Is Your Furnace Making Loud Noises?

The colder weather means that furnaces will be on and in overdrive. If your furnace is making loud noises, noises you aren’t used to, it’s important that you pinpoint where that sound is coming from in hopes of solving the issue. Royal Heating & Air knows that noise can indicate a much more serious problem or there could even be damage to your unit. There are many different parts that could create those noises, each part creates a different noise. Noises coming from your furnace should never be ignored. The best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks has a breakdown of the different noises and what you could do to fix it.

Loud Furnace Causes

Blower Motor

If your furnace makes a loud screeching or rattling sound when you turn it on, then the bearings in the blower motor, or even the blower motor itself, could be to blame. The blower motor is what forces the warm air out of the furnace and into the air ducts. The blower motor needs routine lubrication and often a specific kind to upkeep function over time. If this is not done, the fan could seize up which can cause a loud noise and an expensive repair bill. It’s best to contact a professional technician for a proper inspection, oiling, and any other maintenance.

Loose or Damaged Blower Belt

If your furnace has a belt-driven motor, you might hear a squealing sound if the blower belt becomes loose. The squealing can also be caused from shaft bearings and other moving parts that have become dry. During your tune-up, a professional technician lubricates moving furnace parts in order to keep your furnace running smoothly all winter long.

Blower Wheel

Loud clanking that sounds like metal-against-metal, is the sign of a serious problem with the furnace’s blower wheel. The blower fan has most likely become loose and is creating the sound by hitting against the blower house casing. This sound needs to be addressed right away. When you hear this sound, it’s important you turn off the furnace immediately and contact a professional HVAC technician from a complete inspection.

Dirty Burners

If you hear a loud bang when you turn your furnace on, chances are your furnace has dirty burners that need to be cleaned. Dirty burners are dangerous because they can delay the ignition. When the ignition is delayed, gas builds up and “explodes” when the ignition is turned on. Annual inspections, as well as cleanings, will help prevent this from happening. 

The other cause of a loud bang that is felt throughout the home is caused by an unbalanced air-to-fuel ration. In order to work properly, your furnace needs a proper mixture of air and gas. If there’s too much air and not enough gas, gas can build up resulting in a loud booming sound.

A thud sound could also be the metal air ducts expanding and contracting as the temperature changes. This is completely normal and does not indicate any damage to the furnace.

Common Furnace Noises

• Metal against metal
• Loud scraping
• Screeching
• Rattling
• Humming
• Boom or bang
• Rumbling

You should never ignore any of these noises coming from your furnace. Contact Royal Heating & Air as soon as you notice any of those noises. It’s important to schedule your annual furnace maintenance at the beginning of every heating season. This will help keep your furnace safe and running smoothly all year long. If your furnace still needs its cold weather maintenance, give the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks a call!

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Prepare Your Home For Winter Vacation Part 2

December is in full swing and winter vacations are at the top of some people’s priority list. We don’t blame you! But making sure your home and HVAC system are prepared for your vacation should also be at the top of your priority list. In last week’s blog, Royal Heating & Air started a list of tips to help keep your HVAC system and home safe while you’re away. This week, the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks is finishing up that list. Check out the rest of the list below!

Trim Any Plants and Make Sure the Area Around Outdoor Heat Pump Is Clear

If you have plants or leaves encroaching on your unit, this can not only limit the airflow, but it can cause clogs or other problems. It’s important that you clear away any debris and trim back plants and bushes from the unit. You should always maintain a 3-foot clearance around the unit to ensure proper airflow.

Install a Humidification System

A humidification system will automatically detect humidity problems and add or remove moisture to get your home back into the ideal humidity range.

Make Sure Your Home is Protected from Bad Weather

Will your home be able to protect itself from freezing temperatures while you’re away on vacation? It’s important to prevent frozen pipes, especially while you’re gone. If water does freeze inside a pipe, it will expand and block that pipe. This will increase the water pressure throughout the rest of the home, and eventually, that pipe will burst. You can account for this by running a faucet with a drop during those cold nights. Moving water does not freeze as easily. 

Clean Your Home

When you’re preparing for vacation, cleaning your home may be the last thing on your priority list. Trust us, we get it! But cleaning your home before you leave has a positive impact. No one wants to come home from vacation to a dirty home. You’ll be exhausted from traveling and the last thing you’ll want to do when you finally get home is clean. Cleaning your home before you leave not only reduces your stress, it is also good for your indoor air quality. Your home will be sitting dormant while you’re gone, and that means that dust and other debris can accumulate.

Airborne contaminants develop without proper ventilation, which leads to irritation of respiratory conditions and excessive sneezing. You can reduce the amount of dust pollutants in your home by vacuuming the carpets, doing the dishes, dusting, and replacing your air filter.

You should also unplug kitchen appliances, turn your thermostat down between 50 and 60 degrees, throw any food that may expire out, and have someone occasionally check on your home. It’s also important to hold your mail. One of the surest signs that someone is on vacation is a stack of mail or newspapers. Your local post office can put your mail on hold so you don’t have an overflowing mailbox when you return.

 Unplug Devices and Turn Off Power Strips

If you haven’t heard about standby energy loss, then it may be a surprise to you that anything plugged into your outlets still draws power even when it’s not “on” or it’s not in use. Don’t just turn things like your toaster and TVs off. You should unplug all of your electronics and appliances when leaving home for an extended period of time. If you don’t have a whole-home surge protector, anything plugged into your outlets is at risk of damage from an electrical surge. It’s better to be on the safe side and unplug before leaving for vacation.

Royal Heating & Air hopes these tips help you prepare for your holiday vacation! If you haven’t scheduled your furnace maintenance, don’t get left out in the cold. Give the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks a call. Whether you need maintenance or a replacement, we can help! 

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Prepare Your Home For Winter Vacation

Now that Thanksgiving is over, most people turn their focus to December and the upcoming holiday season. This is a time when many people take a winter trip or a vacation. Royal Heating & Air knows that this time of year is great, but for some, it can also be a time when disaster strikes. Whether it’s a weather-related disaster, home break-in or your furnace goes out, it’s important to be as prepared as possible. The best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks has some tips to help keep your HVAC system and your home safe while you’re away.

Ensure Your Heating System is Working Properly

If you haven’t scheduled your annual fall furnace maintenance this fall or winter, it’s important to schedule an appointment before you leave for your trip. If you have already completed your fall tune-up, you should check that your furnace or heating system is working properly. You can do this by checking the furnace pilot light, the air filter, thermostat, and any other items to make sure they are in proper working condition. Checking your furnace or heating system before you leave will help give you peace of mind while you’re away.

Clean Area Around Indoor Air Handling Unit

There should be a minimum 3-foot clearance around your indoor air handling unit. Make sure that anything that is flammable, or that can burn, is far away from the unit. Clear away your storage and any other items from around the HVAC system.

Don’t Turn Your HVAC System Off

High or low humidity mixed with hot or cold air can cause problems within your home. When you go on vacation, don’t turn the HVAC system off, just lower the thermostat to a more reasonable temperature. If you have certain possessions like art, furniture, and other sensitive items, you should keep your HVAC system set no lower than 55 degrees to help protect these items. It’s a good idea to set your thermostat around 5 to 10 degrees lower than normal while you are on vacation.

Replace Air Filter

You should clean or replace the air filter before you leave for your vacation. Your HVAC system will still come on (periodically) to keep the temperature and humidity levels from damaging your home and possessions. Because of this, you’ll want to make sure that your air filter will last the whole time you are gone.

Set Water Heater to “Vacation Mode”

The last thing you want to do is to keep a huge tank of hot water sitting while nobody is home to use it. You should turn off the water heater, set it to “vacation”, or if you have the traditional tank you can lower the temperature.

This is just the beginning of our list when it comes to preparing your home and HVAC system for your winter vacation. Next week, Royal Heating & Air will finish the list so your home will be fully prepared. If you haven’t scheduled your fall furnace maintenance, give the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks a call!

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Home Tips for Thanksgiving

Don’t be alarmed, but we are just 2 days away from Thanksgiving. We were thinking the same thing, where has the time gone?! If you haven’t started to prepare your home for your family and friends, now is the time to do so. Royal Heating & Air knows how important it is to keep you and your guests comfortable in your home while the weather outside may not be so nice. The best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks has some tips to get you through the holiday.

Home Tips for the Holidays

Don’t Overheat Your House

Thanksgiving is a holiday where you spend hours of cooking delicious food and it is gone within minutes. While you’re spending all of that time cooking, take advantage of the heat that is produced from your oven and other appliances and turn your thermostat down a few degrees. Having more people in the house will also create extra heat. Turning your thermostat down will help keep your home comfortable and save you a little bit of energy.

Don’t Block Vents

You may find yourself rearranging your living room or dining room to accompany all of your guests. One thing you want to keep your eye out for is for vents. When vents are blocked, your furnace has to work harder to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

Change Your Air Filter

You and your guests will breathe easier with a brand-new furnace filter. If you haven’t changed your filter in a while, now would be a great time to do so. This will not only make your furnace’s job easier, but your home will smell fresher until the smell of the delicious food takes over.

Dust EVERYTHING

Dusting your home is one of the best ways to help your home’s HVAC system before the holidays. The more you dust means there are fewer dust particles that will travel through your home’s duct work and spread throughout your home. You should pay special attention to the vents and the air returns in your home.

What We’re Thankful For

Royal Heating & Air will be celebrating our 6-year anniversary this week. We are so thankful for our wonderful community and customers for making it possible. We strive to bring honest, dependable HVAC service to the Lake of the Ozarks and we hope to continue to do so for many more years. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! Royal Heating & Air hopes that you have a great day with the ones you love. If your furnace needs maintenance this season, give the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks a call. Whether your unit needs to be serviced, repaired, or even replaced, Royal Heating & Air is here for you and all of your heating needs. 

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Common Winter Heat Pump Problems

First things first, let’s start off with what exactly a heat pump is. A heat pump works like an air conditioner in reverse, it absorbs heat from the air outdoors and it transfers it into your home. A furnace on the other hand, typically uses natural gas to create heat for your home. While a furnace and heat pump both make the house warm and cozy, these two are very different. The air outside is cold so you may be wondering how a heat pump extracts heat energy from such cold air. This is where the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics comes into play. That 2nd law states that heat flows from hotter to colder bodies. When the temperature of the refrigerant that flows through the outdoor condenser coils is lower than the temperature of the outside air, it is able to pick up heat and then bring that heat into your home. Royal Heating & Air knows that a heat pump is one system that functions as two. It works as both a heater and an air conditioner. The best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks has solutions for some common winter heat pump problems.

Winter Heat Pump Problems and Their Solutions

Not Enough Heat

Some may be surprised to learn that the heat generated by heat pumps is not nearly as strong as the heat that is generated by furnaces. For heat pumps, this is normal. The heat may not be as strong, but heat pumps generally distribute heat more evenly throughout your home. They also run longer at a more sustained level, which means you don’t have to turn them off and on as much.

Heat pumps do have a harder time extracting heat from extremely cold environments. This means that most heat pump owners need a supplemental heating system to stay warm. Most people will install a furnace to supplement their heat pump.

Outdoor Unit is Iced Over

If your outdoor condensing unit is iced up, airflow will be severely restricted. This will result in a struggling unit that could cause severe damage. If the ice is light, it will more than likely go away in a short period of time. However, if the ice remains for a significant period of time, it’s a problem you will want to address quickly.

The most common solution to a frozen heat pump is running the defrost cycle. The defrost cycle normally turns on automatically at timed intervals or when the unit detects frost, however, some units have a defrost option. The defrost cycle essentially reverses the heat pump into air conditioning mode so that it can pump heat to the outdoor unit until it unfreezes. The defrost cycle usually only runs for 10-15 minutes.

Most people don’t want cold air blowing on cold days, so many will opt for a supplemental heat system. This usually means electric resistance heat strips, which keep the air warm. After about 15 minutes, the heat strips will turn off and the heat pump will come back on. If the defrost cycle isn’t thawing your iced over heat pump, try these steps:

• Check the air filter and replace if needed. Clean air filters improve airflow and the quality of your indoor air.
• Make sure that there is no large debris near the unit that may be blocking the airflow. It’s a good idea to always maintain a 3-foot clearance around the unit.
• If you notice that there is no air flowing from your vents, you may have a malfunctioning blower motor. You can try setting the thermostat to “fan” to see if the blower motor or a related component is at fault.

Buildup of any ice on your condenser unit is never a good sign. If the solutions above do not work, prevent any further damage to your unit by contacting the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Constantly Running Heat Pump

It is possible that too much cold air is getting into your home and the heat pump just can’t keep up. If you haven’t winterized your home, it’s not too late to do so. Here are some helpful tips:

• Make sure your doors and windows are closed and well-insulated. If you notice air leaks around any doors or windows, replace the weatherstripping.
• Inspect insulation levels.
• Double-paned storm windows help retain heat. For a more inexpensive option, you can use energy-efficient thermal curtains to improve your windows insulation.

No Air or Cold Air

It’s important to make sure all of your vents are open to allow proper air movement. It’s never a good idea to close vents to try to keep the heat in one area of the home. By closing vents, it can create unwanted pressure within the system and cause duct leaks, system failure, and other problems.

If cold air is blowing from the vents, the heat pump is more than likely in defrost mode. This is normal if you don’t have a supplemental heating system. Defrost cycles normally last around 10-15 minutes and then the heat will kick back on.

When to Call Royal Heating & Air

You should give us a call when:

• The outdoor unit isn’t running at all.
• The thermostat isn’t working properly.
• Ice or frost is still on the unit after a day.
• You haven’t scheduled your annual heat pump maintenance.

Don’t get left out in the cold this winter, give the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks a call and schedule your heat pump tune-up today! If you have any questions about your furnace or heat pump, Royal Heating & Air would be glad to help. 

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Furnace 101

Now that the cold weather is here, it’s important to learn a thing or two about the magical machine that will provide our homes with heat and comfort during the long and cold winter days. The more you know about a furnace and how it works, the better you can troubleshoot it if something were to go wrong. Royal Heating & Air knows that understanding how your furnace works will help you troubleshoot your furnace and potentially avoid an expensive HVAC service call. While you may be able to quickly solve the problem on your own, sometimes you need your Lake of the Ozarks HVAC company to come fix the problem for you.

Welcome to Furnace 101

What is a Furnace?

The most common type of furnace is a gas-powered central air system. This means that air is heated in one area and is then distributed throughout the house through ductwork and vents. The main parts of your furnace are the control system (thermostat and electrical controls), gas valve, burners, heat exchanger, and duct and ventilation system.

Thermostat and Gas Valve

Your furnace starts working when it receives a signal from the thermostat that tells it to turn on. Depending on the temperature you choose, when the thermostat detects the air temperature dropping below the selected temperature, it activates the furnace. When the thermostat sends the signal to the furnace, the furnace gas valve opens and ignites the burner component beneath the combustion chamber. The gas valve and the thermostat work together to regulate the amount of gas that flows into your furnace.

If your gas valve is working fine, but the furnace isn’t turning on, check to make sure your pilot light is on. If your pilot light is out, you should refer to your manufacturer instructions or contact the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Heat Moves to Heat Exchanger

The flames from the burner component heat a metal exchanger. The heat circulates through the looped tubes of the heat exchanger, transferring the heat to air. This is a crucial step. If it’s not working, you won’t have any heat. A heat exchanger can also be dangerous if they develop any cracks or leaks. An efficient and well-maintained heat exchanger is essential for a working furnace. Combustion gases should be venting out of the house safely during the process of heating the heat exchanger.

Blower and Fan

As the heat circulates through the heat exchanger, the blower motor and fan moves the heat through the plenum and then through the rest of the ductwork in your home. That heat then flows through the vents in each room, which provide your home with warm air. Once enough heat has been generated, the thermostat will send a signal to turn off the furnace.

When there is a problem with your furnace, it is more than likely the control system, heat source, or the distribution system. No matter the problem, your Lake of the Ozarks HVAC company will be able to take care of it. 

The best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks understands how important it is to keep your home warm and comfortable during the winter months. Hopefully, with a little understanding of how your furnace system works, you will be able to troubleshoot the problem yourself or know early on that you need to give Royal Heating & Air a call. Don’t forget, annual fall furnace maintenance is important to keep your system running smoothly. If you haven’t yet, schedule yours today! 

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Get The Most Out Of Your Heating System This Winter

As the weather starts to get colder, we are reminded that winter is right around the corner. Chances are, your heating system gets a lot of use during the winter time. It’s important to keep your home cozy and comfortable as the temperatures continue to drop. Royal Heating & Air knows that a reliable furnace is vital during the winter months and it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to keep your house warm. The best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks has some steps you can take to maximize your heater’s efficiency. These tips will help drop your costs all while delivering the heat you want.

Schedule Professional Heating Maintenance

It’s important to schedule routine maintenance as soon as the summer comes to an end. During the warmer months when you don’t use your heater, it’s possible that dust and dirt have built up. Worn parts probably haven’t been replaced since the previous winter. A heating tune-up from your Lake of the Ozarks HVAC company can help fix all of the little problems, this helps reduce the strain on your heating system and lowers the amount of energy it uses to warm your home. When you get routine maintenance, your technician will also make sure dangerous combustions gases, such as carbon monoxide, are safely venting outside.

Change Filters and Bleed Radiator

You should set a reminder to check your air filter every 30 days. You shouldn’t wait more than 90 days to clean or replace it. When you put in a new filter, it’s a good idea to write the date of replacement on the filter itself so you know how long it’s been since you last replaced it. By regularly changing your filter, you will not only improve your home’s indoor air quality, but you will help reduce the strain on your HVAC system. You should also make sure that your vents are open and unobstructed.

If you have a radiator, don’t forget to “bleed” them at the beginning of every heating season. As soon as water starts coming out, close the valve and move on to the next one.

Seal Common Air Leaks

Seal common air leaks around your home to keep your heat inside. You’re not wanting to heat the whole neighborhood after all. The most common air leaks are usually found around windows and doors. The more air leaks you have, the harder and longer your heaters has to work to heat your house. The more your house is sealed, the warmer your house will stay.

Carbon Monoxide and Fire Protection

Besides scheduling your fall furnace maintenance, it’s important to test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors every 30 days to make sure they are working properly. Home fires and carbon monoxide poisoning increases during the colder months when we are constantly running our heating systems. You should have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of your home and outside every sleeping area.

Also, if you have a fireplace and chimney, don’t forget to get it inspected and cleaned every year. Creosote buildup in a chimney is a common cause of a home fire.

Consider Upgrades

Consider adding upgrades to your system to increase it’s efficiency as well as it’s versatility. If you have an older thermostat, you could replace it with a programmable or smart thermostat. You could also consider a zone control system. A zone control system lets you tailor the temperature to different areas of your home. This allows you to heat the parts of the house that you are in while leaving the rest be, this means the heater uses less energy. Fans can help you feel warmer by pushing the hot air that’s near the ceiling down to the living spaces below.

Royal Heating & Air wants you to know that high energy bills and discomfort don’t have to be part of the winter season. With a little planning, you can help reduce costs without decreasing the level of comfort in your home. If your furnace is needing fall maintenance or a tune-up, give the best HVAC company at the Lake of the Ozarks a call. 

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