Oasis Heating, A/C & Refrigeration Blog : Archive for the ‘Heating’ Category

Heating Repair in Alexandria, VA: How Do I Know When My System is Struggling?

Sunday, November 5th, 2017

When it comes to heating repair, Alexandria VA residents know better than to wait. When winter comes, we need reliable heating systems to keep our homes warm and cozy, and a problem with your heater could turn your home into an icebox. Even if it still runs, a problem can reduce its efficiency, costing you money in higher bills. If you can spot the signs of a problematic system, you can summon a trained professional before the trouble gets worse. “How do I know when my system is struggling?” Here are three possible answers.

  • Higher bills. As intimated above, when your system is struggling, it has to work harder into order to heat your home. That translates into more energy expended, which translates into higher heating bills. If your bills are going up, despite the fact that you haven’t run the heater any more often than normal, you may need to contact a professional to look at the unit.
  • Low air flow. If your air flow is lower than it should be, or if the air isn’t flowing at all, you’ve probably got a problem. It could be caused by a breach in the ducts, by a blockage somewhere in the system, or by a fan motor that isn’t functioning the way it should.
  • No heat. It may be that the air is flowing just fine, but the air being blown is lukewarm or even cool. The problem depends on the kind of heater you have: an electric furnace may have problems with the heating coils, while a gas furnace may have an issue with the pilot light or the thermocouple. Regardless of the possible causes, you should shut the furnace off and contact a service professional as soon as possible.

If you know when your system is struggling – either for these or other reasons – contact Oasis Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc, for help. We’re experts in heating repair, Alexandria VA homes are a part of our service area, and our trained professionals are standing by to help. Give us a call today to make an appointment.

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5 Tips for Gas Furnace Safety in the Winter

Thursday, November 2nd, 2017

The gas furnace is the most common type of heating system found in homes. This shouldn’t be a surprise: a gas furnace can deliver high levels of heating and is energy-efficient. But some homeowners feel concerned that gas furnaces are safety hazards. This reputation isn’t accurate, but if you have a natural gas furnace keeping your home warm every winter, you still must take some safety precautions. Below we’ve listed 5 tips to keep your family safe this winter while you use your gas furnace.

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Why Radiant Heating Is a Great Choice for New Homes

Tuesday, October 31st, 2017

Radiant heat: it’s the warmth you feel coming off of a hot surface, like pavement baking in the sun or a glowing lightbulb. Even though it’s the most natural form of heat—it’s the type of heat the sun gives off—many homes don’t make use of it for seasonal heating. The most common kind of heating systems found in houses use forced-air to provide comfort, i.e. distributing heat through air blown out of vents connected to ducts.

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Why You Need to Schedule Maintenance for Your Furnace

Thursday, October 26th, 2017

When it comes to keeping homes warm during the winter, the furnace has been the most popular choice for many years. Even with other advances in heating technology over the last few decades, gas-powered furnaces remain the most common type of residential heaters. If you home has a gas line, then it’s almost a certainty that you have a gas-powered furnace to take care of your winter warmth.

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Fairfax, VA Heating Tip: Why Certain Rooms Are Cold

Sunday, October 22nd, 2017

In a home with central heating, you expect the heater will warm up the whole house. You don’t want it to act like a space heater, a tiny unit that heats up one spot and nothing else. If you walk through your home and it feels like you’re using multiple space heaters—some not even working—to get your house warm instead of a powerful central system, then you may have a problem. The heater might be faulty, or the trouble could stem from defects in your house’s insulation. The uneven heating might be a simple mistake you can remedy in minutes.

We’ll walk you through some culprits that can create cold rooms in your home even with a powerful heating system at work. Call the Fairfax, VA heating experts today at OASIS Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc. if you need additional help with cold spots.

  • Blocked or closed vents: If you have centralized air providing heat, make sure that the vents in the chilly rooms are open. Vents near the floor might have accidentally become blocked by a rug or a shifted piece of furniture.
  • Thermostats issues: Zone heating in homes is a great way to conserve money, but it isn’t hard to set one of the multiple thermostats incorrectly. Make sure all the thermostats are programmed to the temperature you want. If one of the thermostats malfunctions, then you’ll need professional assistance.
  • Heat leaks: The cold rooms may have spots where valuable heat escapes outside. Check the seals around windows or any door to the outside. The trouble might be deteriorating insulation, which will need replacement.
  • Heater is too small: If you picked out your heater on your own without help, or relied on an amateur or inexperienced installer to pick it, you may have a heater too small to do the job of warming your whole home. Contact a reliable and respected HVAC company to inspect your house and determine its heat requirements. You may need to have the heater replaced.

Cold spots don’t have to mean an emergency—but they can warn you that something isn’t right. Don’t decide to “just live with it” and stay clear of the chilly rooms until spring. You deserve the best heating service in Fairfax, VA you can get. Hunt down the problem, and if you can’t figure it out on your own, bring in OASIS Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc. to do the detective work—and any repair work afterwards.

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Why You Should Consider a Hybrid Heating System in Arlington

Saturday, October 21st, 2017

Do you want to install a heat pump in your home, but are concerned that it might not perform as needed during the winters? If so, consider a hybrid heating system in Arlington. A hybrid heating system offers you the best of both worlds: a heat pump that comes with the back-up of a natural gas furnace. Proper installation is the key for any new heating system, so if you are ready for a new system, call the people you can count on: OASIS Heating, A/C & Refrigeration, Inc. We provide comprehensive heating services in Arlington! 

What Is a Hybrid Heating System?

As we mentioned above, a hybrid heating system consists of a heat pump and a back-up gas furnace. The main component of the system is the heat pump. Heat pumps work by using refrigerant to facilitate the transfer of heat from one location to another. During the summer, the heat pump removes the heat from your indoors and transfers it outdoors; during the winter, the heat pump absorbs the heat surrounding it, concentrates it, then sends it into your home. However, when the temperature falls below 32 degrees, it is harder to extract heat from the air, forcing the heat pump to work harder and less efficiently. However, with a hybrid system, this isn’t an issue.

With a hybrid system, the outdoor unit, where the heat pump technology is house, is equipped with a sensor that works in conjunction with a dual-fuel thermostat inside your home. The sensor reads the outside temperature and is programmed with a set-point temperature, determined by you, that tells the system when to switch to the gas heat. When the temperature goes above the set-point, your system will switch back to using the heat pump for heat. The switching in the system is automatic, and ensures that you’ll never have to worry about being cold on an extra-chilly day.

A hybrid heating system in Arlington can be the perfect solution for those homeowners looking to gain the benefits of a heat pump but without worry during the colder months of the year.

If you are interested in seeing what a hybrid heating system can do for your home, call OASIS Heating, A/C & Refrigeration, Inc., today.

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Your Heat Pump Won’t Switch to Heating Mode: Here’s Why

Tuesday, October 17th, 2017

If you have a heat pump to handle the comfort needs of your home, you’ll soon switch over to heating mode for the first time in many months. You can expect the heat pump to make the transition smoothly, since all it has to do is change the direction the refrigerant flows and siphon out an amount of the refrigerant.

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Fairfax, VA Heating Repair FAQ: Why Does My System Shut Down When I’m Still Cold?

Sunday, October 15th, 2017

“Why does my system shut down when I’m still cold?” That’s not an uncommon question from homeowners who may be frustrated by problems with their heating system. Here in Fairfax, VA, heating repair is an essential service; our winters may not be a cold as they are in New England, but we still get our share of chilly days and nights. So when your system shuts down prematurely or just never seems to make your home comfortable, it’s a cause for some concern. Before calling in a professional technician, you can educate yourself a bit on why a heater fails to do its job, and why your system shuts down when you’re still cold.

In a lot of cases, such a situation indicates a failure with the thermostat.  If you’ve placed your thermostat in a part of the house that gets a lot of sunshine, or it it’s near a warm draft, it may read the temperature as being warmer than it is. Your service technician can move it to a more “temperature neutral” part of the house to correct the issue. Alternately, the thermostat’s thermometer may be malfunctioning, in which case it’s reading the temperature as higher than it is.

Other issues may have little to do with the overall temperature, but rather with overloaded or overheating components within the system itself. Fan motors and the like often contain automatic shut-off switches, designed to turn the entire heater off when the motor itself starts to overload. This happens in order to protect the system from further damage. In any case, it may come along suddenly, cutting off your heating power before it warms your home sufficiently.

Regardless of the causes, if you’re asking “Why does my system shut down when I’m still cold?” then your heater is experiencing problems. The trained experts at OASIS Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc. can help. We handle Fairfax, VA heating repair issues of all varieties, and have served Northern Virginia for over fifteen years. Call us today to set up an appointment.

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Some Ideas for New Heating Installations

Thursday, October 12th, 2017

Are you planning to replace an old heater in your home and put in a new one this fall? Or are you in a new house and it needs to have a heating system installed in time for winter? We have some good news and some bad news for you.

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Arlington, VA Furnace Repair Guide: Why Your Pilot Light Is Uneven

Saturday, October 7th, 2017

If you have a gas-powered furnace, you have one of the most efficient heating systems available working for you. But even the most advanced furnace with the best maintenance will age and develop repair needs. Among the most common issues that we encounter with gas-powered furnaces are troubles with the pilot light. Pilot lights sometimes flicker or go out.

Because the pilot light is responsible for igniting the gas jets in the furnace’s combustion chamber, which in turn warm the air that is blown through ducts in your home, if it fails your furnace won’t work. We’ll list a few reasons for uneven pilot lights and what repair needs they may point toward.

A word of caution: although you can fix minor pilot light failures by simply re-lighting the flame, trying anything more complicated poses serious risks. Not only do you face the possibility of damaging the furnace’s interior, but there are safety hazards as well. Gas furnaces can expose you to carbon monoxide poisoning and other dangers. Leave the work to professionals. In Arlington, VA, the furnace repair experts at OASIS Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc. are on duty 24/7 to help you.

  • Low Air Intake: Flame requires oxygen to burn. If the air intake opening for the pilot becomes clogged, it will force the pilot light to struggle. This problem can go past a basic clog, however, and you may need an expert to examine the air flow.
  • Dirty burner: The burner and area around the pilot light can’t have a covering of grime over it, or else it will smother the flame. This is one reason that regular furnace maintenance is so important: keeping the parts of the furnace clean is vital for its operation.
  • Gas leaks: This is the most worrisome problem. The gas line into the furnace can sometimes lose its pressure, which will cause an inconsistent pilot light. But a leak is even more serious. If you detect the smell of gas while investigating a pilot light problem, shut off the gas immediately and call a professional.

If you allow a fluttering pilot light to go without repair, it may soon stop lighting at all, leaving you without heat. Don’t get stuck in the cold this winter in Arlington, VA: furnace repair is only a phone call away with OASIS Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Inc..

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