Tag Archive for: Home Air Maintenance

Top 7 Ways You Can Keep Your Home Cool This Summer

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Summer is the hottest season of the year. Even though the sun goes down at night, the high-angle summer temperatures remain relatively constant, with no signs of change. Heat is dangerous — and sometimes deadly. Published research shows that overheating can lead to heatstroke, which is a life-threatening condition.

It’s important to keep your house cool this summer to prevent overheating, heat exhaustion, heat cramp, and heat rash. Therefore, you should mitigate the effects of excessive heat in your home by looking at ways to keep your home cool this summer.

7 Ways to Keep Your Home Cool This Summer

1. Air Sealing

Air sealing represents a superior solution for keeping your house cool and your HVAC systems efficient. When you air seal, you prevent the loss of conditioned cool air and heat entry. This, in return, increases the coolness of your interior space and promotes the efficiency of the cooling systems. The HVAC doesn’t have to work as hard to retain the conditioned cool air and prevent hot or warm air.

2. Insulation

Insulation works through a similar mechanism as air sealing. Usually, insulating your windows and doors prevents the entry of warm air and keeps the cool air inside. Insulation works as a barrier, preventing the escape of conditioned cool air and hindering hot air from outside.

3. Check for Air Leaks

It’s advisable to check for air leaks and seal them. Common areas to look out for include door frames, windows, sockets, baseboards, pipes, and electrical outlets. You can use caulking or weather stripping to seal small cracks or tiny openings between doors and windows. You can use foal sealant to cover cracks and holes in ceilings, floors, walls, and windows. Use door sweeps to prevent outside air from accessing your indoor space.

4. Ventilation

Ventilation, commonly known as airflow, allows the exchange of stale indoor air with fresh outside air, thus creating a healthier and more welcoming indoor space. Proper ventilation helps eliminate poor, polluted air containing moisture, cook fumes, and volatile organic compounds (VOC), which can all contribute to discomfort. You can achieve proper ventilation through cross-ventilation. This process involves opening windows on opposite sides to allow air to flow in one window and flow outside to the other.

5. Effective Use of Air Conditioning

Air conditioning can reduce your energy expenditure because air conditioners improve indoor air quality, reducing energy and electricity expenses. Reducing energy usage from air conditioning minimizes carbon emissions, thus improving your environmental carbon footprint. Regular cleaning of A/C units and regular maintenance improves your indoor air quality. Clean air filters have fewer allergens, less dust, smoke, and other contaminants likely to be distributed by the air conditioning system.

Here are a few energy-saving practices when using air conditioning:

  • Use natural cooling methods: Before turning on your air conditioner, open your windows during hot hours to allow cool, fresh air. In addition, use fans when necessary and take advantage of natural temperature changes.
  • Maintain proper insulation: Effective air sealing prevents heat loss and heat gain, improving the performance and functioning of your air conditioning system.
  • Zone cooling: If possible, utilize zone cooling by using portable air conditioners or adjusting your vents and pipes. Use zone coolers in specific areas of your home instead of cooling the entire space.

6. Outdoor Shading and Landscaping

Outdoor shading prevents direct sunlight from reaching your windows, doors, and walls, ensuring optimal indoor temperature. Shading acts as a passive cooling method because it diffuses direct sunlight, eliminates the need to use mechanical cooling techniques, and saves energy.

Here are tips for strategically shading your outdoor space:

  • Tree placement: Strategically identify the sun’s path during the day and plant trees on the eastern and western sides of your walls and windows to prevent direct sunlight from hitting your home.
  • Shade structures: Install pergolas and awnings on your outdoor space and south-facing windows to prevent the high-angle summer sun from hitting your windows and walls.
  • Deciduous trees: If you live in an area with distinct climatic patterns, you can opt for deciduous trees which shed their leaves during winter to allow direct sunlight radiation to reach your home.

7. Energy-Efficient Lighting

Lighting is essential for every home, but inefficient lighting can lead to higher energy bills. Traditional incandescent bulbs and other inefficient lighting alternatives contribute to carbon emissions with devastating environmental footprints.

Some tips for energy-efficient lighting:

  • Replace traditional lighting: Replace all incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs for more efficient lighting.
  • Identify lighting requirements: Assess the lighting requirements for each room and evaluate the appropriate bulb wattages and color temperatures to minimize energy consumption.
  • Dimmer switches and timers: Install timers to automatically switch off the lights when they’re not in use. Use dimmer switches to adjust the light according to your needs.

Briggs HVAC – Your Expert in Indoor Cooling Solutions

Briggs HVAC in Northern Virginia is your expert in residential and commercial indoor cooling. The company sells, installs, repairs, and maintains air conditioners, helping homes and offices meet indoor cooling needs. Briggs HVAC specializes in different HVAC brands, including Trane, Daikin, Carrier, Aprilaire, and Goodman.

Contact Briggs HVAC for superior indoor cooling solutions to keep your home cool this summer.

How to Save Money on Your Energy Bills with HVAC Upgrades

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From the pancakes in your pan to the gas in your car, everything seems to be getting expensive these days. The rising cost of energy has been driven by climate change and increased demand for carbon fuels. Luckily, with clean energy, things seem to be getting into place. Upgrading your HVAC system can help you save money on your energy bills.

Here’s how you can save money on your energy bills with HVAC upgrades:

1. Insulating Your Indoor Space

Statistics show that homes and commercial establishments consume 40% of the energy consumed in the United States. And, of the $2000 households spend on energy annually, a whopping $200 to $400 could be going to outdated heating and cooling systems.

Sealing air leaks in your floors, fireplaces, ceilings, and floors is a great way to ensure you save significantly on lost energy. Most importantly, upgrading your HVAC system ensures that your cooling and heating systems function optimally, thus saving you significantly on energy bills.

2. Investing in a New System

Old or outdated HVAC systems can cost you significantly in energy costs. Understanding how technology has changed can help you step up and leverage the best-in-class heating and cooling systems.

For instance, the SEER rating continues to change, with changes targeting higher energy efficiency and lower heating costs. Therefore, investing in a new HVAC system can help you take advantage of new technologies in HVAC systems and ultimately help you save money on your energy bills.

3. Retrofit an Old HVAC System

Retrofitting an old HVAC system implies adding modifications to your system. HVAC systems tend to age with time, posing significant cost concerns to home and office owners.

However, adding modifications such as replacing an old PSC fan with an ECM drive, replacing burners, and upgrading to a programmable thermostat are all ways of making the HVAC more efficient. In addition, you can add dehumidification and improve the filtration of the entire system. All these represent critical retrofits to improve the energy efficiency of your systems and save money on energy bills.

4. Higher Efficiency and Performance

Newer air conditioners have higher SEER ratings than your typical 20-year-old system. That’s simply because newer air conditioners have higher Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratings (SEER). This rating explains the amount of energy necessary for removing extra indoor air temperatures. The higher the rating, the less energy you need to get rid of excess temperature indoors. HVAC upgrades typically guarantee higher SEER ratings, ensuring you spend significantly less on electricity and energy bills.

5. Purchase Incentives

The most obvious disadvantage of a system with a higher SEER rating is that it will be typically more expensive to purchase at the onset. However, air conditioners with excellent SEER ratings will offer better purchase incentives. Indeed, some utility companies will offer you rebates for upgrading to energy-efficiency systems, including HVAC systems. This also applies to some states which offer tax breaks for energy-efficient air conditioners. So, ensure to check out with your respective state and utility company to see whether you qualify for these exciting offers.

6. Energy and Cost Savings

You’ll notice significant energy and cost savings immediately after upgrading your HVAC unit. Variations in SEER ratings contribute to energy and electricity savings. And even if your HVAC system has a decent SEER rating, there’s always room for improvement.

You can upgrade it to a higher SEER rating to bring energy consumption to an optimum. For instance, upgrading your SEER rating from 16 to around 19 can bring your energy savings to somewhere between 25% to 40%. HVAC upgrades contribute significantly to your energy and cost savings, whether you’re a residential property or a commercial establishment.

Additional Tips to Save Money on Your Energy Bills

It’s important to recognize that huge energy bills come because it takes a lot of electricity to get rid of excess temperature in your indoor spaces. On the same note, higher electricity and energy bills are directly attributable to the amount of electricity you need to heat your home. This underlying understanding of nuances in energy use can help you save money on your energy bills.

Here are additional tips to save money on your energy bills:

  • Cover your windows and other open spaces: This helps prevent unnecessary loss of heat and entry of cool air, keeping your indoor temperatures constant.
  • Throw shade around the house: Planting indoor flowers or trees can help block direct sunlight and thus keep your house cooler.
  • Change your thermostat: It’s advisable to get creative about your thermostat and upgrade it to a programmable one. A programmable thermostat helps you adjust your indoor temperature at certain hours of the day.
  • Deploy ceiling fans: If possible, install ceiling fans on your house’s upper level and open the windows on the lower level. If you’re living in a one-story apartment, open windows far from the fan and close windows near the fan. This helps to regulate the indoor temperature and keep the energy utility bills to a minimum.

HVAC Briggs — Your Ultimate Destination for Indoor Heating and Cooling Savings in Northern Virginia

You can contact us for excellent indoor heating and cooling solutions. As a family-owned HVAC company in Northern Virginia, we provide excellent heating and air conditioning solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial establishments. We also provide AC repair, AC sales and installations, and AC maintenance solutions.

5 Air Conditioning Myths Debunked

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In these days of super-fast communication media, it takes very little time and effort for misinformation to spread. Misinformation can then be taken as fact by large numbers of people. Unfortunately, half-baked ideas and misconceptions about air-conditioning are common—getting in the way of making good decisions about home HVAC systems. Take a look at these five air-conditioning myths, debunked so that you can separate fact from fiction about your home AC.

1. Air-conditioning Causes Respiratory Problems

This is a myth not backed up by health research. When AC equipment is used correctly, it helps prevent and minimize health issues. By filtering out harmful airborne particles—bacteria, viruses, fungi, pollen, dander, and other allergens, cleaner air circulates indoors. As a result, asthma and hay fever sufferers can breathe easier, particularly if high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are used.

However, if you don’t service your air conditioner regularly, the air filters will eventually become dirty and clogged, lowering the air quality in the home. So, this is a case of a myth deriving from homeowners’ neglect of their equipment.

2. The Bigger the AC Unit, the Better

While it seems to make sense that a large, powerful AC unit is best for cooling down rooms, that’s not necessarily the case. Equipment needs to be sized for the space it’s expected to service.

An undersized AC unit will have to work harder to meet set temperature levels, making it less energy efficient, and costing you more in energy bills. Similarly, an oversized unit will need to turn itself on and off to maintain set temperatures, also using more energy than the right-sized equipment would. The result in both cases is higher equipment wear and tear, along with higher energy costs. Additionally, the lifespan of the equipment will be shorter, requiring earlier replacement.

3. Keeping Vents Closed Keeps Air Cool

Many air-conditioning myths seem to start from a logical position but don’t hold up due to a lack of technical knowledge. For example, it’s a popular misconception that if you close off vents and doors in lightly used rooms, chill air will circulate in a smaller area keeping the home cooler.

Unfortunately, home HVAC systems don’t work optimally with vents closed. Air pressure builds up in the air ducts, putting strain on the equipment, lowering energy efficiency, and raising energy costs. Vents should be open so that air is evenly distributed through your home, which is how your AC equipment was designed to be used.

4. AC Equipment Isn’t Efficient for Heating

An expensive fallacy held by many homeowners is that reverse-cycle air conditioning isn’t as efficient as dedicated heating appliances. Gas or electric wall attached or portable plug-in heaters are used rather than AC. However, the heating method used by reverse cycle AC units actually results in lower heating costs per hour than typical plug-in heaters.

Reverse cycle air conditioners draw in heat from outdoor air to indoors. Then, the drawn-in air is heated to set thermostat temperatures through a refrigerant process. This energy-efficient method of heating works even in freezing weather.

The energy cost savings from a reverse cycle air conditioner can be more than 50% less per hour compared to radiant and panel heaters. Of course, this depends on specific appliance models and their energy input levels. Check the Energy Star ratings for your AC and heating appliances. You may be shocked at the difference in running costs and how much this can add up to over winter.

5. ACs Are Bad for the Environment

This is one of the most disingenuous air-conditioning myths. It’s propagated upon the notion that any use of power is bad for the environment and that AC is particularly to blame. However, heating and cooling are essential requirements of modern life for most people. Moreover, as with Myth Number 4, reverse-cycle air conditioning can be much more efficient than standard heating appliances. As such, the lower energy use of AC appliances benefits the environment.

Using reverse-cycle AC results in roughly one-third fewer emissions being released into the atmosphere. Some of the most efficient appliances produce only one-fifth the level of emissions by standard heaters. Technical improvements in refrigerants are also reducing greenhouse gas levels. Human ingenuity can be expected to achieve even better results in future years.

Keep Your Air Conditioning Equipment at Peak Efficiency

At Briggs HVAC, we love helping debunk AC myths. Talk to us about a system maintenance plan to keep your AC in top condition and reduce energy emissions and costs. We service Northern Virginia and nearby counties.

What’s in Your Ductwork?

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Keeping your HVAC ductwork clean and in good condition is essential to achieving high-quality air in your home. Lack of regular maintenance and HVAC servicing is the number one cause of pests and pathogens in system ducts. So, do you know what’s in your ductwork? You may be shocked to find what ductwork contaminants are in your system.

Here are Several Common Problems to Look Out For:

Signs Your HVAC Servicing is Overdue

If you can’t remember when HVAC servicing was last carried out, your home may be experiencing some unpleasant consequences. Nasty odors, and noises like rattling, squeaking, and squealing that seem to be coming from the HVAC are clear signs that equipment inspection should be done pronto. Additionally, you may notice a smell of dust in the air, or sudden mustiness, or family members may be experiencing intense allergy symptoms.

Large, Furry, or Feathery Intruders

Old houses are prone to wear and tear, creating openings in external and internal walls. These small gaps entice and enable many types of rodents to work their way inside and make their homes inside wall cavities and ductwork. Let’s talk about mice and rats, for starters.

If your HVAC vents through a chimney, there’s also the potential for storm damage to the chimney cap and more furry and feathered friends to install themselves through openings from the roof. Furthermore, as an HVAC system ages, normal wear and tear will also contribute to gaps and weaknesses in the ductwork providing entryways for small critters.

Small and Creepy Invaders

If rodents and birds can make a nuisance of themselves in chimney structures and ductwork, then it’s even easier for tiny and not-so-tiny, creeping, crawling, and scuttling nuisances to come inside. Insects and arachnids that frequent HVAC ducts include dust mites, spiders, cockroaches, and silverfish.

Your unwelcome lodgers can breed quickly in the cavities, sheltered nooks, and crannies of ducts. A small problem can soon become an explosion in numbers and a significant headache to get rid of. Fortunately, many HVAC companies perform basic pest control as part of their servicing and will readily capture and dispose of small critters.

Hidden but Toxic Ductwork Contaminants

It’s usually fairly obvious when rodents or birds make themselves at home where they’re not wanted. Still, the less obvious ductwork contaminants can be highly detrimental to the air quality in your home or workplace. Organic pollutants include fungal and mold spores, pollen particles, and harmful bacteria and virus spores. These airborne particles can easily make their way into the ducts from the outdoors.

Your first sign that these microscopic particles may be lodged in your HVAC ducts is when you or yours develop respiratory symptoms.  Excessive sneezing, coughing, a tendency to develop sinus problems, colds, and flu can all be signs that pollutants are present in heavy concentrations in the air. Over time too much exposure to these pollutants can weaken the immune system in susceptible people and cause constant respiratory problems. Reducing such health risks requires that air filters be regularly changed and upgraded to HEPA filtration levels if necessary.

How Regular HVAC Servicing Prevents and Removes Problems

Professional, qualified HVAC technicians follow strict processes when servicing your HVAC. They inspect, lubricate, and adjust moving parts, including motors, belts, controls, and valves. Air measurements are performed to ensure there are no blockages or leaks and that blower mechanisms are working correctly. Thermostat controls are checked along with electrical connections.

The ductwork is inspected to identify and repair any gaps that have allowed entry by animals or biological pollutants. Air filters are inspected and replaced.

Removing Pests and Pollutants

If large rodents such as squirrels, snakes, or raccoons have invaded, a professional pest control company may have to be called in before HVAC cleaning begins. Insects can be blown out of the system as the ducts are cleaned and vacuumed. Industrial-strength vacuums can also remove small dead creatures such as mice and spiders.

Severe contamination levels may require pesticides, antiseptics, or disinfectants to be applied. The Environmental Protection Agency lists registered and recommended products that can be used for cleaning purposes.

Tackle Ductwork Problems with Your Local HVAC Experts

Briggs HVAC is your local Northern Virginia for all HVAC maintenance and servicing. Our technicians give superior service, expertly inspecting, cleaning, and remediating your HVAC equipment. With a regular maintenance plan, you get a twice-yearly service and head off a host of potential problems. Servicing includes ensuring your equipment is properly sealed to prevent animals and other ductwork contaminants. Contact us today for more details. 

Benefits of Managing Your Indoor Air Quality

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We spend a significant part of our lives indoors, particularly at home. Unfortunately, the air quality within our homes often leaves much to be desired. Chemicals, toxins, molds, fungi, and other allergens can hang heavy in the air. This all can affect our health and comfort. Poor ventilation, dampness, excess humidity, and dusty and dirty conditions within the home can exacerbate problems. See how the benefits of actively managing your indoor air quality can reap rewards for you, your family, and your bank account.

What’s Involved in Managing Indoor Air Quality?

Actively managing your home air quality means being aware of the significant causes of degraded air. These include:

  • residue from smoke, whether from cigarette smoking or burning wood in open fireplaces
  • airborne particles that make their way indoors, such as pollen, and
  • mold and fungi growing in damp areas of the home that release spores into the air.

Many of these airborne culprits increase due to poor air circulation or degraded filtering by home HVAC systems. Other home environment factors include damaged chimney stacks and external wear and tear, resulting in gaps in walls and windows that let moisture into the home.

You may find that you need to be something of a detective in monitoring and determining the causes of dank air or the reasons behind respiratory health problems experienced by yourself or your family members. Indoor air quality monitors can assist you in this task, and another expert source of advice is your local HVAC company.

What are the Benefits of Managing Your Indoor Air Quality?

You can achieve several benefits from keeping your HVAC equipment at peak efficiency, but the greatest benefit is to you and your family’s overall health. You may realize secondary gains from improved comfort and in reducing HVAC costs.

Here’s More Detail on How to Get These Benefits:

The Benefits of Reducing Allergens

Many people suffer from respiratory conditions such as hay fever and asthma, triggered by airborne particles such as pollen, dust in the air, fungal spores, or tiny nasties such as dust mites. Hay fever sufferers have a miserable time, with symptoms similar to a constant head cold. Asthma attacks can be brought on by exposure to allergens, with deadly consequences if not treated in time.

Over time these symptoms can lower the body’s immune system response and develop long-term health conditions such as sinusitis or worsening asthma. Clearly, reducing airborne allergens in the home positively benefits respiratory illness sufferers.

How to Manage Allergens with a Three-pronged Attack:
  1. Clean or replace all HVAC filters regularly and upgrade to higher quality equipment such as HEPA filters if necessary.
  2. Implement a thorough cleaning routine: wash pillowcases and sheets every two to three weeks; vacuum rugs and carpets with a HEPA filter machine.
  3. Reduce opportunities for pollen and other microbial spores like mold and fungi to get inside by keeping windows closed on high pollen days.

The Benefits of Reducing Exposure to Smoke

Whether you’re exposed to smoke from wood fire burning or secondhand cigarette smoke, you’re inhaling toxic substances. Wood burning releases carbon monoxide, soot, creosote, and other harmful chemicals, while cigarette smoke produces hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and other poisons. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, and worsening asthma are all associated with inhaled smoke, so the less exposure, the greater the health benefit.

How to Manage Health Risks by Ensuring Regular Maintenance:
  1. HVAC filters are regularly changed, with annual maintenance and immediate repair of any leaks in the system.
  2. If using open wood-burning fires, annual chimney inspection, and sweeping.
  3. Cigarette smokers are banned from smoking indoors.

The Benefits of Programmable Thermostats for HVAC

With new technology, HVAC systems can run longer for less cost. Digital thermostats can automatically lower the temperature when no one is home or sleeping at night. The Department of Energy states that 10% a year can be saved on energy bills by simply lowering temperatures for eight hours a day.

Improve Your Indoor Air Quality with Briggs HVAC in Northern Virginia

Our homes should be places of respite, providing breathing space from the hectic pace and barrage of modern life. However, long-term exposure to degraded indoor air can lead to severe and chronic health conditions, while even short bursts of exposure to air laden with carbon monoxide can kill.

Regular HVAC maintenance is a primary way to have clean and fresh indoor air and ensure toxins are not reaching deadly levels. Let us assist you in managing indoor air quality and keeping your HVAC equipment in tip-top condition.

5 DIY Tips for at Home Air Conditioner Maintenance

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Maintaining your air conditioning unit can not only extend the life of your unit, but it can also improve the health of your family & pets, and help you avoid costly repairs down the line that could’ve easily been avoided. We’ll walk through 5 tips that can help you maintain your air units.

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