Energy Efficiency

The Importance of Proper Air Duct Installation

Written by Kevin on November 13, 2024. Posted in Energy Efficiency.

If you are a homeowner in the Hanover, MD area and are thinking of installing a new HVAC system, please do not neglect the importance of your air ducts. Air ducts are an integral part of a typical HVAC system, and their proper installation is too often an afterthought.

You need your air ducts installed correctly in order for your system to work properly, maintain the desired temperature, and have the rooms in your house heated or cooled evenly. For these reasons, and a number of others, having a local, trusted professional at Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating to handle both your HVAC system and air duct installation is the smart move.

Let’s go through all the reasons why proper air duct installation is so important in greater detail.

Your ductwork plays an important role in the optimization of your system’s energy consumption. If air ducts are not installed correctly or if a non-professional overlooks a design flaw, a notable amount of air can escape before it gets to where it should go. This winds up costing you more energy than it should and also reduces how effectively and efficiently your heating and cooling system is performing.

Compromised Indoor Air Quality

If there are holes or gaps in your air ducts due to poor installation, outside air can work its way into your home through these openings. This is problematic because this outside air can carry pollutants, allergens, dust, bacteria, and a wide range of other contaminants. When properly sealed, these particles are kept outside, preserving your indoor air quality. Not having your air ducts installed correctly so that they are well-sealed can affect your system performance and be detrimental to your health and that of your loved ones.

Comfort Consistency

Ductwork that has not been correctly installed can lead to the rooms of your home not being heated or cooled evenly. It can be blazingly warm in the kitchen, while it stays cold in a bedroom. That is because air ducts that are not expertly installed can lead to hot and cold spots throughout your home. This is due to an inability of your system to distribute the conditioned air properly. Expertly installed ductwork ensures that the airflow is balanced, keeping you and your family comfortable in every area of your home.

System Lifespan

An HVAC system is a major investment. When you spend money on a new system, you want to make sure that it is going to last you as long as possible. One of the problems with air ducts that are not installed the right way is that it forces your system to work harder. There is a strain on the system from having to compensate for any loss of conditioned air. Having to put in a greater effort than necessary to maintain a temperature can wind up shortening the lifespan of your system. This means more repairs and the need to replace your system sooner than you should have to.

Noise

Have you ever been in a home with air ducts that are noisy when the HVAC system is first engaged? A small amount of noise in ductwork is normal at the beginning of a cycle, but imagine your air ducts regularly making a racket at any time during your HVAC system operating. This could become highly disruptive and irritating.

Poorly installed air ducts can make a variety of sounds. These can include whistling, rattling, and even banging. They can be prominent and regular enough to even make it difficult to sleep. Correctly installing air ducts ensures that they are properly sized, sealed, and secure. This allows for optimal airflow and a minimum of restrictions, preventing strange sounds from occurring and allowing for a quieter and more peaceful home experience.

Signs of Poor Air Duct Installation

If you already have air ducts installed and are thinking they might be problematic, there are some clear signs to look out for to confirm your suspicion. Should you be experiencing one or more of the following symptoms of a poor air duct installation job, give our team a call and we can help remedy the situation.

High Energy Bills

If you have noticed excessive energy bills that appear to be unexplainable, it is worth having your air ducts looked at. It has been found that up to 20% of conditioned air can escape through leaks in improperly installed air ducts. This can translate to your HVAC system having to work harder and you winding up with higher energy bills.

Excessive Noise

If you are experiencing a large amount of the noises described earlier—ratting, banging, whistling, or other noises from your air ducts—this can be attributable to improper installation. These noises can result from poor connections and can end up causing a great deal of vibration that can accelerate wear on different components of your system.

Weakened Airflow

Improper air duct installation can cause a significant reduction in airflow. You can actually do simple and non-obtrusive tests for this at home on your own. Take a sheet of paper and place it over one of your vents. This will give an indication of how strong the air is that is blowing from or into the vent. When there is barely any movement or appears weak, this shows that there is an imbalance in your system. The root cause of this can be gaps in air ducts or bends that restrict airflow. You can repeat this test in all of the vents throughout your home.

Temperature That Is Uneven

Another way you can test the possibility of improperly installed air ducts is to engage your HVAC system, wait a couple of hours to give a chance for the whole home to get up to temperature, and see if there are hot or cold spots throughout. If this is the case, check to make sure all the vents are open, windows are closed, the shades are shut, and so on. There is also the possibility of this being an insulation issue. If it turns out that none of these other factors are contributing to the uneven temperature, your air ducts could be the reason.

Regular Breakdowns

As mentioned earlier, poorly installed air ducts can put major strain on your HVAC system. Not only does this cause a spike in your energy bill, but it can also cause enough damage to your system to necessitate constant repairs. If you have had to get repairs more often to your system and the reason appears to be unexplainable, it is worth having your air ducts inspected for an installation issue.

Your Hanover Air Duct Installation Experts

At Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating, we want to make sure that your home is as comfortable as possible. That is why we have dedicated ourselves to ensuring that each home that we install air ducts for has the job done right. This commitment to quality customer service has made us the go-to for heating and cooling services in the area.

In fact, our experienced technicians have serviced thousands of homes in the community over the years. If you are not in Hanover and want to experience our exceptional services, do not fret. We bring our expertise in the areas of repairs, installations, and maintenance to the good people from Annapolis to Towson. We also provide duct cleaning services! We would love to hear from you, so give us a call today to find out if we serve your neighborhood.

How To Make An Old Home More Energy Efficient

Written by Kevin on February 10, 2021. Posted in Energy Efficiency.

Old homes don’t get the love they deserve. Although they may present more repair and maintenance needs than newer homes, old homes are often cheaper than their newer counterparts. Whether you rent or own the old home you’re living in, you probably struggle with high utility bills. To improve your home’s energy efficiency, try integrating the tips mentioned below.

Water Heater

Water heaters have been around for more than a hundred years. In fact, the prototype for the modern tank water heater was developed in the late 1800s, more than 130 years ago.

Although tankless water heaters have grown in popularity over the past couple of decades, tank-type water heaters are still the most popular variety.

If you have a tanked water heater, consider increasing the insulation on your water heater. You can find insulating jackets made specifically for water heater insulation. Buying one of these is much simpler than crafting makeshift insulation on your own. It’s also affordable, especially considering how long it’ll insulate your water heater.

After fitting the jacket to your water heater, it’s time to insulate your home’s hot water pipes. You may find a few feet of hot water pipes around the heater itself. However, most hot water pipes will be located in your home’s crawl space. Although nobody likes spending time in crawl spaces, you should bite the bullet and insulate your pipes while you can.

Before visiting the next energy efficiency tip, turn your water heater’s temperature down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping your water temperature higher wastes energy and can lead to scalding when washing dishes or showering. On the other hand, dropping the water temperature below 120 degrees can encourage unwanted bacteria growth.

Consider a Geothermal Heat Pump

Although they’ve been around nearly as long as tank-type water heaters, geothermal heating systems aren’t as well-known as furnaces or air conditioners.

These systems can take care of your year-round heating and cooling needs, not to mention substantially reduce your energy consumption. Better yet, you probably won’t need to make major home renovations to make room for a geothermal heat pump.

As long as your home already has a central HVAC system, you can connect the heat pump to the home’s ductwork. If you can afford to install a geothermal heat pump in your home, don’t bother doing it yourself. Getting something wrong could lead to poor system performance or expensive repairs and requires extensive technical knowledge and equipment plus knowledge of the proper zoning and permitting for your region.

Rather, have a professional HVAC contractor like Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating of Hanover, Maryland, install it for you. Our NATE-certified technicians know the ins and outs of modern geothermal heat pumps. Here at Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating, our Marylander HVAC professionals take pride in doing jobs right the first time around.

Invest in an Energy Audit

It’s hard to know whether you’ve improved without a baseline to compare your performance to. You also won’t know whether your home is energy efficient or not. Investing in an energy audit is a great starting point for any energy efficiency project.

Many local and state government agencies offer these home energy assessments. You can also get them from qualified HVAC providers such as us, Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating of Hanover, Maryland.

Home energy audits look at things like your windows, insulation, locations where air is escaping your home, holes in your ducts, the age and efficiency of your appliances and the type of heat source that you’re using. In addition to energy efficiency ratings, you’ll receive personalized recommendations for improving your home’s energy efficiency.

Find and Seal Air Leaks

Although homes do a good job of insulating you from the outdoors, they’re still full of tiny gaps. These gaps allow air leaks to flow into your home, which makes your energy bills higher.

Unlike full-scale heat pump installation or performing a home energy assessment, locating and sealing air leaks is a project you can reasonably take on. Still, it never hurts to get help from a professional HVAC contractor like us for any heating and cooling project.

While air leaks can come from anywhere, common sources of air leaks include:

Fireplaces
Phone line, internet, and cable line entry points
Wall outlets
Gaps in foundations or brick walls
Outdoor water faucets
Attics
Window and door frames

The easiest way to close air leaks is by closing fireplace dampers or attic doors, for example. Of course, most leaks won’t be as easy to address.

Weatherstripping is ideal for sealing door and window frames. You can also use draft snakes, or rolled towels in a pinch, below doors to block drafts.

In general, you can use caulk to seal most remaining air leaks. Be careful to apply it carefully because excess caulk can look ugly. For best cosmetic results, find hardware stores with a wide range of caulk tones. Get clay-colored caulk for sealing holes in red brick, for example, and white or eggshell caulk for plugging up air leaks around wall outlets.

Get Some Newer Windows

Assuming they don’t shatter, windows can last many decades. Even if they don’t open well, it’s easy to put off window replacement.

If you’re serious about improving your old home’s energy efficiency, it’s time to buy some newer windows. As long as they have the Energy Star label, you don’t need to search for a specific brand. Make sure your new windows fit snug, too. Although you can temporarily compensate for small windows, they’ll eventually make way for major air leaks that’ll haunt you in the future.

Windows aren’t cheap. Gas-filled, two-ply or three-ply windows are the most efficient but are also the most expensive. High-quality windows can cost several hundred dollars per unit. Large picture windows can cost even more. Despite the cost, windows can save you more money than many other energy efficiency upgrades.

Before finishing your window replacement project, don’t forget to insulate them. This simple step can prevent air leaks from forming in the future, saving you worry and energy in the process.

Change Your Light Bulbs

Revamping your home’s energy efficiency isn’t entirely heating and cooling related. Changing light bulbs is a simple, effective way to reduce your home’s energy usage.

Compact fluorescent bulbs, also called CFLs, are the cheapest energy-efficient bulbs on the market. CFLs use less energy and last many times longer than traditional light bulbs. You can also replace your home’s light bulbs with LEDs. Light-emitting diodes cost much more than CFLs or incandescent bulbs but will save you more money in the long run because a single bulb uses less energy and can last 3-5 times longer than a CFL or incandescent bulb.

Whichever type of bulb you choose is up to you. Either way, you’ll save money on utilities and help the environment in the process.

If you’d like professional heating and cooling help, look no further than Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating of Hanover, Maryland. We also have another location in Annapolis, giving us easy access to clients across the Old Line State. Some of our many HVAC services include AC repair, furnace replacement, and all-around HVAC maintenance. For more information about our services, give us a call today!

Smart Thermostats and Zoning

Written by Kevin on October 20, 2020. Posted in Energy Efficiency.

Traditionally, American residences have had an air conditioner and/or furnace that provides cooled and heated air to the entire home through a duct system. In these scenarios, a single thermostat has a target temperature that it maintains for the entire house. This approach can be less than ideal both in terms of comfort and energy consumption and cost. Setting your preferred sleeping temperature, for instance, means that you are paying to heat or cool entire areas of your home that will go unused for hours.

The alternative to this whole-home approach is zoning. A zoned HVAC system has two or more discrete sectors that can have their own temperatures and other comfort settings. It allows you, for example, to maintain the upstairs cooler than the downstairs or vice versa. One of the modern HVAC innovations enhancing this concept of zoned heating and cooling is the smart thermostat.

What Equipment Is Required for Zoning?

There is no one-size-fits-all HVAC zoning implementation. Your configuration will depend on a number of factors, including the unique layout of your home and whether the home is new construction or an existing building that is being retrofitted.

There are two basic approaches to zoning. One uses a single air conditioner and furnace but features an advanced variable-speed air handler that can adjust the pressure balance in the system as zones are fully or partially opened or closed. The second approach has an air conditioner and a furnace but an additional heat pump and usually a variable-speed air handler.

Two zones are most common in both cases, but many more are possible, and larger homes can have even more equipment than the configurations described above in order to meet the needs of the home. A smart thermostat is not absolutely necessary, but it does make zoning more convenient and efficient.

How Does a Smart Thermostat Enhance Zoning?

Basic thermostats require you to have a dedicated thermostat for each zone. If you have an upstairs zone and a downstairs zone, two separate thermostats may not be a major downside, but having to go downstairs just to change the temperature in that zone can be a tad inconvenient. A smart thermostat can provide you access to the entire home from any interface. You can still have multiple thermostats for convenience, but they can control any zone in the home. They can also allow you to control them remotely such as from your phone while you are lying in bed and getting ready to turn in for the night.

Support for Multiple Zones

Many of the most popular smart thermostat models on the market provide support for at least eight zones, and you can get support for even more if needed for a large home. Smart thermostats let you have recognizable names for your zones and provide separate settings for each. As zoned systems have become more advanced, so have smart thermostats. You can, for instance, control the second-floor zone as a whole but also control the bedrooms as a subzone, which helps to conserve even more energy.

Controlling Your Thermostat Remotely

If you are going to invest in a zoned cooling and heating system for your home, it is highly recommended that you invest in Wi-Fi-capable smart thermostats as well. Smart thermostats with Wi-Fi capabilities can connect to the Internet via your home network. Most such thermostats have a dedicated app that you can use on your smartphone and other devices. This feature lets you adjust the zones in your home while on the couch watching TV, at the office, or riding the train on your way home from work. Mobile support also makes alerts and geofencing possible. Geofencing allows your system to adjust temperatures automatically when it senses that no family members are currently home.

Reduced Energy Consumption and Costs

Zoned systems allow for greater comfort. It allows different people to use various areas of the home for distinct purposes to choose a temperature that best suits those situations. They also allow you to reduce your energy consumption and thus your costs. The EPA estimates that the average home can cut energy costs by 10% to 30% through the use of a smart thermostat. Having a zoned system makes it easier to maximize those savings because you are providing the thermostat with even more potential.

Behavioral Learning

The EPA advises that even a programmable thermostat can achieve those estimated savings, but the problem with a basic programmable thermostat is that you have to program it. In other words, its performance is only as good as the effort you put into analyzing your energy consumption. Many smart thermostats employ behavioral learning. They track your usage and employ algorithms to recognize patterns. The thermostat can then adjust the programming for you based on those patterns. It can also adjust to exceptions, such as when you work a half-day and return home in the middle of the afternoon.

Logging and Reporting

Another useful feature of many smart thermostats is the ability to log data. If you have a Wi-Fi-capable smart thermostat, it can store that data in the cloud, which eliminates local storage space concerns. Modern smart thermostats have an onboard chip dedicated to analyzing that collected data and providing you reports. These reports can show you how you are using and wasting energy, and having a zoned system enriches these reports by allowing you to see this usage on a more granular level.

Air Quality Monitoring

If you have a zoned system, then you probably have CO2 sensors. It is, after all, code in most jurisdictions. But modern smart thermostats allow for even more sensors. You can have sensors, for instance, that detect pollution levels in the home, and your thermostat can provide alerts when danger levels are reached. You do not need zoning to have this kind of monitoring, but this is another case where it enriches the technology. You can see where the problem areas are and target them specifically.

Interfacing With Other Smart Devices

The smart thermostat may be the original smart home device, but these technologies have evolved at a staggering pace since the early 2000s. There are smart home assistants with speakers and displays, smart outlets, smart light switches, smart security cameras, smart ceiling fans, and so on and so forth. When these devices are Wi-Fi capable, they can communicate with each other either directly through an ad hoc mesh or through your home network. This exchange of data allows for even greater possibilities. Imagine your HVAC system enabling smart ceiling fans and receiving data from a smart shade that has just closed because the direct sunlight had gotten too intense.

Your Cooling and Heating Zoning Experts

If you are considering zoned heating and cooling for your home or want to pick out new smart thermostats for an existing system, Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating in Hanover is here to help. We are a locally owned and operated HVAC company that has zoning and smart thermostat experts on staff and offers a full range of heating, cooling, and indoor air quality services. Call us today or contact us online with any questions about zoning and smart thermostats or to schedule an appointment!

How to Go Green With Your HVAC Installation

Written by Kevin on May 1, 2020. Posted in Energy Efficiency.

When you replace an old HVAC system, you receive many benefits in return. One of the most obvious benefits you receive is reliable heating and cooling versus your old system that likely couldn’t keep up during extreme weather in Hanover.

Another unexpected benefit, though, is that your new system will likely save quite a bit of energy compared to your old system, making your new system much more “green.” Plus, with some basic adjustments, you can make your system even more efficient, resulting in an environmentally conscious HVAC installation. Here are five ways you can make your new HVAC system from Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating as environmentally friendly as possible.

1. Utilize a Programmable Thermostat

With a new HVAC system comes new possibilities for increased comfort. The best way to customize this comfort and increase the efficiency of your new system is to install a programmable thermostat alongside your new system. The most efficient thermostats are smart thermostats that learn your living patterns so that they can automatically adjust the temperature in your home, meaning your HVAC system will run only as often as is absolutely necessary.

However, even a basic programmable thermostat is still better than a manual thermostat. All programmable thermostats can be set to keep your house at one temperature while you’re away from home and then change to a more comfortable temperature when you return. Rather than keeping your home at a constant temperature all day, these temperature changes save significant energy, making your system more environmentally friendly.

Even if you opt for a basic mechanical thermostat, though, you can still set it so that your HVAC system runs less. By adjusting the thermostat by just one or two degrees, you can see a significant drop in energy use that results in lower utility bills for you.

2. Use a Heat Pump

Thanks to the temperate weather in Hanover, a heat pump from Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating is another great way to supercharge your energy savings from your new HVAC system. The biggest advantage of using a heat pump is that it uses heat that is present in the air outside to heat your home during the winter.

Rather than using electricity or natural gas to heat the air, a heat pump pulls in heat from the outside and brings it inside to warm your home. In the summer, this process is reversed, much like a traditional air conditioner, as the heat pump pulls heat from inside your home and expels it outside. All throughout the year, this process of heat exchange is far more efficient than a traditional HVAC system, allowing you to be environmentally conscious while still keeping your home at an optimal temperature.

3. Use Zones

If you have a larger home, one of the best ways to keep your new HVAC installation “green” is to use zoned heating and cooling. Rather than using one HVAC system to heat and cool your entire home, a zoned system uses two or more closed-circuit HVAC systems to heat different areas in your home. This allows you to keep the different areas at different temperatures, which is especially handy if you don’t use these areas very often.

Of course, if you have a smaller home, that doesn’t mean you have to be left out of the “zone fun.” At Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating, we install mini-split systems in addition to zoned HVAC systems. A mini-split system is essentially a small heat pump that is meant to heat and cool just one room in your home.

These systems are ideal for bedrooms, living rooms, or any other rooms that you occupy for long periods of time. Since they are smaller, these systems are highly energy-efficient, meaning you can keep essential rooms comfortable while not wasting energy to heat and cool rooms around your home that you don’t use.

4. Optimize Your Ductwork

The ways in which conditioned air moves throughout your home make a big impact on your HVAC system’s energy efficiency. That’s why at Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating, we believe that your home’s ductwork is just as important as the other components in your HVAC system.

Before we begin a new HVAC installation, we will analyze your ducts to ensure that they’re properly routed, with no tight turns or other unusual elements that could restrict airflow. In addition, your ducts will be checked for signs of damage that could allow air to escape from your ducts before it reaches its intended destination.

The main goal in optimizing your ductwork is to ensure that all of the air that you are paying money to heat or cool makes it to the areas that need to be heated or cooled. This is important because the more conditioned air that reaches these areas, the less time that your HVAC system will have to run to bring these areas to a comfortable temperature.

5. Hire Quality Installers

Another great way to have an efficient HVAC system is simply to ensure that the new system is installed correctly. If any component of your HVAC system isn’t installed correctly individually and then optimized to work correctly with the other components, you will have efficiency problems from the first day you use your system.

For example, when your system is charged with refrigerant, the volume of refrigerant needs to be carefully measured to ensure that the system isn’t over- or under-pressurized. If the wrong amount of refrigerant is present, your air conditioner will struggle to remove heat and humidity from the air in your home, meaning your system will have to work longer to keep your home comfortable.

This is just one of the many elements that have to be correct to ensure your system works well, which is why it’s crucial that you choose an experienced HVAC contractor such as Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating. We say that “our work reflects our passion,” meaning that we take great pride in every job we complete because we are passionate about doing great work and keeping you and your family comfortable in your home.

Trustworthy AC Installation

At Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating in Hanover, MD, we work hard to provide the HVAC solutions you need so that you can heat and cool your home as efficiently as possible. That’s why, compared to some HVAC companies, we offer solutions that aren’t as common, including heat pumps and mini-split systems. Along with operating efficiently, we offer humidifier and air purifier installation services to ensure that your HVAC system provides you with air that is healthy to breathe. If instead, you need to increase the efficiency of the HVAC system at your business, we are proud to offer a full range of commercial services for a variety of applications.

Our commitment to each project we do is reflected in the phenomenal feedback we receive from our customers. Five-star reviews are common on Yelp, Google, and other review sites. That is why we are a Google Guaranteed business and are Screened & Approved by Home Advisor.

If you want your next HVAC installation to be as efficient as possible, give us a call at Beltway Air Conditioning and Heating today. We offer comprehensive heating and cooling services.

The Importance of Proper Air Duct Installation