WINNER OF NEW FREE FURNACE!
2/16/10 First, thanks to all of you who submitted nominees to win our furnace contest. We even had a few stray entries from as far from the Central Coast as Canada! It was amazing how many people could use some help, and I wish we could do more. I have not received permission to publish the winner’s name, but I can tell you she is a great grandmother who still works part time to support herself, her granddaughter, and 3 great grandchildren. She lives in San Luis Obispo. We have not yet made the installation arrangements, but soon she will be sporting a brand new high efficiency furnace, which will probably help her out with the utility bills. I will fill in more details as I can. Stay tuned! Rich Johnson
Tags: central coast heating, free furnace, winner
Holidays and Carbon Monoxide
11/15/09
Hi!
I apologize for not posting for so long. What the heck happened!!! It just shows how quickly time flies (at least in my life). Fortunately, my son-in-law ( and web guru), Frank, busted my chops about my lack of blogginess!?**?!
The fall/winter holidays on the Central Coast also coincide with cold temperatures (and starting to use your furnace). From San Luis Obispo to Pismo, to Paso Robles, one of the dangers of a damaged furnace is Carbon Monoxide poisoning. This is not the only source of Carbon Monoxide.
This can occur for a couple of reasons. In wall heaters, it can develop over time in a poorly installed or corroded flue vent pipe. It can also develop from a control valve that has a malfunctioning pressure regulator. In forced air furnaces, this can occur when you get a crack in your “heat exchanger” or “fire box”. The heat exchanger is meant to keep the combustion air (air used to make the burner flame) from the recirculating air (the air that circulates thru the furnace and into your home). With a crack in the heat exchanger, the air that circualtes through the home (recirculating air) may get mixed with combustion air and carbon monoxide. In the cases mentioned here, the heater may still be operating with no noticeable problems.
A lesser known source of Carbon Monoxide poisoning is your oven. Most ovens routinely put out some Carbon Monoxide. This source has been more critical in newer houses that are well sealed for energy savings. Typically, there is plenty of oxygen in the house to prevent nominal amounts of Carbon Monoxide from being a problem. A source of fresh air (and fresh oxygen) can prevent the Carbon Monoxide from being as dangerous. In most cases, your oven is not on for extended periods of time, and thus, will not deplete the available oxygen. This may not be the case during the holidays when you may be cooking continuously. Fortunately, if you are doing a lot of cooking, you probably have people opening and closing outside doors, which helps in replacing depleted oxygen. Another thing to remember is to turn on your cooking exhaust fan while the oven is on.
So, how do you deal with Carbon Monoxide (The Silent Killer) in your home?
1. Install a Carbon Monoxide detector. Make sure you follow the location instructions. Carbon Monoxide is lighter than air, so you should locate it 4 feet or higher on the wall. Also, not too close to the kitchen, so you don’t get false alarms.
2. During marathon cooking sessions, like holidays, crack open a window or door open to replenish the oxygen in the house, and turn on your cooking exhaust fan.
3. Although I am not a proponent of annual furnace inspections, I do recommend that every 3 to five years you have it done by a professional. The gas company will do a safety inspection at no charge, and I highly recommend that you take advantage of this BEFORE the winter comes. The gas company is swamped as the cold weather begins, and your inspection of a working heater in winter, could delay service to someone who is in greater need. So, be kind to your neighbor and inspect in the summer.
4. If you have a furnace that is over 20 years old, no matter what condition it’s in, this is a great time to replace it. With the Federal Energy Tax Credit of up to $1500, you can get a high efficiency furnace for about the same price as a standard efficiency furnace.
Please feel free to email me at pchvac@msn.com if you have any questions regarding Carbon Monoxide, or furnaces and appliances. Happy Holidays.
Rich Johnson
P.S.
I’ll try to be a good boy and keep up with my (supposed) weekly posts.
Green Furnace Giveaway Coming Soon!
8/21/09 In July, I mentioned the furnace giveaway promotion we were planning with KVEC radio. This evolved and morphed from the original idea of simply putting out our name (Peoples Choice) on a regular basis. At first we were going to require that the entries be from customers who have done service with us. Then we thought, let’s broaden the possible winners and open it up to anyone on the Central Coast with heating in their home.
We feared with that approach, that we would end up giving a free furnace either to someone who wasn’t really in need of one, or someone who may not fully appreciate the gift.
I think we finally hit on the right plan. Nothing is more satisfying than doing a good deed for someone. It just plain makes your insides fizzle! So, we asked, why not ask the public (through KVEC radio) to help us find the person who will just LOVE to get a brand new high efficiency furnace installed for FREE!, and may not have the resources to do it.
In my next posting I have to share with you the grueling, funny, exasperating process of putting together the jingle for our little promotion. Have a great weekend and stay warm or cold. Rich Johnson, Peoples Choice Heating, Air, Appliance Repairs
Extended Warranties on Appliances Heating and Air Conditioning
8/2/09 From Paso Robles to Santa Maria; San Luis Obispo and the entire Central Coast, people frequently ask “Should I buy an extended Warranty?” I will try to tell you in my rambling way, what your options are, and when you should choose which option. I will start with explaining what appears to be the fact that more things break sooner than they used to.
Annecdotally (not sure if I spelled that correctly), more new appliances, heating systems, and air conditioning systems, have problems “out of the box”, or within the first five years of use. It is easy to simply blame the manufacturer for their cheapening of standards, or poor quality control. This may be true, but it may be our (the consumers) fault.
The manufacturing companies are given huge tax incentives to constantly upgrade their energy efficiency. This causes constant re-engineering, and field rework engineering to correct design problems that could possibly be avoided if the manufacturer could do longer testing before introducing a new product or feature. Keep in mind, that all the while, we consumers are demanding MORE features WITHOUT any increase in prices. On top of that, each manufacturer must hurry to keep up the the other competitors in their field.
If you look back ten years, or even fifteen years, the price of appliances, heating and air conditioning equipment has not risen significantly on base models.
So, what does all this mean in terms of buying extended warranties. First, repairs are going to tend to be more expensive, due to the cost and complexity of electronics. Any repairs to replace electronic control boards will run from $200 to $700 across the entire line of appliances, heating and air conditioning. This is a big hit for a repair, but the statistical odds of it happening to you are pretty low (about 6 out of 100 in the first five years).
Most statistics (including Consumer Reports) indicate that ECONOMICALLY, extended warranties are not a wise decision. That said, if you are one of the 6 of 100 with a repair you feel lucky if you bought an extended warranty. I think a smarter way to look at extended warranties is “Can I afford a possibly expensive repair?”. If you can take a $200 to $700 repair without too much financial worry, don’t buy the extended warranty (My only exception to this would be if not having an extended warranty would cause you to stress about not having coverage). You pocket the Extended Warranty money, and odds are you will be bucks ahead. If you are living on a tight budget, and a hit of $200 to $700 would be tough to take, it may be smart for you to consider buying the extended warranty as a financial safeguard.
And finally, if you do decide to buy an extended warranty, here are a few tips. Only buy it through the manufacturer. There are many companies that sell extended warranties. Selling dealers will naturally use the ones that give them the best commision, and have the lowest consumer price. This is definitely a case where “you get what you pay for”. Second, most everything comes with at least a one year warranty from the manufacturer.
I will digress here slightly. You know that little card you get that requests all your information to register your purchase? You know, the one that most of us toss into the circular file? Well, it is IMPORTANT for you to fill it in and send it in (or go online) to register your purchase. It will negate your having to prove a purchase date in the future, should you have a warranty issue. It also records the Model and Serial number, which could get worn off, and is sometimes critical in the repair process.
Now, back on track. If you have properly registered your purchase, in almost all cases, the manufacturer will notify you when you are about to go out of warranty. At the same time, they will typically offer you an extended warranty, which is either run by them, or affiliated with the manufacturer. If you wait until this time to purhase your extended warranty, you now have a year of experience with what you bought. Did it perform? Does it have any quirks that make you think trouble is in the future? In online reviews, have others had problems with this unit? Have you already had any in-warranty repairs that could recurr? At this point you are much more informed about the probability that you would actually USE the extended warranty.
I hope I have not entirely mudded up this explanation of extended warranties. If you have additional questions, please feel free to email me at peopleschoiceservices.com, or call me at 805-543-3334. Rich Johnson
GO GREEN with a FREE Energy Saving Furnace
7-17-09 I’m really excited about our new radio promotion! It will start up very soon. Keeping in mind the slow economy and some people who might be without heat due to circumstances, we are going to find the most deserving person, and install a new High Efficiency Furnace in their home. This lets us give back to our community, and at the same time, save energy and future utility bills for the deserving person.
Even though business overall is down from last year, we are thankful that we are able to keep going, and are trying to grow out of the dulldroms. To show our thanks, we came up with this promotion, and of course, it won’t hurt if it let’s other people know about Peoples Choice. We think, the best Heating, AC, and Appliance Repair company on the Central Coast, from Paso Robles to Santa Maria. Have a great weekend! Rich Johnson
Add Air Conditioning $2800 to $5000 in Paso Robles, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo, Santa Maria
7/5/09 Especially during the hot spells, we get calls asking about adding Air Conditioning to an existing central heat system (the type most houses have).
But before I get into that, I want to wish my granddaughter, Kiana, and very Happy Birthday! She lives in Grover Beach, and was born on the 4th of July. At six years old, she stills thinks all the fireworks are for her!
Now, let me explain the basics of Air Conditioning. Air Conditioning does not add cool air to your house. It actually REMOVES hot air from your house. There are two main components to the AC system. One is the Condenser, which is located outside, usually beside the house, but sometimes on the roof. This part of the AC system takes the heat from the house and dumps it outside. If you put your hand over the fan of the Condenser, the air you feel is very warm. The second part of the AC system is the Evaporator (or Coil). This second component is attached to your furnace in a metal case. The two components are connected to each other by copper tubing that carries AC gas. The blower in your furnace sucks in the warm air from the house. That warm air is then absorbed by the evaporator/coil and sent to the outdoor condenser thru the Copper tubing, where the warm air is dumped into the outside air. Then the process continues until enough warm air is dumped outside to make the house cool.
The process of adding Air Conditioning is to install an outdoor Condenser, connected to your electric panel with 240 Volts, on a separate circuit. Next is installing a coil or evaporator at the furnace. The difficulty (and related expense) here is dependent on the physical location and space available on one end of the furnace. The third step is installing the refrigerant tubing (for AC gas) from the Evaporator/coil, to the outdoor Condenser. The ease of routing of this tubing is critical to both the function and the cost of adding Air Conditioning.
If you have any questions about adding Air Conditioning, including the newest “Ductless Split Systems”, please email me at pchvac@msn.com, or call me at 805-543-3337. I am Rich Johnson, one of the owners of Peoples Choice Heating and Air, Inc.
Health Insurance and the Beautiful Central Coast
6/19/09 Health Insurance Reform for San Luis Obispo. What the heck does Health Insurance have to do with Heating/Air Conditioning, or Appliance Repairs? Well, we offer our full time employees health insurance coverage, so we are directly effected by insurance rates. I believe that employers should be responsible for at least some portion or their employees’ health costs. Of course this, in turn, effects our service rates. So, yeah, we are into health care!
Whatever form any healthcare changes take, I think it is imperative that it include all members of our society. If you’re employed, you will pay some amount towards healthcare. If you are unemployed, and receive any monetary assistance, you should have a portion of that assistance deducted for healthcare.
Costs are going to be difficult to keep down, no matter who is running the system, private or government. The only way I see to help the overall individual cost is to make it mandatory for everyone to participate. That said, the government has in place an operating medical insurance program. . .Medicare. Some say “It doesn’t work”. However, people in the medical field that I talk to say Medicare is much easier to deal with than the private insurance companies, when it comes to coverage issues or problems.
Just my random thoughts.
Rich Johnson, Peoples Choice Heating Air Conditioning and Appliance Repairs
It’s Easier and Cheaper to Keep up than to Catch Up!
6/15/09 First, on a local note, my wife, Jennifer, and a couple of friends had dinner Saturday at the old Tortilla Flats location that is now called “Ciopinot”. If you haven’t tried it, plan to. The prices are on the higher end, but every dish was fantastic. It’s mostly seafood, with a couple of beef items that were fork-cutting good. Anyway, well worth a trip out for a nice dinner.
Now, this blog title has to do with how to operate your heating and air conditioning most efficiently. If you are one of those people (like I used to be) who turns on the heat or AC when you notice that it’s uncomfortable, you are throwing away money. In some cases you may even be complaining that your heat or AC system isn’t working right. Even if you dont have a programmable wall thermostat, set it and leave it for the heat comfort setting, or the AC comfort setting. For example: if you like your house to be at 69 during the winter, set the thermostat to 69 and leave it. This will allow the heater to turn on immediately and maintain the temperature of 69, which won’t require much run time, saving you money and energy. If you wait until the room temperature is 65 and then manually turn on the heat, it will take much longer to get the room temperature back to 69, and cost more money and energy.
With Air Conditioning it is even more critical to set the thermostat for your comfort temperature (usually 74 to 78), and let the system turn on when it needs to. A typical situation is where you are going to be gone for the day, so you turn the system OFF. On a hot day, your house temperature may rise well into the 80′s. Now you come home and want to cool off, but your Air Conditioning system runs and runs, and runs before you start feeling any comfort. In the same situation, if you set your thermostat for say 76 while you are out, your house will feel great when you return, and you AC system will not have been on except for some short intervals.
So, remember: It’s Easier and Cheaper to Keep up than to Catch Up! By the way, this phrase was coined by our electrician buddy, Doug Drube at Drube Electric.
Feel free to email me at pchvac@msn.com, or call me at 543-3337, with any questions or comments.
Rich Johnson, Peoples Choice Heating & Air and Appliance Repairs
How does the top-load high-efficiency washer work?
How does the top-load high-efficiency washer work?. Click on this link to Whirlpool. This information will clear up some questions about the efficiency of top-load energy saving washing machines.