. This makes them far more efficient than heat pumps when temperatures fall below freezing.

By alternating between the heat pump and furnace depending upon which is most efficient for the current weather conditions, a dual fuel system can keep your home comfortable while maximizing efficiency.

Not only that, but these systems have an added bonus. During the summer months, you can reverse the direction on the heat pump and use it as a central air conditioner instead. This can help keep your home cool and comfortable on even the hottest summer days.

Thanks to their unique ability to adapt to changing weather conditions, dual-fuel systems are the perfect way to maintain year-round comfort while at the same time maximizing energy efficiency.

If you live in the greater Hartford area and are interested in installing a dual-fuel system in your home, contact us at Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about dual-fuel systems and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Glasco Heating & Air Conditioning services South Windsor, Connecticut and the surrounding areas.