Get your HVAC system ready for winter

As the season turns, chilly mornings and mild days might have you reaching for the thermostat to take the edge off. You count on your HVAC system to heat and cool your home on demand, but if you find that some rooms aren’t comfortable, you might consider taking a closer look at your furnace and air conditioning systems to make sure they are running efficiently. You could do a few things listed in our previous blog post to eliminate simple issues.

Heating and cooling your home is responsible for much of your energy bill, and energy use contributes to your carbon footprint. RC Mechanical owner Sal Contreras can recommend cost effective, energy efficient HVAC upgrades that will make your home more comfortable while reducing your carbon footprint.

How’s the Temperature?

Your HVAC system needs to be able to keep up with the demands of making your home comfortable year round. If the dining room is warm but the temperature in the bedroom causes you to grab a sweater, your system might not be the right size for your home. RC Mechanical HVAC professionals can perform a home energy audit to see whether your HVAC system might be insufficient for the space.

If some rooms are cold while some are hot, you might have leaks in the HVAC system ductwork. More complicated to trace depending on the size of your home and the design of installation, RC Mechanical specializes in ductwork repair and replacement and can recommend the best solution for your situation.

Choosing A Heating Replacement

If your HVAC professional recommends upgrading your furnace, consider switching to something more energy efficient. Choose a furnace with high Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER). Appliances with the ENERGY STAR label meet strict requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Many furnaces run on fossil fuels such as natural gas. Going electric, especially if you have solar power, is a great option and moves you towards a zero carbon footprint.

Check Your Thermostats

Make sure the temperature settings aren’t overheating your home when you’re away. Try adjusting your thermostat just 2 degrees from what makes you comfortable. Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to upgrade to a smart thermostat. Both programmable and WiFi controlled thermostats allow you to control the temperature of your home remotely, and a smart thermostat has the added benefit of analyzing your energy consumption and offers tips to help you be energy savvy.

The Difference of a Ductless System

A compact ductless split heating and cooling system uses one or more independently mounted units that distribute hot or cold air in “zones,” targeting specific rooms rather than the whole house. Ductless systems are more energy efficient, saving money and helping reduce your total carbon output.

Learn more by contacting RC Mechanical, Redwood City’s best HVAC contractor. Call us today and we will diagnose your home’s indoor air quality and provide intelligent guidance to make your home comfortable and eco-friendly. (650) 575-3915.

AC/Furnace blows harder in some rooms

The air is supposed to flow through the ducts in a balanced way. This means that the pressure with which the air is forced into room should be the same.

If you have some rooms experiencing forceful air pressures and others not as much, you have what we in the industry call “An airflow problem”.

You will experience one of the following situations if you have an airflow problem:

You hear whistling sounds
Find that some areas of a room are drafty
Have no air coming out of some registers or the airflow is weak
You find the doors sometimes slamming by themselves
There are spaces/rooms in your home that is hot or cold

Most airflow problems start as a simple issue and if left unattended, can morph into a problem that may make it necessary to replace the whole unit. ???

Airflow issue in its beginning stages is fairly easy and inexpensive to fix. So heed your airflows!

Here are some reasons for airflow issues and how to fix them:

Damper is in closed position. Damper is used to balance the flow of air in the system. Damper controls the flow of air inside the duct work. If you aren’t getting air into the room, the damper could be closed, or there’s a crushed pipe or the pipe is too small for the size of the room. Call your HVAC to take care of this.
Obstructed vents or registers. This happens when there are physical objects in front of the vent or register and obstructing the air from flowing into the room. The solution is simple: Clear all items from near the vent or the register. This would enable to air to move freely.
Dirty filters. A standard filter is there to protect the equipment and not you. If you move into the higher-end filters, they will help you with the air quality inside the house. The filter’s job is to rid the air of dust and allergens and allow the air to be cleaned before it is blown into the house. This not only allows you to breathe clean air, it also keeps dust and debris from your heating/AC which helps your equipment to keep going for a long time. When this filter gets dirty or clogged, it not only takes more energy to push air through it, it also impedes the airflow. This also makes the system work harder which lowers its lifespan. A simple way to fix this issue is to replace your filter as recommended by the furnace manufacturer. During fire or allergy season, change it more frequently since the filters will be filtering a lot of gunk from the air. https://www.filtrete.com/3M/en_US/filtrete/program/change-reminder-programs/
Leaky ducts. Ducts are the way the warm or cool air is distributed throughout the house. If there is a leak in the duct, then some air is escaping out of the duct leading to reduced pressure. This is not ideal because now the dust and other grime from the attic can enter the duct and be blown into the living area. You need a professional to run an inspection of your duct system.
Fan not working. The HVAC system has fans that blow the air through the ducts and into your home. If those fans aren’t working, you can notice airflow problems. This could be a matter of simply cleaning the fans.

Unless it is the case of an obstructed vent or register, we highly recommend that you call your HVAC professional to diagnose and recommend solutions. Airflow issues tackled at the start of an issue are less expensive to fix than when they have grown into bigger problems.

We’d be happy to help you with any airflow issues. Call us at (650) 575-3915.

Keeping Warm at Night

The San Francisco Bay Area enjoys mild winters. However, in the first weeks of this month, temperatures plummeted to the 30s for cities along the Bay like Redwood City, San Carlos, and Burlingame.

Are you and your kids not sleeping well because everyone is cold? Here’s what to do to make sure your house is comfortable:

Check for leaky ducts

When rooms don’t stay warm, there may be leaks in your furnace ducts. This causes your furnace to work harder and take longer to get to the desired temperature.
If some rooms stay warm but other rooms feel cold, then you may have a furnace air flow problem. We can correct this by adjusting the furnace air that blows into each room. We do this through automatic zoning so you are warm and cozy wherever you are in your home.

Change your furnace filter

Dust and dirt prevent free air flow through the heating system. This could make the furnace’s heat exchange overheat and turn itself off.

Check the time on your thermostat

Did you adjust the thermostat for daylight savings time? Set your furnace thermostat to “On” instead of “Auto.”

Do you have the right size furnace for your home?

Our experts can determine the right size of furnace is most appropriate for the size of your home and the Bay Area climate. An overpowered furnace drives up heating bills, while an underpowered furnace struggles to keep you warm on cold days. We can help you evaluate whether it is time to replace your existing furnace and install a new heating system.

Get an inspection for your heating system

Your HVAC system is like your car and needs regular checkups and maintenance. Maintenance can lengthen the life of your furnace.

RC Mechanical, Redwood City’s best HVAC contractor, is a trusted local company that will quickly diagnose and resolve your furnace issues, and recommend repair or replacement. RC Mechanical is a local veteran-owned business and has provided expert furnace and air conditioning repair and installation to the Bay Area with integrity for over 20 years. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their heating and air conditioning needs. Call us today at (650) 575-3915 and we will respond within 24 hours.

Protect your HVAC with our plan

HVAC systems are just like other equipment or appliance. They need regular maintenance.

You wouldn’t drive your car without a regular maintenance. The same holds true for HVAC systems.

Regular maintenance is needed to keep the system performing at its peak. With preventative maintenance, you can catch small issues and fix them before they become a bigger issues.

Keeping your HVAC running at its peak performance is also energy efficient. Well maintained HVAC systems keep energy bills down.

With pre-season HVAC checkups, you can ensure that your system won’t break down when you need them the most; in the middle of hot summer days or cold winters. That is why fall and spring are the best time to get your HVAC checked before they are unleashed into the season’s wrath.

With our yearly maintenance plan of $75/year, we will manage the maintenance of your HVAC system and prevent small issues from becoming system-changing problems.

Benefits of our maintenance plan include:

1. Regular filter changes on your HVAC
2. Replace batteries of CO detector and smoke detectors
3. 10% off the regular price for all service calls
4. 10% off all thermostats, CO detectors and fire alarms
5. 3% off on new installations
6. 5 year warranty on Nest. If you buy these yourself, you will get at most a 3-year warranty.
7. Includes all HVAC equipment in your house
8. Check the system for performance (heater and air conditioning)
9. Go to the front of the line for service calls

With our maintenance plan, you get the following:

– Annual Heating system tune up
– Annual Cooling system tune up
– Annual cleaning of condenser coil
– Annual gas leak testing
– Annual replacement of batteries of CO & smoke detectors
– Annual replacement of thermostat battery
– Annual testing of the motor to see how it is performing
– Annual testing of the capacitor
– Annual check of the gas valve pressure
– Annual check of pressure in the duct
– Annual replacement of filters

Call us today at (650) 575-3915 to join or find out more about how we can help you.

Signs your HVAC is broken

Homeowners in Redwood City, like those everywhere, expect to feel comfortable and secure in our homes. Our homes keep us safe from the outside elements and dangers, like pollutants, inclement weather, etc. However, a faulty HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system is the biggest cause of poor indoor air quality. If furnaces and air conditioners are not installed and maintained properly, they can not only decrease the comfort levels of our homes, but they can also be harmful to our health. HVAC issues can be surprisingly tricky to detect unless you know what to look for.

Here are a few warning signs:

Dusty house

Ever notice that the dust level in your house has increased over time? If there is always a film of dust on the furniture or shelves and you seem to be always cleaning, then your HVAC system might be blowing dust into your house. You should check your furnace and a/c filters and make sure that they are replaced frequently.

Lingering Smell

If the smell of the chicken dinner 3 nights ago is still lingering in your house, then maybe there is a problem with air movement. Lingering smell is a sign to call to your HVAC technician.

Sense of non-well-being

Just because you can’t smell anything off, doesn’t mean that there is no problem with the air quality. In fact, many noxious gases don’t have any smell or color.

Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas that can be a by-product of the HVAC system. When that gas leaks into the house, it can pose a danger to children and adults, especially seniors.

Having a carbon monoxide detector is an important measure in ensuring the well-being of your family and home.

Frequent sickness

Do you feel that members of your family living in the house suffer from flu-like symptoms and have a general sense of not being well? If more than one family members suffers an inordinate amount from that, then it is a good time to call your HVAC technician to make sure that the air is clean.

Asthma & allergies

Do you or the people in your house suffer from sneezing and coughing in the house? A certain amount of sneezing and coughing especially during the allergy season can be normal. If you feel that the inside of your house isn’t giving you a respite from sneezing and other allergy symptoms, then the air may have allergens that haven’t been cleaned out by the furnace and a/c filters.

High humidity

If you have high humidity in the house, it could be an indicator of poor air quality. Homes with high humidity eventually get a buildup of mold and/or mildew.

High humidity can be caused by improper circulation of air which is one of the main functions of an HVAC system. One of the primary jobs of the HVAC system is to circulate air through the system. A malfunctioning HVAC increases the humidity in the air and creates a conducive environment for mold and mildew.

Bad sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for your health. If you feel you are not sleeping well and can’t understand why, then you may need to get your HVAC inspected. It is very possible that your good night’s sleep is being hampered by foul air (or however a bad HVAC affects sleeping). What you can’t see might still hurt you!

If you feel that you’d like us to evaluate your HVAC to see if it is functioning properly, give us a call at Redwood City’s best HVAC contractor. RC Mechanical is an owner-operated Redwood City business and has provided expert furnace and air conditioning repair and installation to the Bay Area with integrity for over 20 years. Call us today at (650) 575-3915. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their heating and air conditioning needs.

5 furnace checks to do before the winter

When the furnace doesn’t turn on on that first cool fall day, you may worry what it might cost, and how long you will have to live without a furnace.

There are a few things you can do to take care of small HVAC heating system issues. This blog post will show you how to diagnose and fix the most common simple issues with your furnace.

1. Check your thermostat

Some programmable thermostats can be complicated to program. Here are the most common things to check in a thermostat:

- First make sure that your thermostat is turned on for furnace. Thermostat should be set to “Heat”. Without this setting, the furnace won’t start.
- The temperature setting on the furnace’s thermostat should be higher than the temperature inside the house. E.g., if your room temperature is 65 degrees and your thermostat is set to 60 degrees, the furnace won’t kick in. The furnace setting should be at least 5 degrees over the room temperature for the furnace to start
- Check the time on the thermostat. If it isn’t displaying the correct time, fix it.
- Make sure that the furnace’s thermostat wires are not cut, frayed, loose, or otherwise compromised all the way to the furnace.
- Set or turn the furnace fan to “On” or “Auto”.

While you are checking the furnace, don’t forget to replace the battery. Without this, your thermostat settings will be lost if the power goes out even for a second.

2. Switches

Make sure the furnace’s power switch is turned on. Without this, your furnace can’t get the electricity and won’t start.

3. Breakers

First, turn off the furnace switch in the electrical panel. Now check the fuse in the power switch. If the fuse is blown, replace it.

If you don’t know how to replace it, it is time to call your furnace repair technician for inspection and repair.

4. Pilot light/electronic ignition

If you have a gas furnace, then check its pilot light. If it is not on, then depending on how handy you are, you may either call your furnace technician to light it or light it yourself.

If you have an igniter instead of a pilot light, make sure that you hear a clicking sound when the furnace is supposed to turn on. If not, you have a problem with the igniter. Call RC Mechanical, Redwood City’s best HVAC contractor, to quickly diagnose and resolve your furnace, thermostat, and air conditioning issues.

5. Change furnace filters

A clogged furnace filter can turn the furnace off. Dust and dirt don’t allow the air to move freely. This could make the furnace’s heat exchanger overheat and shut off.

Still stumped?

At the end of checking all these checks, if your furnace still doesn’t turn on, then call your local Redwood City HVAC technician for an inspection and possible repair.

RC Mechanical, Redwood City’s best HVAC contractor, is a trusted local company that will quickly diagnose and resolve your furnace and air conditioning issues. RC Mechanical is a local owner-operated Redwood City business and has provided expert furnace and air conditioning repair and installation to the Bay Area with integrity for over 20 years. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their heating and air conditioning needs. Call us today at (650) 575-3915.

Smart Thermostats and HVAC

Why you need a smart thermostat

Having a good thermostat is very important to ensure your furnace and air conditioner are operating at maximum efficiency. You save both energy and money if your furnace and air conditioner are intelligently programmed.

For example, with a conventional thermostat you might set your desired temperature to 72 degrees. Then if you leave the house for 8 hours, your furnace is working to keep your house at 72 degrees when you are not even home. This is wasted energy and money. With a smart thermostat, you can turn the temperature down once you arrive at work. This enables your heating system to operate on low or even shut down while you are away. Then, when you are 30 minutes from home, you can use your smartphone to remotely set the temperature back to 72 degrees, turning the furnace on, so that you arrive home to a nice toasty house.

On a hot day, you can do the same thing with your air conditioning. Our HVAC experts can recommend and install a smart thermostat for you.

Be efficient with a smart thermostat

Smart thermostats, like Nest, have many advanced features, including letting you program your desired temperatures based on the day and time, plus controlling the temperature remotely via your smartphone. This works for both your heating and air conditioning systems.

How we can help

We can install a Nest thermostat for you for $575. This includes the Nest thermostat itself, installation, configuration, and a 5-year warranty. Plus, instead of just the 2-year warranty provided by Nest, we give you a 5-year warranty — and we’ll take care of the warranty issues for you, like getting a replacement. Call the HVAC technicians at RC Mechanical today. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their heating and air conditioning needs.

Before you buy a house, get to know its HVAC

HVAC is not the sexiest part of a house, but it is an important to know if your furnace and AC are working well and installed correctly to keep your home comfortable for you.

If HVAC is not installed properly or not working correctly, it is going to cost you more to operate for the lifetime of the equipment. And when you are fed up with the HVAC system in your house, you will have to pay to replace it out of your pocket.

Here are a few things you should keep in mind about the HVAC before you buy a house:

1. Check to see if the HVAC is working.

Turn on the furnace and/or air conditioning and check to see if the hot/cold air is coming out. Soon you should feel a difference in the temperature in the house.

Walk into every room of the house. Each room should have the same level of comfort. There should be no temperature or comfort difference between the various areas of the home covered by the HVAC.

If this is not the case, then hire a qualified HVAC contractor to check the real issue with the HVAC system.

2. Visually inspect the HVAC unit(s).

Check the HVAC unit to see if it is clean. If there are black stains on the fiberglass, then that could be a sign of a problem (air leakage). Time to hire a heating and/or cooling contractor.

3. Utility bills

Ask the current homeowner for the utility bills. If they seem high for the house and the HVAC seems to be working, then it could be a sign that there might be a leak somewhere.

4. Check the thermostat.

Make sure that there is a programmable thermostat and know how to operate it. You should also have the manual for it. Or at least be able to find its manual online.

5. Get paperwork for a new home.

If the home is a new home, then remember to get all the paperwork that goes with the house, including installation manuals, warranties, etc. Contractor should also give you a year of warranty on labor for the unit. The parts warranties are generally from 5-10 years from the factory.

6. Hire an HVAC contractor.

If you suspect there might be a problem, hire a qualified HVAC contractor to do the checks. Since you are paying him, he will be working for your best interests.

If there is a problem, he can tell you how it should be fixed properly instead of the hired contractor from the buyer putting a band-aid on the problem. Such band-aids will not hold up beyond a few months. Then you will be left to fix all the issues.

7. Insurance

Be aware that HVAC insurance generally covers breakages and not regular maintenance.

RC Mechanical is an owner-operated Redwood City business and has served the Bay Area with integrity for over 20 years. If you have any questions about the HVAC of the house that you plan on buying, give us a call at (650) 575-3915. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their heating and air conditioning needs.

Does your furnace shut off before the thermostat temperature is reached?

The Woodside house was fairly new — only about a year-and-a-half old. The homeowner was noticing that the furnace would shut off automatically before the thermostat temperature was reached. In addition, the homeowner heard gurgling noises from inside the furnace’s pipe.

Luckily, the Woodside homeowner called RC Mechanical. When Sal opened the sheetrock to investigate and cut into the furnace’s PVC flue pipe, water gushed out. This isn’t supposed to happen!

This was the problem: According to installation instructions for the furnace, the pipe should have sloped at the rate of .25” per foot back to the furnace. Instead, this home’s pipe sloped 1” per foot. This created a trap for the water to collect.

This is one of the many problems that can occur as a result of poor furnace installation. When the furnace is not installed correctly, water collects wherever it can. The furnace detects water collecting in the pipes and does a safety shut down, to avoid a dangerous buildup of pressure.

How can you tell if you have this problem with your furnace installation? If your furnace turns off prematurely before the thermostat temperature is reached, then it is time to call an expert HVAC contractor like RC Mechanical.

RC Mechanical is an owner-operated Redwood City business and has served the Bay Area with heating and A/C expertise for over 20 years. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their furnace and air conditioning needs. Call us today at (650) 575-3915.

Is a closed bedroom door a health hazard?

Do you sleep with the doors closed? Does your furnace run at night?

Today’s furnace fans are strong and efficient in pushing large volumes of air through the duct and into your bedroom. When so much air is pushed into a bedroom with its doors closed, the pressure in the room builds. Air trapped in such a pressurized room doesn’t stay put and will try to escape.

When that air escapes, new air will be drawn to replace it. This air will be pulled from the path of least resistance. Cracks in the furnace’s ducts, furnace flue, chimney, all make it easy for new air to be pulled in to replace the lost air.

Since this new air is not heated, it results in cooling of the room thereby increasing your utility bills. If this air is pulled from the chimney flue, then you are effectively moving air from the outside into your home. This can increase humidity and bring allergens & pollutants into your living space. Increased humidity could create a conducive environment for molds. All this would make for an uncomfortable home.

If there are cracks in your duct or leaks in your recessed light fixtures, air could be pulled from those areas as well. This means that the new air might be pulled from the attic where there is insulation. Insulation contains fiberglass. In this case, your furnace could be pumping minute particles of fiberglass into your bedroom. This can be hard on infants, small children and older people. Over time this could result in respiratory issues.

The first cigarette doesn’t kill you, but the cumulative effects of smoking over a period of time will seriously injure your health. Similarly, sleeping in a room with something other than clean air being pumped into it will compromise your respiratory system over time.
A simple solution is to not sleep with the rooms closed. Sleep with door or windows open. If safety or weather reasons stop you from keeping your windows open, then keep your bedroom door ajar. For a more expensive solution, put a return air in each room.

How can you tell if your furnace has this problem?

The first thing that people living in the home with a heating issue notice is the smell. You may not be able to say what it is, but you will know that the smell is different and you may not like it.

There can be other tell-tale signs of a furnace issue. Do you notice dust after the cleaning person has done his/her job? Is there uneven heating in your home? You may feel that something has changed in your home resulting in a change in the environment, but you may not be able to pinpoint the issue.

To get ahead of any such heating issues, do an inspection every 5 years of your furnace and duct work. During these inspections, we also take care of any issues with rodents, water damage, leakage, etc. If you have recently done any modifications to your home that involved heating, insulation or related items, let us ensure that everything is still working correctly.

RC Mechanical is based in Redwood City, CA. Call us today at (650) 575-3915 for a whole house inspection. We have been providing heating and air conditioning expertise to the Bay Area for over 20 years. Homeowners in Redwood City and throughout the Bay Area count on us for all their heating and air conditioning needs.