In Salt Lake City, households rely on their furnace or boiler to give them warm showers when they need one. During winters, warm water is even much more relaxing because the weather can get really cold. However, it is during winter time too when heaters fail the most. To prevent this from ever happening again, make sure that your furnace or boiler has been checked by a plumbing professional and have it repaired when deemed necessary.

Make sure that your septic tank is also checked before winter time. Do not wait until it becomes full before you get it emptied, especially when it's nearing its maximum capacity as winter arrives. Digging through frozen and snowy ground is so much more difficult than digging through the same ground in any other season, making such type of service from a capable Salt Lake City plumber very expensive.

How would you know whether your septic tank is just about to reach its full capacity? If you have lived in your residence for quite a while, you would know how often it happens. If you have doubts, it is better to have it checked by a plumbing professional prior to winter's arrival so you can be sure that you're going to have a much nicer winter without being bothered by septic tank issues.

Insulating your home means getting it ready for extreme weather, be it the summer heat or the winter cold, and keeping your HVAC system from consuming way too much energy in trying to heat or cool your house. There are many professionals that can help you with efficient home insulation. But just which portions of your house should you have insulated?

Attic Insulation

It's recommended that you have batt or loose fill insulation in your attic. Loose fill insulation materials are blown in or poured into selected areas, thus they are perfect for irregularly shaped spaces with lots of obstruction. Batt insulation, on the other hand, provides more coverage when efficiently installed, and can even be much less costly.

Exterior Wall Insulation

Loose-fill insulation is also used for the exterior siding of existing homes. This is because this type adjusts to the shape of a surface, so, in using it, one doesn't have to worry too much about any wiring between the walls. Owners of new homes, on the other hand, have a lot more leeway when it comes to choosing an insulation type.

Foundation Insulation

Your home's foundation can also benefit from insulating materials, particularly if you want to prevent insect infestation, moisture problems, and even radon exposure. Most often, one has to plan how to use this type of insulation even before a house is built.

Hiring a repair company to fix your home heating system requires careful consideration. Although many people do this, you shouldn't hire a company based solely on the quote they give. Remember that a low quote can sometimes mean low quality. Here are some things that every homeowner should look for when hiring the services of a repair company.

Precautionary Care and Inspection

Your home heating system will need to be inspected at least every two years, and repair companies should be more than willing to do this. You should avoid repair companies that don't give advice about prevention and energy efficiency, as this could mean they are neither thorough nor reliable.

Experience

Know how long the company has been around. If they have been around for a long time, then it means that they have the capability to survive the ups and downs of the economy, as well as the continued support of customers. Because of their experience, it is also likely that they have seen the most unique problems in heating systems.

Pricing

It is important to compare the costs of hiring different companies to know how they price various jobs. Companies that explain their pricing methodologies are the trustworthy ones. It is highly recommended to ask all prospective companies for detailed quotes.

For heating systems to operate effectively, they need good regular maintenance. No matter what type or brand of heating system you have, there are several key things that you should do to keep it in the best condition.

First, it is important to make sure that your unit is receiving enough power for it to work efficiently. Check if there are problems in the fuse or in the circuit breakers. Some furnaces have a power entrance in a separate panel by the main entrance panel, so this should be checked as well.

Dirt is the main enemy of your heating unit, as it can lower its efficiency. It is therefore important to clean your heating system regularly. It is also as important to give attention to any problems your unit might show. If these are neglected, you might face even bigger problems in the future.

Lastly, to keep your heating system in its best shape, you should hire a professional to conduct an inspection and tune-up at least once a year. The best time to hire one is at the end of the heating season since this is the time when you can get discounts and when service teams are more responsive.

Whether you're installing a new furnace or replacing one before the winter months, there are various things that you need to consider to get the most out of what you'll be paying for. First is the type of furnace to select.

There are various types of furnaces available on the market. The most common differences among these products are in their fuel type and size. When it comes to fuel types, you first have to find out which ones have sources that are accessible to you. For example, you might find it hard to get natural gas, so electric or oil-powered furnaces might be suitable for your home. You could also look into energy efficiency ratings to get an idea of fuel costs.

Then, when choosing the size of your furnace, consider the amount of space it would be heating. Larger furnaces are usually stronger, so if you live in a small house, a smaller unit might do the job.

Although installing a furnace can seem like an easy task, it is something that is best left to the experienced professional. Furnaces need direct connections to power sources, and whether you choose one powered by oil, gas, or electricity, its installation needs to be handled cautiously.

Furnaces are built to last long, but even so, they would also require some maintenance. Though it is a task you can do yourself, repair would also be best left to professionals.

Some homeowners are not too knowledgeable about how certain devices and home appliances work. When their air conditioning or heating units suddenly malfunction, they probably wouldn’t know what to do. Fortunately, professional furnace repair experts who can fix the problem right away. Here are some important factors to consider when looking for a furnace repair technician.

License

It's always ideal to choose a licensed repairman who has undergone the necessary training and certification to prove his expertise. Just as a product goes through strict quality assurance tests before being certified for retail, so does a repairman go through a set of tests before qualifying for a license. The inability to produce this basic credential certainly does not inspire confidence.

Manufacturer's Affiliation

Reliable furnace repair companies are typically affiliated with reputable manufacturers. Such affiliations should prove helpful when your specific repair issues require the replacement of some parts. A manufacturer-affiliated repairman can use parts of certified quality. You can also be assured of the repairman’s skill level.

Customer Support Service

Another way to gauge the reliability of any furnace repair company is to check if their hotline is working. If someone answers and provides the information you need in a polite and smart manner, then you’ll know right away that the company is serious about providing quality service.

As any handyman would tell you, proper maintenance is still the best way to prevent mechanical problems in your furnace. What constitutes “proper maintenance” is an entirely different story, however, because some people tend to neglect simple things like cleaning and lubricating. Others may be wise enough to remember these two tasks, yet they might also not have the proper know-how.

In any case, furnace cleaning is a rather meticulous undertaking. Simply dusting off the filters and ports won’t be enough to remove all the grime and germs that the furnace has accumulated throughout the course of its service life. The device needs to be disassembled so that each component can be cleaned, especially the blower assembly which accumulates the greatest amount of dirt and grime.

Meanwhile, quite a lot of Utah residents also have to clean their furnaces because of inversion pollution during winter. Some areas like Salt Lake City get literally blanketed by air pollutants during bouts of cold weather, which results in an even greater density of particulates that need to be removed from furnaces.

Furnace motors also need to be lubricated annually to keep them in good condition. Non-detergent motor oil is commonly used, although people should avoid using all-purpose oil that isn’t optimized for furnace components. Depending on the manufacturer, some furnaces may be permanently lubricated and sealed, thus making regular lubrication unnecessary.

-        www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/us/utah-a-nature-lovers-haven-is-plagued-by-dirty-air.html?_r=0 

Even though the Rocky Mountains protect Utah from extreme cold, winters in the state are often chilly, and temperatures still fall below 32 °F. As such, heaters and furnaces are practically mandatory in every household. Yet depending on the needs and budget of a family, some heaters and furnaces may turn out to be more efficient than others.

The single-stage furnace is the cheapest and simplest furnace used by many households, although it is arguably the least energy efficient. As the name implies, this type of furnace only has one set of functions: on and off. The machine automatically alternates between the two states once the room reaches a specific temperature threshold. The dual-stage furnace is more or less the same, only that it has settings to control the level of heat.

Modulating furnaces, on the other hand, are a different breed altogether in that they carefully calculate the amount of heat produced so that a room doesn’t get too hot or too cold at any given time. These furnaces also generate heat almost immediately, in contrast to the “charge up” time single and dual-stage furnaces normally require. Although more sophisticated and expensive, modulating furnaces are considered the most energy-efficient.