Who to Call if You Have an HEATING Issue.

Heating system issues? As one of the most expensive appliances in your home, you don’t want just anyone addressing your ailing heater. So who should you call when your system is giving you problems?

You Need a Local Heating Company with a Trusted Reputation

H & H Heating & Air Conditioning has been providing 24/7 HVAC repair to the Essington region since 1985. Our trained, friendly staff know their stuff, and can masterfully manage any heating system from ancient furnaces and boilers to the newest, state-of-the-art ductless units.

Looking For Convenient, Affordable Service?

Because we know heater trouble often strikes outside of ‘normal’ office hours, we offer our emergency heating repair services to Southeast PA residents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no after-hours charges or overtime fees, always charging the same, fair price no matter when you need service. Our ‘warehouse on wheels’ arrives at your home stocked with all the necessary materials to achieve same-day repairs.

Our Knowledgeable Technicians Have You Covered

Our experienced, NATE-certified technicians will respect your home and family. We treat every home as if it’s our own, taking care not to make a mess and returning your home to its previous pristine condition following service. We’ll safeguard your system and your home, ensuring anything damaged is rapidly repaired or replaced. Our repairs and new system installations are top-notch and made to last, backed by some of the best repair and installation warranties in the business.

Stay Warm With Our Wide Array Of Winter Home Comfort Services

• Heating System Repairs
  Get your heating system back up and running fast with the help of our heating and cooling repair services.
• Routine Heating System Maintenance
  Identify system issues before they leave you shivering in winter weather extremes with annual pre-season maintenance.
• Furnace and Boiler Safety Checks
  Ensure your family is safe from carbon monoxide and other system dangers this winter season with an annual furnace or boiler inspection.
• Heating System Upgrades & New System Installation
  Stay warm for less dough with today’s most efficient heating system options, including heat pumps, furnaces, boilers, and radiant floor heating systems. Learn more about upgrading your heating system and our winning reputation, including our ‘No Lemon’ 100% money-back guarantee.
• Hot Water Heater Maintenance & Repair
  Extend the life of your hot water heater with regular hot water heater maintenance.
• High-Efficiency Water Heater Upgrades
  Cold shower? Warm up to a new, high-efficiency water heating system, enjoying increased performance and lower energy costs.

Looking for trusted local heat repair companies?  H & H Heating & Air Conditioning has you covered. Contact us to learn more about our A+ BBB and 5-star Google-rated services today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/who-to-call-if-you-have-a-heating-issue/

Is a Heat Pump the Right Solution for Your Home?

As the cost of electricity and natural gas continues to rise alongside environmental concerns, homeowners are increasingly turning to heat pump style heating and cooling units for relief. Could an air or ground-sourced heat pump system be right for you?

Factoring In Savings

Sales of heat pumps have increased annually since 2016, with customers who’ve purchased ground-sourced heat pumps enjoying especially impressive savings. Reports show savings of $1,000-1,500 annually over propane, with year-to-date savings for some early ground-source customers equating $40,000 – a payback over twice the cost of installation.

Doing The Math

Will the math work for you when it comes to heat pump installation? Air, ground, and water-sourced heat pumps can be used to provide 100% of your home’s heating, cooling, and dehumidification. They are an ideal choice for those without access to natural gas. Compared to systems operating on oil and natural gas, operating a heat pump costs about 2-3-times less, providing significant savings. To determine if a heat pump system is right for your home, heating companies will consider:

• Does your home have access to natural gas, propane, or oil?
  What is the cost per BTU of heat pump versus fossil-fuel based heating system?
• Is access to the ground feasible?
  Air-source heat pumps work best for small homes with open floor plans, as well as settings such as multi-family housing and high rises with limited access to the ground for ground-source heat pump installation.
• What is the cost savings?
  Geothermal (ground-sourced heat pump), for instance, offers more significant savings than propane-based heat. For electric, it’s straight-forward: A ground-sourced heat pump offers 5-times the efficiency of electric resistance heating.
• Could a dual-fuel system offer a more cost-effective option?
  In a market with prevalent natural gas, a dual-fuel air-source heat pump may offer a more cost-effective solution to ground-source heat pumps. However, in areas that don’t have natural gas access, a ground-source heat pump may come out on top.
• How will climate affect operation?
  In climates where the bulk of the winter temperatures are less than 55°F, ground-sourced heat pumps or dual fuel systems may offer more efficient performance. Because heat pumps do as their name suggests, moving heat from one source to another, there comes the point where an air-source heat pump can no longer provide the heating necessary to maintain a comfortable temperature.
• How big of a priority is carbon footprint for homeowners?
  With geothermal/ground-sourced systems, though the initial cost of installation is greater, heating and air conditioning bills, energy usage, and carbon emissions are more dramatically reduced, safeguarding the earth and quality of life for future generations.

Warm up to the latest heating and cooling technology. Uncover your ideal heating and air conditioning solution with the help of the home comfort pros at H & H Heating & Air Conditioning today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/is-a-heat-pump-the-right-solution-for-your-home/

What's Dragging Down the IAQ in Your Home?

Are you taking steps to make sure your indoor air is healthy? Air quality inside your home is just as crucial to your health as the air quality outside. It is especially important for those struggling with allergies and asthma.

What Things Negatively Impact Indoor Air Quality in Your Home?

• Allergens
  Pollen, dust mites, animal dander, and cockroach detritus can collect on surfaces in your home, spreading via your heating and cooling system.
• Mold & mildew
  In places of your home where moisture collects and humidity levels aren’t managed, such as bathrooms and basements, mold and mildew can thrive. When it grows or is disturbed, the spores mold and mildew produce infiltrate the air, making their way into your sinuses and lungs.
• Chemicals, artificial fragrances, and VOCs
  Synthetic fragrances from cleaning supplies, air fresheners, and perfumes negatively impact indoor air quality, releasing VOCs. New carpet, furniture, and building materials in your home can also release these toxic compounds.
• Carbon monoxide
  Fuel-burning appliances and heat sources in your home can release carbon monoxide if improperly vented. This gas is colorless, odorless, and potentially deadly.
• Outdoor air pollution
  Emissions from cars and factories, ozone, pollen, mold, and more from outdoors can infiltrate your home, particularly in poorly sealed houses with leaks around windows and doors.

How To Improve Indoor Air Quality In Your Home

There are many steps you can take to improve your home’s indoor air quality:

• Manage moisture
  Keep humidity levels in the proper balance with a whole house humidifier and dehumidifier addition. Integrated into your HVAC, these low-maintenance systems manage moisture on-demand.
• Ensure proper ventilation
  Ensure fuel burning appliances and heat sources are properly vented and inspected annually, adding carbon monoxide detectors if you own them. Add exhaust fans and ventilation to moisture prone areas, such as the bath, laundry, and basement.
• Beef up your air filter
  Beef up home air filters, upgrading to a Nature’s Home  MicroPower Guard home air filter. With a tighter weave, these filters remove more airborne pollutants and contaminants from the air than bargain options, providing cleaner indoor air.
• Zap bacteria and other microorganisms
  Keep bacteria, germs, and mold under control with the help of a UV lights air purifier system.
• Choose natural cleaners and furnishings
  Ditch toxic chemical cleaners and artificial fragrances for natural cleaners and 100% pure essential oils. Choosing natural wood and leather furnishings over fabric and OSB, particleboard, and other profusely glued, engineered alternatives can also reduce VOCs.
• Clean regularly
  Regularly cleaning floors and washing bed linens can reduce the buildup of dust, dust mites, pollen, dander, and other allergens. Stowing shoes outside, showering after outdoor excursions, and keeping pets out of your bedroom can also reduce allergen accumulations.

Take control of the indoor air quality in your home, safeguarding the health of your family with the help of H & H Heating & Air Conditioning today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/whats-dragging-down-the-iaq-in-your-home/

Do I have a Dual Fuel System?

Not sure if you have a dual fuel heating and cooling system? Most homes feature either a gas-powered or heat-pump system with an electric heating backup. However, some homeowners enjoy the best of both worlds, employing the benefits of dual-fuel systems.

What is a Dual Fuel HVAC System?

Dual fuel systems deliver superior performance and efficiency by combing the best of gas furnace and heat pump technology. In dual fuel systems, both components share ductwork to distribute heated and cooled air throughout your home. In the summer and mild spring and fall weather, the heat pump provides the most efficient and least costly means of home comfort. In ideal conditions, heat pumps can transfer 300% more energy than they consume. In the coldest winter months (below 35-degrees), when heat pump systems are less efficient, the heat pump shuts off and the furnace takes over, delivering 90% efficiency on average.

How To Tell If You Have A Dual Fuel System

The easiest way to determine if you have a dual fuel system is to ask your local heating system repair company. However, it may be possible to determine this without a service call. The first place to look for this information is on the metal box inside or outside your home that controls your HVAC system. The model number on the faceplate of this unit, typed into a quick Google search, can help you uncover your system type. In addition to checking this panel, identifying key components of your HVAC system can help you determine what type of heating and cooling you have in your home.

Gas & Electric HVAC Identifiers

Setting your thermostat to engage heating and cooling, respectively, can help you identify your system. Here’s what to look for:

• Gas
  Gas-powered heating units use a heat exchanger or burner produce heat. When you’re running the heat, check for the presence of a small blue flame glowing through the window at the front of your system. You will likely hear the noise of gas-powered systems in operation as well. These indicators point to the presence of gas-powered heat.
• Heat Pump with Electric Heat Backup
  Heat pumps are typically powered by electricity. Heat pump components move heat from one place to the other based on the season. If you see brass pipes (the reversing valve) when looking inside the grill of your outdoor unit, you may have a heat pump. When temperatures plummet below the system’s capacity to effectively move heat, an electric heating element provides backup (emergency) heat to keep your home to temperature. These heating elements work similar to a radiator and don’t have a flame.

Have both? You may have a dual fuel HVAC system.

Clear up dual fuel confusion. Schedule an annual air conditioning service and maintenance and get your questions answered with H & H Heating & Air Conditioning today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/do-i-have-a-dual-fuel-system/

Is Upgrading My HVAC Worth the Expense?

With today’s climate and temperature extremes, your heating and air conditioning system has certainly seen some hardworking days. But is it past its prime? While maintenance can boost the performance and efficiency of your current system, heating and cooling units more than 10-years old are nowhere near as efficient as today’s high-efficiency models. Could an HVAC upgrade be worth the expense?

Tips for Determining When it’s Time for an HVAC Upgrade

Many older systems don’t work as well as they should. Coupled with advances in technology and efficiency, you could be spending a lot on electric costs monthly. These added expenditures could easily be used to pay off a new HVAC system, lowering your monthly energy bills. How can you determine if upgrading your HVAC system could be beneficial for your home? Answering these questions could help you decide:

• How Cool/Warm Do You Prefer Your Home?
  If you weren’t trying to control your energy costs, how much more comfortable would you be on summer’s hottest days and winter’s coldest ones if you could set your thermostat to a more favorable temperature?
• How Sensitive are You to Noise?
  Do you get tired of listening to your older system groan? As HVAC components wear, system operation can grow louder over time. A new system will not only run more quietly, but recent improvements in insulation and operational volume can provide quieter, less-intrusive heating and cooling, particularly with Mitsubishi ductless air conditioners and heaters.
• How Important is Having a Clean Home?
  A newer unit with improved filtration and a HEPA air filter addition can help you drastically reduce annoying dust buildup, alongside dust mites, dander, pollen, and other airborne contaminants. Learn more about improved filtration.
• Do You Want to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality?
  Today’s HVAC systems feature variable speed fans, boosting air circulation, and subsequently air quality. This helps reduce asthma and allergy flare-ups and reduce the health risks associated with poor indoor air quality.
• Do You Battle with Mold/Mildew in Your Home?
  By circulating air better, the variable speed fans in today’s systems help reduce humidity levels and moisture, keeping mold/mildew issues in-check in homes with an unusually sticky climate.

Still Concerned About The Cost?

According to the Department of Energy, heating and cooling are responsible for over half your monthly energy costs. However, with an investment in a newer, more efficient system, you could reduce these monthly costs, saving hundreds annually. The higher the SEER/EER rating on the system, the greater the savings. To help you mitigate the cost of a system upgrade and reduce your carbon footprint, many municipalities and electric companies offer rebates and incentives.

Time for an upgrade? Learn more about available incentives in your area and get a trustworthy quote on system upgrade cost from one of our HVAC installation service pros. Contact H & H Heating & Air Conditioning today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/is-upgrading-my-hvac-worth-the-expense/

Do You Need a Humidifier? The Signs Your Missing # Signs You Need a Humidifier

Cooler, dryer fall temperatures are moving in. Though you’re looking forward to a break from summer’s stifling humidity, sometimes dryer air falls into the ‘too much of a good thing’ category. Does your home need a humidifier?

Don’t Miss these 4 Key Signs that Your Home Needs a Humidifier

Because colder air cannot carry as much moisture as warm air, colder climates are naturally dryer. For this reason, most homes could benefit from a humidifier in the fall and winter months. Families often overlook the telltale signs of too much dryness: Humidity levels below the 40-60% relative humidity range. If you or your local air conditioning company notice any of these signs, it may be time for a humidifier:

1. Shocking encounters with your family.
   Static electricity is a common indicator of an uncomfortably dry home environment.
2. Dry, itchy skin, and chapped lips.
   Out of lotion and lip balm again? Miserable with seasonal eczema and psoriasis flare-ups? A humidifier could be just the relief your scaly, itchy skin is screaming for.
3. Persistent cough & allergy-like symptoms.
   As dryness makes it way from the surface to the interior of your body, frequent nosebleeds, chronic cough, and allergy flare-ups can take their toll. Those with asthma and allergies are most frequently affected at this time, as the dryer air keeps irritating particles airborne. A furnace mount humidifier installation in Chaddsford can help soothe dry, irritated skin and interior mucosal membranes.
4. Gaps and cracks in furniture, flooring, and structural components.
   Cracks in flooring, moldings, furniture, and more result when moisture is leached out of building materials, causing them to crack, shrink, warp, and weaken. A whole-house humidifier can protect the furnishings and structure of your home, adding essential moisture to the air to keep wood pliable.

Choosing A Home Humidifier

A home humidifier is an easy way to solve low humidity issues.

• Standalone/Portable Humidifiers
  Standalone or portable units cost slightly less, but only maintain humidity levels in individual rooms. They are not a cost-effective means of humidifying your entire home, and require substantially more maintenance than whole-house humidifying systems, requiring frequent refilling and cleaning to avoid common humidifier concerns.
• Whole House Humidifiers
  Whole house humidifiers attach directly to your furnace or heat pump system. They have their own water supply and require very little maintenance. Simply dial-in the ideal humidity level (40-60% relative humidity is recommended), and a whole house humidifier will deliver exactly what you need, distributing it through your home via your HVAC system.

Ensure a comfortable home over the fall and winter season with the help of your heating and air conditioning service. Contact H&H Heating & Air Conditioning and learn more about our affordable whole house humidifier options today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/do-you-need-a-humidifier-the-signs-your-missing-signs-you-need-a-humidifier/

Time for a Coil Cleaning? Here's How

For many homeowners, their HVAC system is out of sight, out of mind. Presumed to be hermetically sealed inside those giant metal boxes, heating and air conditioning units couldn’t possibly require that much cleaning and maintenance, right? Wrong. Far from hermetically sealed, your system is exposed to an array of dust and dirt from within and without your home. Without proper cleaning, including regularly cleaning AC coils, trouble is likely on the horizon.

Why Cleaning Coils at Summer’s End is an Essential HVAC Maintenance Task

What’s the big deal about a little dirt on AC coils? The main job of your coils is to transfer heat. The more dirt builds up on coils, the harder it is for your HVAC system to transfer heat. This means it has work harder to accomplish the task of keeping your home to temperature. All this extra strain on your system equates to:

• Higher energy bills.

Because your system has to run longer to achieve the desired temperature. Click here to learn more about ways to lower your HVAC energy costs.

• Refrigerant leaks.
  After remaining dirty for a while, coils corrode, leaking refrigerant into the atmosphere. This situation is not good for the earth, or your pocketbook. Without proper refrigerant levels, your system has to work longer and harder. Refrigerant is also costly to replace, especially if you have an older R-22 system. This refrigerant has been phased out due to environmental concerns.
• Reduced comfort.
  Your coils play an integral role in removing uncomfortable humidity from your home. For this reason, dirty coils can lead to a sticky indoor environment, and all the consequences excess indoor humidity can lead to in the form of mold, mildew, and bacteria.
• Shortened system life.
  The more you run your system, the faster key components such as the system’s fan and compressor will breakdown. Eventually, your system will overheat and fail, and you’ll find yourself shelling out for HVAC system replacement.

How To Clean Heating & AC Coils

AC coil cleaning is best performed once or twice a year, depending on use, in the spring and fall before temperature extremes put a strain on your system. Cleaning AC coils yourself can be a tempting task. However, the small fins on the coil are very delicate. Many well-meaning homeowners damage AC coils when attempting DIY coil cleaning, using the wrong chemicals or cleaning techniques. For this reason, coil cleaning by heating and cooling companies is recommended. The small cost of coil cleaning pales in comparison to the cost of coil replacement following a DIY cleaning attempt.

An HVAC service pro can also maintain other key components of your system while performing this task. A seasoned pro can make sure your system is up to snuff, identifying issues before they result in the need for emergency 24/7 HVAC repair.

Keep your system clean and lower your monthly energy costs with the help of the local air conditioning contractors at H & H Heating & Air Conditioning. Contact us today.

This blog was originally posted on https://www.delcohvac.com/time-for-a-coil-cleaning-heres-how/