Need some home generator information?

September 7th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

Are you looking for a good place to find a reliable home generator?  Maybe you have questions about a portable generator and need to find some information.  I found a great site to tell you all about generators

I found informationon Portable,  RV, Diesel, Marine and other varieties of Generators.  Check them out.

Maintaining Your Air Conditioning System by James C

August 11th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

The summer has finally hit and now you are spending more time
indoors with the air conditioner on. You have the thermostat set on 75
degrees and are feeling pretty good until you realize that its getting
hotter inside. Before you know it, it is 90 degrees in your house and
you are calling the air conditioning repair company. Problem is that it
is the busy season and they may not be able to get to you for a week.
What a disaster. The sad thing is that this could have probably all
been prevented with a little maintenance.
To have a smooth running HVAC system, you need to have a program of regular maintenance. Before every cooling season, have an air
conditioning service

come check your system. It is usually a minimum charge and can save you
hundreds of dollars by catching problems early. It will also prevent
the aggravation of having no air conditioning.
In a normal A/C service check, the company will perform the following
tests. They will check the condensing unit’s coils, the compressor, the
belts, operating pressures, operating temperatures and the Freon level.
They will typically oil any components that need oil such as the fan
and condenser. The cost of the service is usually fairly cheap and most
companies will also run specials in the spring. Keep an eye out for a
sale flyer.
There are also things that you yourself can do to help maintain your
homes HVAC system. The most important thing of course is to change your
air filter often. They only cost a buck or two and protect not only
your air quality but also keep dirt from clogging your AC coils.
Replace them at least once a month. Another simple thing you can do is
to hose off your outside AC compressor. At least once a month, take a
hose and rinse off the unit to clear it of dirt, dust, grass clippings
and leaves. If the unit becomes clogged, it will have to work much
harder to get your home cool. Lastly, do not turn your unit off
completely in the summer. Instead, turn the temperature up when you
leave your home. Turning it off will just mean that your AC will have
to work incredibly hard when you get home to cool off your house.
That’s all it takes to have a reliable A/C system. Through simple
maintenance and regular checkups, you can have a system that serves you
well for years to come.

About the Author

James C operates a website providing Home Improvement Tips.

Room Air Purifiers vs. Whole-House Air Purifiers by Mary Lou Derksen

August 11th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

There
are hundreds of air purifiers available for sale. Some are meant
primarily for the one room in which the purifier is located. Some are
promoted as being able to purify the air in the whole house. Articles
are written to tout one kind over the other, usually depending on which
one the writer has for sale.

Obviously there are benefits for either kind of purifier, but how can
you decide which is best for you? Some of the most obvious comparisons
are price, amount of noise, space taken, and ease of cleaning. In
discussing these four areas, we will assume, for the sake of
simplicity, that both room purifiers and whole-house purifiers do the
job of air purification well.

Initially, room air conditions are generally the least expensive.
However, if you were to purify the air in every room in the house, you
would generally have to buy a purifier for each room. At that point, a
whole-house purifier would be the most cost effective. However, there
are some so-called room air purifiers that use photo-catalytic
oxidation that can, given enough time (up to several weeks for very
large areas), purify all of the rooms on a single floor of a house.

Room air conditions, by the very fact they and their motors are located
in the room, are noisier than a whole-house purifier whose motor is
located in or near the furnace (and oftentimes is the furnace fan).

Obviously, if you are looking at how much space in a room a purifier
takes, the whole-house purifier would win hands down every time.
Depending on which kind whole-house purifier you choose, it may take up
a fair amount of space near the furnace.

Room air purifiers are often easier to get at to clean, but if you have
one in every room you have a passel of purifiers to clean. If you
choose a purifier such as the Air Oasis purifiers, there is very little
cleaning involved, so the number of purifiers is insignificant for that
consideration. Some say that the whole-house purifiers are harder to
get at, but this need not be so if you research before you purchase,
and choose one that is not difficult to clean.

There are a few websites on the internet that argue that there is no
such thing as a good whole-house air purifier — a discussion of some
of their arguments will follow. However, in October, 2005, Consumer
Reports stated that whole-house purifiers did a much better job than
their smaller room-purifier counterparts.

As with room air purifiers, whole-house air purifiers can use a variety
of purification methods. These generally include filters that replace
the usual furnace filters, and usually either need frequent cleaning
and/or replacing or are not very effective, HEPA filters, carbon
filters, electrostatic precipitators, and electrostatic filters.

One of the arguments that has been given against whole-house purifiers
is that it is impossible for these cleaners to pull dirty air from
rooms that are “far” away from the central air return area in the
building. That thinking is either out-of-date, limited to certain kinds
of heating systems or made up of faulty thinking. If you have a furnace
/ air conditioner with ductwork in your home, then almost every room
has a cold-air return that draws the air from those rooms and through
the ductwork to the furnace or air conditioner. The air is then
redistributed to all of the rooms. I know that at certain times the
grates over the cold-air returns in the rooms of my house collect more
dust than any other part of the room, so I know that dirty air is
getting into that system! And the fact that heated or cooled air is
getting to all the rooms demonstrates the efficiency of redistributing
that air.

One article states that if you use an air-handler system (such as those
by AllerAir), you are using two fans all of the time: one in the air
handler, and the furnace fan. However, if you have an air purifier in
every room, how many motors are running all of the time?

This same article states that ultraviolet lights in the central HVAC
system can’t clean dust from the air, and that they can send harmful
ozone levels into the home air. I have not seen any scientific studies
or explanations, but I know of a number of instances where just
installing a good ultraviolet light system has reduced the dust and
dirt in the vent system. I also know that if you carefully choose the
right ultraviolet light system, such as one from ComTech, there is
never a problem with ozone levels.

Another article states that the only way to remove radon from your home
is to have an appropriate whole-house air purifier. In order to remove
a gas such as radon with a whole-house air purifier, you would likely
need a system that has some sort of carbon filtration system.

The only way to know what air purification system is best for you is to
know your budget, the health needs of your family, the area in which
your home is located and how large of an area needs to have the air
cleaned. Often a combination of several kinds of purification processes
will be needed to meet your health needs. Research the field and come
up with the best air purifier for you!

About the Author

Mary Lou Derksen has been involved in a variety of health-related
jobs since 1976, included nutritional counseling and mental health
counseling (as a licensed counselor). She also taught junior high and
high school classes in a 1-room school house setting. Never ready to
settle down to a stale retired life, she has now entered the field of
air purifications systems. http://www.magnamics.com

A Hot/Cool Career in HVAC by Melissa Steele

August 11th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

The need
for heating and air-conditioning exists all over the world. Cooling and
heating devices help regulate the temperature, humidity, and air
quality residential homes, commercial locations, and industrial
facilities. The technicians who carry out repairs, maintenance, and
installations of heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems
are often referred to as HVAC technicians or Heating Ventilation Air
Conditioning technicians. Opportunities in heating, air-conditioning,
and refrigeration repair and installation are good, especially for
those who have formal training, be it through a technical school or as
an apprentice. Certification by North American Technician Excellence (http://www.natex.org/) is the standard to become a licensed technician.

Training in heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration takes from 6
months to 2 years and can be completed at secondary and postsecondary
technical and trade schools as well as junior and community colleges.
Students in these programs study theory, design, electronics, and
equipment construction is studied. Students are taught the fundamentals
of installing, maintaining, and repairing systems. Heating and cooling
systems are becoming more complex, which is why opportunities for those
with training at technical schools or through apprenticeship programs
are greater. Many technicians however, still learn on the job as they
work.

Students training for this occupation should take classes in computers,
mechanical drawing, physics and chemistry, as well as electronics. A
familiarity with blueprint reading would also be useful for this
career, as would basic knowledge of plumbing. As equipment controls are
more regularly used in these systems, basic familiarity of electronics
is important as well. Technicians need to keep in mind that their
business is service oriented, and customer service is an important part
of the job. Technicians need to be polite and tactful when dealing with
customers. The ability to climb ladders and lift heavy objects is
another aspect of the job not to be overlooked.

Those with formal training in heating and air-conditioning will find
the best opportunities in the business. The average hourly wages
heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration technicians were $16.78.
Though employment projections for this profession are on the rise, if
the economy sees a slow down in construction, jobs will suffer.
Maintenance and repair however, would keep technicians working
regardless of the economy as cooling and heating systems must be kept
functioning properly. Year round employment can be expected, as most
companies will schedule both installation and maintenance work. Some
HVAC

About the Author

Melissa Steele is a featured writer for EducationGuys.com. She has been writing about college degrees & trade schools since 2004.

Air Purifiers: Here’s To Better Health by Tom Verandores

August 11th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

After arriving home from work, the temperature wasn’t quite as
comfortable as I like it. After changing the thermostat, I turned my
head up at our HVAC air filter. Then it finally hit me: I haven’t put
in a new air filter in more than a year and a half! We rented out our
house last year and have now been back for about six months. The same
exact filter has been collecting particles the whole time. I quickly
went up to the local home improvement store to pick up some filters. I
then found out I should be replacing it every month or two.

All this thinking about air quality got me thinking about the subject.
My family has been inhaling all that crud. It makes me cringe just
thinking about it. Now that we’ve got our filtration system pulling in
cleaner air, it is time to begin looking at some air purifiers.

Are you interested in air purifiers too? The following information
includes the bare essential facts involved in air purifiers. There’s
plenty of information about air purifiers on the Internet today, but
after you process it all, the following is what you’ll find.

Did you know it is estimated that 50% of all sicknesses are originated
by or made worse by polluted indoor air? I just read this fact and it
shocked me. I don’t get sick much, but my wife often does. If you would
fork over twenty dollars for a prescription and thousands of dollars a
year in health related costs, then surely I can afford a small amount
for some safe air purifiers (an ionic air purifier or other) to improve
our health.

Now for another surprising figure: according to the EPA, the air
indoors is between 200 and 1,000 percent more harmful than outdoor air.
Realize that we live over 90% of our lives inside. Given this fact and
the fact that it is much easier to control our indoor air quality than
outside, we must take some action! If you try to be reasonable, then it
just makes sense to purify your indoor air of mold and other
contaminants.

You now have enough information to move you forward. Since you now have
read these air purifiers facts, you are ready to start looking for your
own. You can always learn more as you need the information, but please
remember that this information won’t benefit you unless you use it. By
all means, if you have any experience with air purifiers, please share
a review or your insights at the site listed below.

About the Author

Tom Verandores works to recruit people like you to submit your air purifiers experience at air purifiers. Publishers, get an original version of this article at air purifiers website content.

Is A Heat Pump Right For Your Home? by Jandice Porter

August 11th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

Comfort is a big consideration in any household. It makes the house
a more comfortable place to live in. It makes a house a home. This is
also a reason why you must take proper considerations of the necessary
changes that can be implemented in the house, changes that will improve
the present conditions.

One of the questions that most household dwell on is whether or not to
install a heat system in the house. Of course, the comfort and safety
of the family must always be the priority. Of course, deciding on the
heat system also entails certain consequences that the household must
prepare for.

The heating system, as the name implies, ensures the comfort of the
family when the weather gets too cold. Of course, most heating systems,
when not properly installed or cared for will end up as a liability.
That is why one must pick the right heating system to support the needs
of the family.

Is a Heat Pump the Right System for Your Home?

The heat pump system depends on the magic of obtaining heat from the
cold air and processing it to be supplied to the house. This mechanism
makes use of the heat pump appliance that operates on a refrigeration
technology. With this at hand, instant warmth and cooling can be easily
secured.

Many households have benefited and attested to the goodness entailed by
installing heat pumps. There are many ways to make heat pumps an ideal
companion during the cold climate.

1. Good Alternative

The heat pump is a good tool for places where electrical heat system is
the only option. Not every location can get a good source of natural
gas to support the traditional conditioning system. This may dispense
with the electrical system. Of course, it all depends on the
environment.

2. Save Energy and Save Money

The heat pump is also a bestseller for its energy saving attributes.
The installation procedure may take some expenses. Of course, after the
installation stage, the rest comes easily.

A heat pump will produce twice amount of heat with just the same amount
of energy that an ordinary and less expensive electric heating system
will provide. Thus, it necessarily follows that one get to save more
money in the process.

3. Consider the Condition of the House

The heat pump can also work best in a household constructed with the
proper insulation. There are also energy-efficient elements that can be
built in the house.

These aspects shall ensure that with just one heat pump the whole house
can enjoy the warmth. These can also facilitate the heat pump to work
efficiently at all times, no matter how much the weather outdoor will
change or drop.

4. Size and Installation

The right heat pump must be properly chosen according to its size,
whether it is to serve a cooling or heating purpose. Ascertain these
aspects upon installation.

5. Length of Use

There are heat pumps ideal only for short term utilization. Some can
withstand lengthy usage. In general, an air-source heat pump is not to
be used over long periods and below zero temperatures. Thus, this
should be considered properly with the location of the house and
demands of the family members.

6. Ground Source Heat Pumps

Ground source heat pumps or GSHPs are the more effective kind. They may
require more expenses for installation. Of course, they become
beneficial in the long run. They can last long. They can also help the
household save more money.

7. Sound Levels

Most people are discouraged of heat pumps because of the noise aspect.
There is, however, an alternative to get rid of this problem.

Choose the right heat pump by buying the ones that have sound levels
of, at the most, 7. 6 bels. This indicates the noise level of the
outdoor pump. It is better to find sound ratings lower than 7. 6 bels.

About the Author

For more great heat pump related articles and resources check out http://topheatpumps.info

VIP Service for Trade Show Exhibits

August 7th, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

These days it’s hard to find good customer service anywhere. So when it comes to purchasing something as crucial as materials for my next trade show exhibit, I always go back to ExhibitDEAL. I know they’ve got everything I need for my trade show displays at a decent price. And no matter what my budget is, I’m treated with VIP-level respect and customer service that’s unmatched in the industry.
Blog post sponsored by Blogging for Pay

Air Conditioner Filters Tutorial

July 31st, 2006

by Heat Pump Helper

Copyright 2006 Raymond Burton

One of the most important things to maintain on your new cooling unit is the air conditioner filter. Dirt and debris in the filter will reduce the air flow and thus the effectiveness of your conditioning unit. Once your air conditioners filtering unit becomes very clogged with dirt and debris, those dirt particles will bypass the filter and start messing up the air quality along with the machines working parts. Read the rest of this entry »