The heat exchanger transfers heat from the combustion chamber of your furnace to warm your home. It also serves to keep combustion by-products created in the chamber, including deadly carbon monoxide (CO) gas, out of the airflow that circulates through the house. When a crack develops, the potential for hazardous CO gas infiltration into your ductwork is very real.

What causes it?

The main predicting factors for a cracked heat exchanger are your furnace’s age in years and its total operating hours. Each time the furnace cycles on and off, the thin metal of the heat exchanger expands and contracts. Over a period of many years, cracks may form due to these stresses. Diminished airflow caused by neglected maintenance, particularly a dirty air filter, can also result in excessive on/off cycling of the furnace.

How is it detected?

An HVAC professional utilizes several methods to reveal heat exchanger cracks. A carbon monoxide detector placed in the furnace airflow may pick up traces of CO gas. Strong lights directed into exchanger passages may generate light leaks that are visual cues to larger cracks. Injecting smoke into the combustion chamber can help reveal smaller cracks.

What’s the next step?

Your HVAC contractor is required to red-tag any furnace with a cracked heat exchanger. For your family’s safety, the unit will be shut down and a tag stating that the furnace is dangerous to operate will be placed on the furnace. Because the heat exchanger is usually the most expensive component in your furnace, replacing it out of warranty is seldom cost effective. Usually, a cracked heat exchanger means installing a new furnace. The good news is that heat exchanger service life has advanced and your new unit will probably come with a much longer warranty on the heat exchanger.

Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning puts the highest priority on the safety of your family’s indoor environment. Call us for a full furnace inspection including tests to detect a cracked heat exchanger.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services  San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!

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• Proper airflow to unit: Heat pumps work by pulling warm air from one environment and moving it to another. If your heat pump doesn’t get the needed air, freezing can occur. If this is the case, your technician will recommend proper airflow practices by cleaning out debris in and around the unit.
• Defrost control sensor: Some units determine defrost times by time or temperature, and if the sensor that keeps track of this is failing, freezing occurs. If the sensor records inaccurate temperatures, the defrosting process may not be started, and if the time between defrosting is misinterpreted, it will not begin.
• Damaged reversing valve: When the defrosting process begins, the unit switches from heating to cooling, pumping warm air into your house through backup heating. Switching to cooling from heat allows the defrost process to continue. A damaged reverse valve will prevent your unit from reversing properly to defrost iced coils.
• Damaged fan motor: Your unit manages airflow through a fan that either draws air in or pushes it out. If the motor that powers the fan is damaged, the fan doesn’t operate properly and the airflow is disrupted, leading to a frozen heat pump that needs repair.
• Refrigerant level: In your heat pump, refrigerant helps pull heat from the outside air, and since cold air has lower heat, the thing collecting heat has to be colder than the outside air. If there isn’t enough refrigerant, this won’t be possible, which can lead to a frozen heat pump.

For more information about frozen heat pumps or to request a service call, contact Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning. We can answer any questions you may have about how a heat pump works, as well as other HVAC-related answers.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services  San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!

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Heat pump

Heat pump technology is straightforward and dependable. So what could go wrong?  Most heat pump malfunctions relate to thermostat, defrost or airflow problems. Repair usually requires the skills and expertise of an HVAC service pro. However, clarifying the issue using this simple heat pump troubleshooting guide can help you explain the problem to the technician and understand proposed repairs.

• Start with the thermostat. Make sure it’s in heating mode and set no more than 4 degrees above present room temperature. As long as outdoor temperatures are above 35 degrees, this setting should make the heat pump activate and not the backup heating elements. Turn the fan switch on.
• If the unit doesn’t activate and the fan doesn’t run, check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker controlling the air handler. If a breaker has tripped, the problem could be a bad connection, a seized blower motor or a shorted controller board. If no breaker is tripped, suspect a defective thermostat, low voltage wiring connections or a stuck fan relay.
• If the fan runs but blows cold air, set the thermostat 5 degrees or more above room temperature to activate the backup heating elements. If you feel warm air, the problem’s in the outdoor coil/condenser unit. If you still feel no heat, a defective thermostat or air handler may be at fault.
• Problems at the outdoor unit may include obstructions to coil airflow such as leaves or grass clippings. If ice is present on the outdoor coil, the defroster timer or control module may be defective. If the outdoor compressor or fan doesn’t run, a wiring problem, seized motor or compressor run capacitor may be at fault. If the outdoor fan runs but the unit still doesn’t heat, the refrigerant charge may be low.

As San Antonio’s largest residential HVAC sales and service provider, Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning is ready with fast heat pump troubleshooting and repair to keep you warm all winter and cool in summer. Call us to schedule a service appointment.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services  San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!

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The humble filter, one of the most inexpensive components of your system, can be responsible for a range of shortfalls in both efficiency and performance. System airflow affects many facets of the heating process, and when the filter needs replacement, airflow is the first thing to be affected. Fortunately, changing the filter is one of the few do-it-yourself maintenance items the average homeowner can perform on today’s furnaces.

Here are some good reasons to become familiar with changing the furnace filter and doing it regularly:

• Poor air quality: Dirty or clogged filters do not perform effectively and allow airborne contaminants to escape filtration and be recirculated throughout your home.
  Wasted energy: A heating system with a dirty filter runs longer and hotter to meet thermostat settings and maintain comfort in the home. This burns excessive amounts of energy and increases utility costs.
• Blower wear and tear: When airflow is restricted, the air handler blower is strained and uses more electricity. This can cause premature failure as the blower motor overheats.
• Dirty ducts: Dust and dirt builds up in ductwork when the filter’s not doing its job. This dust contaminates components in the heating and air conditioning system, leading to shortened service life. Duct cleaning may eventually be required to remove the accumulation.
  Environmental concerns: Maintaining a clean, energy-efficient heating and cooling system reduces fossil fuel consumption and the production of greenhouse gases. It’s one of the easiest, least expensive ways to do your part for the planet.

San Antonio’s choice for trusted HVAC sales and service, Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning has been a part of the community since the 1970s. Call us for a quick course on changing the furnace filter and start reaping the benefits.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services  San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!

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The do-it-yourself (DIY) options for heating system maintenance — both furnaces and heat pumps — are limited, but as a homeowner you can take a few important steps to maintain your heating system and leave the rest to an HVAC professional. Here’s a sample of what needs to be done for each system.

Furnaces

1. Change the filter. This is an easy DIY task. If you don’t know how, your HVAC contractor can show you. Standard 1″ filters should be changed monthly for the length of the heating season. Extended use filters should be changed at least once a year, depending on the specific situation.
2. Make sure the furnace flue vent is unobstructed by leaves, bird nests or other debris.
3. Schedule a furnace tune-up with an HVAC contractor. In only an hour or so, a trained technician will clean the burner and igniter, test gas pressure, service the blower motor and belts and calibrate the thermostat. Vital safety checks will also be performed, such as verifying the high-temperature cut-off switch and testing for the presence of deadly carbon monoxide gas.

Heat pumps

1. Change the filter in the heat pump air handler monthly.
2. Clear encroaching vegetation, leaves and other debris from the outdoor coil and compressor unit.
3. Schedule a heat pump tune-up with an HVAC contractor. The service includes cleaning the indoor and outdoor coils, measuring the refrigerant charge — low refrigerant is a common cause of heat pump inefficiency — cleaning the condensate drain system, servicing the blower motor and belts, calibrating the thermostat and verifying the operation of the auxiliary heating system.

Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning keeps San Antonio’s heating and cooling systems at peak performance all year round. Call us for advice or an appointment to maintain your heating system this winter.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services  San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County.  Visit our website to see our special offers to get started today!

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The day-to-day operating condition of your furnace deserves respect. While today’s furnaces incorporate many safety factors to prevent dangerous malfunctions, the homeowner must follow manufacturer’s recommendations for proper operation and regular maintenance and make safety a priority throughout the heating season.  Here are a few things you can do to make sure your furnace keeps your house warm — and safe.

1. Buy a carbon monoxide (CO) detector and install it according to manufacturer’s instructions. Most detectors should be mounted at least 15 feet from the furnace at eye level.
2. Schedule an annual furnace inspection with an HVAC contractor. It only takes an hour or so and a trained technician will inspect and clean all combustion components, verify proper operation of safety devices and ventilation systems and test the furnace in operation. A safe furnace is generally a more efficient furnace, so in addition to peace of mind you’ll also save money.
3. Change your furnace filter once a month during heating season. If you don’t know how, ask the HVAC tech to demonstrate. A clean furnace filter removes dust and dirt from the air which may cause wear and tear on furnace components and have an impact on safety.
4. Keep products such as paint and paint thinners and other compounds that produce flammable fumes well away from the furnace.
5. Make sure the location of your gas meter and shut-off valve is visible and not obscured by vegetation or obstructed by objects.
6. If you smell the telltale “rotten egg” odor of leaking gas, call the gas company or dial 9-1-1 immediately.

San Antonio’s choice for trusted heating and cooling expertise since the mid-1970s, Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning wants this winter to be safe and comfortable for your family. Contact us with any questions about safety when operating a gas furnace.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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All that changed in the 1930s when gas furnaces were first fitted with electric blowers to distribute heat more forcefully. This method quickly became the industry standard, and now more than 60 percent of homes are still heated by efficient, gas-fired, forced-air furnaces.

Here’s an overview of how a typical system works.

• The thermostat in the living space senses room temperature. When the temperature drops below the thermostat setting, an electrical circuit signals the furnace burner to ignite.
• The gas valve to the furnace burner opens and gas is ignited by a glowing electronic igniter or a standing pilot light flame. When the temperature inside the furnace plenum rises to a preset level, the blower is energized.
• Hot gases from the burner circulate through the heat exchanger. Cool air driven by the blower across the heat exchanger is warmed, then pushed through the furnace plenum into the supply ductwork.
• A central supply trunk duct conveys warm air into the home. Smaller branches off the trunk distribute air to the supply registers in individual rooms.
• The operation of the blower induces a slightly negative pressure in return ducts leading to each room. Air is drawn into the returns at the same rate it enters through supply ducts, resulting in a balanced or neutral air pressure in the room. After it’s conveyed back to the furnace through the returns, air is reheated and again circulated through the supply ducts by the blower.
• When room temperature meets the thermostat setting, the gas valve shuts off gas to the burner. The blower runs for a short time to extract residual warmth from the heat exchanger and flush hot air out of the ducts.

Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning has kept San Antonio comfortable in all seasons since the 1970s. Call us when you’re ready to upgrade your forced-air furnace to a high-efficiency model for greater comfort and cost savings.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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Heat pump technology moves heat energy from one location to another — indoors to outdoors, or the reverse. Heat pumps produce no combustion and operate more efficiently than standard furnaces, as well as offering long expected service life.

Here are more features you’ll want to include in your own heat pump buyer’s guide:

SEER and HSPF
These acronyms stand for seasonal energy efficiency ratio and heating season performance factor, respectively. SEER expresses the energy efficiency of the heat pump’s air conditioning mode while HSPF expresses heating efficiency. Today, all heat pumps must have a minimum SEER of 13. Higher efficiency, multistage heat pumps offer SEER ratings as high as 24. HSPF ratings for heat pumps currently climb from 6.5 to 11, with the larger number representing the most efficient unit. Heat pumps with higher SEER and HSPF also come with steeper up-front purchase cost. However, in climates like San Antonio’s with long cooling seasons, the savings in utility expenses may offset the higher initial cost during the expected service life of the unit.

Construction features
Certain quality perks are desirable in heat pumps. The outdoor compressor/coil unit should be louvered galvanized steel with enamel coating for year-round protection against the elements. Coils that incorporate copper tubing instead of less-expensive aluminum conduct heat better and are corrosion-resistant and less fragile than aluminum.

Installation issues
A heat pump should be installed by a professional HVAC contractor with the specialized expertise and equipment to do the job. The process begins with a heating and cooling load calculation of your home using Manual J, the industry standard software for matching a heating/cooling unit to the home’s requirements. Since heat pumps operate at a higher air volume, the HVAC contractor may also wish to evaluate the sizing and condition of the home’s ductwork.

Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning is greater San Antonio’s choice for trusted home comfort expertise. Give us a call for more suggestions to add to your heat pump buyer’s guide.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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Heat pump technology generates efficient, inexpensive heat through most of our winter weather. However, when the cold fronts venture south, temperatures can dip below the threshold for a heat pump to adequately warm your home. Dual-fuel heating solves the problem by creating a heat pump/furnace hybrid unit.

Here’s how it works:

1. During normal winter conditions, the heat pump warms the home by extracting latent heat from outside air, concentrating it in a compressor cycle and conveying hot refrigerant through the coil in the interior air handler to disperse the heat through the home.
2. An outdoor thermostat recognizes when latent heat in the air is too low for the heat pump to generate sufficient warmth. This is called the balance point and usually occurs when outside temperatures drop to about 30 degrees. At that point, the controller automatically activates the backup gas-fired furnace to maintain household temperatures at thermostat settings. As soon as outdoor temperatures rise above the balance point, the controller shuts off the backup furnace and returns to lower-cost heat pump heating.
3. A high outdoor thermostat setting can cause the system to switch to natural gas too soon, reducing the benefits of lower-priced heat pump heating. A setting too low can reduce home comfort. A professional HVAC contractor familiar with the heating load of your home, local energy costs and climate can make the calculations to set the balance point for optimum heating and efficiency.
4. Because natural gas prices are projected to continue rising,  even climates with mild temperatures like San Antonio’s can benefit from a dual-fuel system to take advantage of the lower cost of heat pump heating the majority of the time, while utilizing the gas furnace backup option for the cold spells.

Serving the San Antonio area since the 1970s, Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning offers the latest in interior comfort technology. Ask us about more of the benefits of dual-fuel heating to stay warm all winter.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about {INSERT TOPIC} and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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If you ignore these three furnace smells, you could be putting you and your family at risk:

Musty smells

By the time you smell a musty odor, it’s likely that mold or mildew has been forming for awhile. It’s particularly problematic when a musty odor emanates from the heating ducts, as the origination of the mold or mildew may be the furnace system, the cooling system or the ductwork. You may need to have the system cleaned by a professional, or the ductwork replaced.

Electrical odors

If certain components within the furnace are wearing out or over-stressed, you may notice an overheated electrical smell. The electrical wires and motors within the furnace help to move air through the system and aid in combustion and, as these parts or wires wear out, you may smell burning wires or rubber.

Burning smells

A few different scenarios cause a burning dust smell to be released from the furnace. After sitting idle over the long summer months, dust builds up inside the combustion chamber of the furnace. When you fire up the furnace for the first few times, that dust gets burnt off, which results in the burnt dust odor, and it may even release some smoke, too. If you start up the furnace without installing a new filter, you’ll run the furnace with a dirty, full filter, which could compound the situation. When a new furnace is installed, it will burn off some of the oil applied to the internal components to prevent rusting, releasing a burning odor.

If you notice these furnace smells, contact Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning immediately for expert help. We’ve been serving San Antonio and the surrounding communities, including New Braunfels, Bulverde, Seguin and Boerne, since the mid-1970s.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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