Inflation Reduction Act Explained: Save Big on HVAC Systems

Is your older furnace struggling to keep up? Maybe your air conditioner has been making strange noises or losing efficiency. These are all signs that you’re due for an HVAC replacement. The good news is, this is a great time to replace your furnace or air conditioner with a newer, more energy-efficient model. The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in 2022, made provisions for tax credits and rebates for homeowners who invest in new HVAC equipment.

What Tax Credits And Rebates Are Available?

The Inflation Reduction Act is a sweeping piece of legislation that introduces tax credits and rebates for customers who purchase electric vehicles, power-generating equipment like solar panels and biomass stoves, and energy-efficient appliances. HVAC updates fall under that third category: energy-efficient upgrades.

The program through which most of these rebates are offered is called the HOMES rebate program. It offers a rebate of up to $8,000 per homeowner. The exact amount you are given will depend on the updates you make and on your family income.

If you’re willing to make the change to an electric HVAC system, you could save even more. The High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Act, another subset of the Inflation Reduction Act, offers low to middle-income families up to $8,000 for installing a heat pump. Heat pumps have a lot of advantages. They are low maintenance, energy-efficient, and well worth discussing with a heat pump installation contractor.

How Do Tax Credits And Rebates Work?

The rebates mentioned above both became active in 2023. They are currently scheduled to last until 2031, but there is a chance some states may terminate them early. So, if you’re considering a heating and air conditioning replacement, you should act soon to save.

If you do have a new heater or air conditioner installed, you will need to pay the full price upfront. Keep the receipt. Then, when you file your taxes, you can enter the purchase price and other basic information about the HVAC replacement. You’ll receive the tax credits you’re eligible for as a part of your tax refund.

Note that tax credits are a flat amount refunded from your total taxes. So, if you qualify for a $5,000 tax credit, the government will take $5,000 off your total tax bill for the year.

How Do You Schedule An HVAC Replacement?

If you’re interested in scheduling HVAC system replacement while these tax credits are active, contact us soon and schedule a quote. We can recommend the systems that qualify for the credits and help you choose between them. If you’re interested in switching to a heat pump, we can talk to you about the installation, what changes you would need to make to your home, and how much energy you could save by making the switch.

If you’re looking for a heating and AC replacement company in Pennsylvania, contact H & H Heating & Air Conditioning. Our expert technicians would be happy to discuss your options and tell you more about these tax credits.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/blog/inflation-reduction-act-explained-save-big-on-hvac-systems/

How Can A UV Air Purifier Prevent Winter Colds

The days are shorter, the air is crisper, and your nose is stuffier than ever. That’s right, it’s cold and flu season! Every year, as temperatures drop and we spend more time indoors, the risk of becoming sick increases. Did you know that the common cold is most contagious in winter?

While there’s no surefire way to prevent every cold or flu bug that comes your way, there are steps you can take to improve your home’s indoor air quality and lower your chances of getting sick. One such step is investing in a UV air purifier. Here’s how a UV air purifier can help prevent winter colds.

UV Air Purifiers Kill Viruses And Bacteria

UV air purifiers work by circulating air through a chamber where it is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. This UV light kills viruses and bacteria in the air, making it a great way to reduce the spread of illness in your home. In fact, UV air purifiers have been shown to be up to 99% effective at killing viruses and bacteria!

Reduce Your Family’s Exposure To Sickness

Because a UV air purifier eliminates viruses and bacteria from the air in your home, it also reduces your family’s exposure to those sickness-causing germs. This is especially important in winter when we tend to spend more time indoors where conditions are ideal for the spread of germs. By using a UV air purifier, you can create a cleaner, healthier environment for your family—and help them stay well all season long.

Which UV Air Purifier To Invest In?

There are many different types and brands of air purifiers on the market, so it can be tough to know where to start.

The Oxyquantum LED air purifier by Nature’s Home uses an innovative way to safely remove toxins from the air. The unit consists of a “U” shaped combination UVV and UVC light sources, which are mounted in HVAC ventilation ducts where they effectively oxidize harmful compounds without releasing any unpleasant smells or fumes while also killing bacteria that could potentially cause illness if inhaled by people living nearby.

Invest In Your Family’s Health This Winter

UV air purifiers are a great way to help eliminate winter colds by reducing the number of viruses and bacteria in the air. By investing in a UV air purifier, you can create a cleaner, healthier environment for your family—and help them stay well all season long!

Contact our HVAC professionals at H & H to get your air cleaner and make your family safer today!

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/blog/how-can-a-uv-air-purifier-prevent-winter-colds/

Short Cycling in HVAC

Does your HVAC system turn on and off more frequently than normal? It could be having a short cycling problem. Schedule an inspection with an HVAC contractor to rectify this excessive stopping and starting that adds wear to your unit’s compressor while depriving your home of the desired cooling comfort.

Allowing the system to continue operating in that faulty condition will come at a higher price later. That’s why you need a quick solution. But first, it’s vital to understand why this problem occurs so you can take steps to limit the concern.

Here’s an in-depth look at short cycling, its causes, solutions, and preventive measures.

What Is Short Cycling

When you want to warm your home, first, you set the desired temperature on the thermostat. The system produces heat, then turns off after reaching the desired temperature. It stays off for some time and then the system turns on again and produces more heat. This is called a cycle. A typical cycle lasts about 15 -20 minutes depending on the weather and set temperature, and the unit keeps cycling like this until it is turned off.

Short cycling occurs when the heat turns on and off repeatedly before it’s normal cycle time. The shorter the period, the harder the HVAC unit will need to work to maintain optimum temperature. That will hike your power bill and strain the system, which can shorten its life.

At one point, you’ll need to call an HVAC repair professional. But before that, see if you can identify the cause of the problem. Below are common causes of short cycling.

What Causes Short Cycling In HVAC

There are several reasons why an HVAC unit experiences short cycling. These include;

• Oversized HVAC unit. If the comfort system is too powerful for your house, it will take less time to heat your home. Hence, running on short cycles. To solve this problem, use the correct HVAC size for your home.
• Low refrigerant. Low refrigerant issues arise due to a leak. Such a situation makes the unit work harder, which can lead to malfunction.
• Dirty air filter. A dirty air filter prevents proper air flow as a result, the system overheats and cycles off.
• Problem with thermostat. Your thermostat may be mis-calibrated, resulting in inaccurate temperature reading. It could also be next to an air vent or a heat source to close to the thermostat which creates false temperature readings.

What To Do When You Have A Short Cycling HVAC

Turn off the unit once you notice short cycling lasting less than 5-10 minutes between on and off cycles Taking such a step protects the unit from further damage. But since you need the system running back again, start working on a solution. First, check whether the air filter is clogged. Here, you can either clean or replace it.

Check whether the thermostat is placed next to any heat source. Then turn the HVAC unit on again to see if it works. If it doesn’t, there could be a bigger problem. Don’t try a DIY HVAC repair if you don’t understand the unit. It could make things worse. Get HVAC repair services from a professional. Leave the system off until a qualified technician comes to take a look.

How To Prevent Short Cycling In HVAC

There are many reasons an HVAC system can have short cycling. But you can always minimize such issues through regular maintenance. Having a maintenance agreement with residential HVAC contractors can help avoid the last-minute rush. Such a plan will cost you less and eliminate inconveniences resulting from short cycling.

If you need an HVAC tune-up to limit instances of short cycling, don’t hesitate to call us. We provide 24-hour services for HVAC repair and maintenance.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/blog/short-cycling-in-hvac/

Why You Should Consider Whole House Humidifiers for the Coming Winter

What Comes To Mind When You Think Of Indoor Air Quality?

Adequate ventilation? Control of Pollutants? Cleanliness and freshness in the air? Chances are, you’re overlooking humidity and its effects on air quality. When relative humidity is too high or too low, it can result in general discomfort, health problems, and significantly diminished air quality.

The human body is most comfortable at humidity levels that range between 20 and 60 percent. Mold and mildew begin to grow at levels higher than this resulting in musty odors and even health problems. At levels lower than 20%, you may experience dry eyes, irritation of the skin, and an increased likelihood of upper respiratory illness as your mucus membranes dry up.

It’s especially difficult to keep your house at appropriate humidity levels during winter as cold air tends to be dry. The challenge here is to keep humidity levels low enough that excessive condensation doesn’t cause mold growth yet high enough to ward off static electricity and dry skin.

All this is to say that you’d probably benefit from investing in whole-house humidifiers when looking to improve indoor air quality.

Benefits Of Whole House Humidifiers During Winter

1. Increased Comfort And Indoor Air Quality

Your HVAC system does a great job of keeping your home warm and comfy no matter the season. However, as any indoor air quality specialist will tell you, heating tends to remove most of the moisture from your air. Such lingering dry air can have a detrimental effect on the health of you and your family. With minimal moisture in your air, your body’s ability to fight off infection is compromised, leading to increased viral infections.

With a whole-house humidifier, you can keep indoor humidity at optimal levels, alleviating any and all dry air issues. It also adds an element of safety to your home as dry air tends to increase static electricity, which is incredibly dangerous.

2. Reduce Heating Costs

Even with regular fall HVAC maintenance, your home may not feel warm enough in the depth of winter. But don’t call your furnace contractor just yet. You’ll notice that when humidity is high, the temperature feels a little higher too. Consequently, low humidity can make your house feel colder. To compensate, you’ll find your household increasing the heat in an attempt to make up for the dryness.

Humidifiers help to keep indoor moisture balanced and at optimal levels, helping your house feel warmer and allowing you to turn down your thermostat to save energy. As it turns out, adding humidity to your home can save you money in terms of reduced utility costs.

3. Reduces Snoring

Yes, seriously! Poor indoor air is directly linked to chronic breathing issues such as allergies, asthma, and, you guessed it, snoring. Dry air can inflame your air pathways, making it more difficult to breathe. Some of the most common symptoms of dry indoor air in winter include eye irritation, dry skin, sore throats, and even bloody noses. A whole-house humidifier helps to keep your respiratory system well-hydrated and comfortable, opening up your airways and preventing respiratory issues.

Kick Dry Air To The Curb With H & H Heating And Air Conditioning

With an easy-to-install and low-maintenance whole-house humidifier, you can keep your home comfortable and healthy. Get in touch with our heating contractors to see how we can keep you warmer this winter.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/blog/why-you-should-consider-whole-house-humidifiers-for-the-coming-winter/

HVAC Sizing and Why it Matters

One of the advantages of working with an experienced air conditioning company is that you’re assured of the installation of a properly sized system. But why does this matter?

There are some misconceptions about how HVAC systems work. Some might think that bigger air conditioners will cool their homes faster, but this is not necessarily the case. It’s crucial to factor in specific household needs while on the hunt for the best air conditioner for your home. For any HVAC system to truly meet your needs, sizing must be taken into account.

Let’s look at HVAC sizing and why it’s so important.

What Is HVAC Sizing?

Heating and cooling loads determine how much an HVAC system needs to work to maintain comfortable temperatures. HVAC sizing involves a series of measurements geared at determining the right size unit for your home. It considers factors like:

• Local climate zone
• Square footage
• Ductwork
• Height of ceilings
• Number and style of windows
• Amount of insulation
• Orientation of the house
• Heat-generating appliances in a space
• Number of people living in a space

These factors are used in the Manual J Calculation to determine exactly how many BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy are needed to cool or heat your home. An HVAC technician will then choose the size of a system based on its capacity to satisfy three factors – design load, extreme load, and part load.

Importance Of HVAC Sizing

So, what’s the problem with buying an HVAC unit that’s a bit too large?

Having a little extra power isn’t bad. Such systems can handle a little extra load on extreme temperature days. The problem is that a large unit will cool your house faster and because it short cycles it cannot lower indoor humidity or filter the air sufficiently. As a result, indoor air quality plummets and you’re left with a cold but humid home. There’s also the issue of energy consumption, which from an economic standpoint doesn’t bode well for your wallet. You’ll spend more for a unit that doesn’t get the job done quite as effectively, and there is also the potential of equipment damage caused by the short cycling.

If your HVAC unit is too small, the issues will be quite evident from the start. For one, it will not have the cooling or heating power to support your home’s needs. In the summers, it will hardly bring relief from the heat outside and your home and in the winter it maybe be just a little too cold. Heating or cooling a larger home also places undue strain on an improperly sized  HVAC system, stressing its components to their limits. As a result, you’ll experience frequent breakdowns requiring emergency heating repair. What’s more, you’ll likely face an early replacement.

On the flip side, an appropriately sized system means improved thermal comfort levels, improved HVAC energy efficiency as it will use far less energy to cool or heat your home, and reduced repairs. You don’t want to end up with a system that’s working too hard to deliver conditioned air as this will severely impact its lifespan. Work with an experienced air conditioning company to get it right from the get-go. Your HVAC system is one of the largest investments you will make for your home and it’s important to treat it as such.

Let us help you save money on utility bills and repair/replacement costs. We offer professional HVAC sizing and installation services as well as 24-hour heating repair services.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/blog/hvac-sizing-and-why-it-matters/

HVAC Efficiency - What Does it Mean?

It seems that every summer is warmer than the last one. That extra, prolonged heat means you’re turning AC on earlier in the year and for a longer duration each day – costing you more money. You know you need an efficient HVAC system, but what does this mean? And why are there so many rating systems?

When shopping for a new HVAC unit, it may be worthwhile to learn more about HVAC efficiency and what the various efficiency ratings mean.

What Is An HVAC Efficiency Rating?

An efficiency rating measures how well your AC turns electrical energy into cold air. Energy consumption through heating and cooling represents a significant portion of energy utility costs for most households. A higher rating means lower operating costs.

Here are a few of the rating systems you should pay attention to

• Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER)

The EER is a measure of the cooling capacity of an air conditioning system to the amount of energy required to power it. Systems are tested at higher operating temperatures to evaluate their performance and take into account humidity removal.

EER is a great way to assess the efficiency of small systems like window units as it measures the actual operating efficiency of a unit on a day-to-day basis.

• Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER)

A SEER measures usage over time rating (seasonal)  Where EER is a snapshot of a unit’s efficiency in a moment of time. If you live in a region that experiences strong seasonal changes the SEER  is the rating you should look at. Again, the higher the rating, the better. It’s also the best rating to consider when installing central air conditioning.

• Energy Star

The Energy Star rating measures how efficient an HVAC model is compared to other systems of the same size. Products are rated between 1 and 6 stars, with a higher rating indicating higher efficiency.

• Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF)

Just as SEER and EER determine the cooling efficiency of an HVAC system, HSPF measures heating efficiency. It’s the ratio of total heating needed to the amount of electricity utilized by the heat pump. You’ll want to choose a system with a higher HSPF value if you’re looking to reduce energy costs.

• Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV)

Here’s a rating that measures how well an HVAC unit ventilates your home. The MERV rating is simply a measure of how efficiently a filter removes fine particles from the air going through it. That said, all air conditioners require periodic cleaning and filter replacement to function properly. Air conditioner maintenance is the best way to prolong the lifespan of your system and ensure it keeps working as designed throughout.

Wondering what type of filter you should be using? Contact your local heating and cooling contractor for expert advice.

How To Choose The Best HVAC System

HVAC efficiency is but one of the factors you must consider when buying an HVAC system. Other crucial factors include price, system capacity, thermostat compatibility, maintenance requirements and the installing company. Consult a reliable HVAC contractor to ensure the unit you choose is the best fit for your home.

This blog was originally posted on https://delcohvac.wordpress.com/2022/06/10/make-sure-you-get-priority-ac-service-when-it-matters-the-most/

Make Sure You Get Priority AC Service When it Matters the Most

Air conditioning units require regular maintenance to function effectively and efficiently throughout their years of service. After all, summers are only getting hotter.

With reputable air conditioner maintenance companies available, you cannot afford to hand over your unit to just anybody.

So, what do you look for in an HVAC repair technician?

1. Right Training And Tools

Always seek out experience and expertise when searching for ac maintenance contractors. Odds are a company that’s been in the business for years is better equipped to handle a variety of different challenges. On that note, check if their technicians have undergone the necessary training to work with an AC system like yours.

Some questions to consider when choosing ac contractors include:

• How long have they been in business?
• Are they subcontracting any part of their work?
• What continuing education or training have they had to keep up with changing technology?
• What kind of warranties do they offer on their work?

2. Emergency AC Repair Services

There are certain times of the year when heating or air conditioning is completely necessary. In these cases, you cannot compromise on 24-hour ac repair. The last thing you want is to push your family’s comfort and safety needs to the next business day.

A good air conditioner repair company will be on your premises in case of emergencies, ready to inspect or fix whatever’s wrong in no time.

3. Trustworthiness And Professionalism

Reputation is everything in the HVAC industry. You need an air conditioning service you can trust to do the job right, every time. There are several ways to check the reputation of an AC repair and maintenance company:

• Online reviews
• Testimonials and customer references
• Opinions of friends and family members

It’s one thing to have the necessary training, expertise, and experience. It’s quite another to be the type of professional who goes above and beyond to provide customers with stellar service. Make sure they provide up-front, straightforward pricing so that you can schedule the job with confidence.

4. Location

Emergency repair services won’t do you any good if the company is too far to ensure a rapid response. Remember, the closer they are, the faster and easier the repair experience will be.

Doing It Right The First Time, Every Time

As we roll into the summer, it’s important to have an AC company you can trust. With services ranging from complete installation to maintenance and repair on all major brands, you can rely on H & H Heating and Air Conditioning for all your air conditioner maintenance needs.

We also offer 24/7 emergency heating and ac repair services for all those issues that occur outside standard business hours. What’s more, you can join our Comfort Club for a fast pass to the front of the line. Contact us today for top-tier craftsmanship and quality customer service.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/blog/make-sure-you-get-priority-ac-service-when-it-matters-the-most/