5 BIG Mistakes Homeowners Make When Replacing Their Heating and A/C Systems…And How to Avoid Them! Caveat Emptor — “Let the buyer beware!” Especially when you’re looking to replace your home’s heating and air conditioning. All heating and air conditioning equipment (and all heating and air conditioning companies) are not created equal. When you’re in the market for a new heating and/or air conditioning system, don’t rush in to your decision. Preparation and research are essential. Be sure to look at several HVAC companies and consider several different comfort alternatives for your budget. Talk to friends and neighbors. And be sure to avoid these five common heating and air conditioning mistakes: Buying the Wrong Size Heating or Air Conditioning Equipment According to the Department of Energy, a large percentage of people who replace their heating and air conditioning systems end up with the wrong size equipment. The results are scary: high utility bills, a build up of mold in the ductwork, damaged equipment and uncomfortable living conditions.

Make sure you get an accurate estimate from your contractor to determine your home’s physical characteristics that will correctly verify the proper size equipment. Be Cautious of Big Discounts or Phony Offers Make sure that company isn’t cutting corners just to get the work and always get two prices. It costs a lot of money to buy and install the best equipment and hire quality installers. how to service your ac unitBe sure the company you choose is not using second-rate equipment or taking shortcuts. how to buy a new ac unitAlways ask for a step by step explanation of how the installation will be done.ac unit working but not cooling Convenience of Heating and Air Conditioning Installations You shouldn’t have to wait days for a heating and air conditioning estimate or even longer to have your system installed.

A lot of companies hire helpers or high school co-op students to work with mechanics. The mechanics don’t specialize in installing any particular type of system and lack the support, causing the completion to be delayed. Always include in the agreement a 5% penalty to the contractor for not completing the job on time. Using Untrustworthy Heating and Air Conditioning Contractors A recent survey revealed that 45% of homeowners feel uncomfortable to downright “creepy” when a contractor is in their home. Make sure the company you are dealing with is a member in good standing with the BBB and has the proper insurance to protect you in case someone gets hurt on your property or your property is damaged. Insist on a list of several customers who have had the same system installed so you can verify any questions you may have. Not Getting a Written Guarantee Make sure the company is willing to stand behind the products and services it sells with a no-hassle, no-questions asked guarantee that will protect you and your family from any unseen breakdowns.

Be sure the guarantee is in writing and includes a Performance Guarantee, Investment Guarantee and a real 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. What’s The Best Way to Avoid These Mistakes? Call Horizon Services to replace your heating and air conditioning system! You’ll get the right size equipment, the best value and a written guarantee from the heating and air conditioning company that homeowners in Delaware (Wilmington, New Castle County, Kent County), Southeastern Pennsylvania (Delaware County, Chester County, Montgomery County, and Bucks County), New Jersey >(Gloucester County, Camden County and Burlington County), and Maryland (Cecil County) have known and trusted for 20 years. Not to mention the best service and maintenance available anywhere after the installation.As a committed TreeHugger, one of the most important goals of my recent house renovation was to reduce energy consumption per person. The first thing many people do in a renovation is replace all the windows, even though study after study have shown that it has just about the worst bang for the buck of anything you can do.

It also doesn't even make that much difference; a single paned window has an R value of perhaps 1, a new double glazed window between 2 and 4 unless you go very, very expensive.Then there is the issue of character and appearance. My 100 year old house has beautiful 100 year old windows, with divided lights at the top that give the house its charm. They will also last as long as the house; double glazed units will not, as they lose their seal and the argon leaks out, as the vinyl or finger-jointed wood deteriorates.The salesmen keep pitching the energy savings of replacement windows; It's a huge problem for those of us concerned about preservation and conservation, where replacement windows ruin heritage houses, at great cost to owners and for very little long term gain.But double hung windows are very hard to seal, the spaces where the counterweights go are big empty wind tunnels. Air leakage becomes a far bigger problem with them than heat loss through the glass.One solution that has been around for a while is the window insert, an acrylic window that fits inside your existing windows, often held in place with snap fittings or magnetic strips.

I have been considering them for years, but worried about the fit (thanks to settlement over the years, all these windows are parallelograms, not rectangles) and the look of the strips that held the windows in.Then there is the Indow window. It has a compression tube around the edge that holds it in place so that nothing needs to be fastened to the window frame. This also seals it really tightly to the frame so that there is no air leakage around it. But what I found most impressive in discussions with Indow was their measuring system, where they promised that they could deal with parallelogram or trapezoid windows.In their literature, Indow promises an almost doubling of the R value of my single glazed windows, from R-1 to R-1.87. That's not a lot, but not much worse that replacement windows that cost a whole lot more. But as I mentioned earlier, that is only one of a number of factors that affect comfort, which is really a misunderstood concept. Engineer Robert Bean explains that your body absorbs or radiates heat from the surrounding surfaces:The less efficient a building, the greater the temperature difference between your skin and the temperatures of the walls, windows, doors, floors and ceilings.

It is the temperature differences between you and the building which causes discomfort.These walls and windows are COLD, as seen in this thermal image taken last January, pre-construction. It was always uncomfortable in this bay window. Even the piano was suffering.However the Indow insert promised to significantly reduce draftiness, to well below even what new windows would deliver. And although noise from the street is not a problem where we live, even the standard inserts offer significant noise reduction. They don't feel cold, because acrylic is not as good a conductor as glass.Michael Ruehle, an Indow authorized dealer with GREENheart Buildings Inc, arrived with a little laser measuring device and a netbook running an online program, and measured the length and width of the windows. Then he used the clever little device to measure the diagonals, and entered all the data into the program. Voila: a trapezoid is on the screen.A few days ago he returned with the inserts. They are delivered with a protective coating on the acrylic which is peeled off;