Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

Common Problems That Can Develop with Home Automation Systems

March 6th, 2015

Home automation systems can put the control of your house’s operation literally at your fingertips. To achieve this, a combination of hardware, software and application-based interfaces is used to create your entire home automation system. Sometimes combining these systems can be challenging, and there may be bugs in the system that need some time to be worked out. Should you start experiencing problems with your home automation system in Colorado Springs, call the experts who can help you successfully troubleshoot: Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning.

Common Issues

Here are some of the more common issues that can develop with a home automation system:

Problems with Integration

It would be nice if all home systems were brand new for every home automation job, but this is rarely the case. As such, integrating older electronic systems with the new one of your home automation system can be a challenge, and it may take a while to see where the integration problems exist. Problems with integration can present as limited functionality or non-response. Experts know how to repair these issues, so it’s important to call for a professional if you are seeing these types of problems emerge.

Electrical Issues

Your home automation system relies heavily on wiring as the system is completely interconnected and connected to your home’s main electrical system. As such, any kind of short, poor wiring or faulty wiring can result in malfunction in the system. The electrical layout for a home automation system can be complex, so it’s important to hire a professional to manage any kind of electrical problem with your automation system.

Physical Damage

Should physical components of your home automation system sustain any kind of physical damage, it’s important to allow an expert to replace the component(s) to ensure that your system regains full functionality.

Home automation systems can be great tools for your home, but they do require expert handling.

If you are in need of troubleshooting for your home automation system in Colorado Springs, contact Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today!

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Some Things to Know Before Installing a New Hot Water Heater This Spring

February 27th, 2015

April is the time of year for flowers, taxes and this year, new water heater regulations. While new water heater regulations may not scream “headline” to you, these new mandates will affect those who purchase a new hot water heater after March of this year. What are the new regulations? They are a set of mandates that requires new standards for hot water heater manufacturing that increases the efficiency factor (EF) of all water heaters moving forward. This may seem like something of a nuisance, but it’s estimated that improving the energy efficiency of hot water heaters will save, on a nationwide basis, 152 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over the next 25 years as well as $63 billion in energy costs.

The best way to see what the changes will be are to look at water heaters by type. For the most part, tankless water heaters already meet all the standards set forth in the updated regulations. This doesn’t mean that if you have a storage tank water heater you have to run out and purchase a new one; your current water heater will be grandfathered in. Rather, it means that if you purchase a new tank water heater after March of this year, you may be looking at increased costs for purchase and installation, and you may have to make more room for your storage water hot water heater, as it will likely be larger in size. Here’s why:

Required Changes for Hot Water Heaters Powered by Gas, Oil or Propane:

  • Better insulation (this mostly affects tank water heaters)
  • No more standing pilot ignition, only electronic ignition (for combustion hot water tanks)
  • Condensing capability
  • Better baffles and dampers for flues

Required Changes for Hot Water Heaters Powered by Electricity:

  • Better insulation, including on valves and piping
  • Heat pump technology for storage tanks over 55 gallons in size

These new regulations become law as of April 16th of this year.

If you are in need of a new water heater in Colorado Springs and have concerns about how these new mandates will affect you, call Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today.

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How Does Zone Heating Work?

February 20th, 2015

If you’ve been looking for a way to customize your heating, you may want to consider the installation of zone heating in your Woodland Park, CO, home. Zone heating allows you to heat your home in independent zones, as designated by you. There’ll be no more complaints about being too hot or too cold, issues with uneven heating or wasting energy heating space no one is in. So how does zone heating work? We’ll explain below.

The Main Components

These are the main components in a zone heating system:

  • The motorized dampers
  • The main control panel
  • The thermostats for each zone

The first step of any zone heating installation is determining with your technician what the zones will be. Zones can be individual rooms, a group of rooms, a floor of your home, etc.; the decision is yours. Once the zones are designated, your supply ducts are outfitted with motorized dampers that are connected to a main control panel. The technician will then install a thermostat into each zone and connect each thermostat to the control panel. When the system is operational, the control panel will open and close the motorized dampers as needed to maintain the temperatures set in each zone.

Why Consider Installing Zone Heating?

Here are some reasons why zone heating may be a good choice for your home:

  • Customized comfort – as mentioned above, zone heating systems allow you to customize your comfort throughout your home, increasing comfort and functionality.
  • Better energy efficiency – a zone heating system allows you to use only the heating you need because you can shut down a zone without affecting the rest of your duct system.
  • Less wear on your heating system – when you use only the amount of heating you need, your system runs less; this helps reduce the amount of wear on your system.

If zone heating in your Woodland Park, CO, home sounds like it may be a good option, call Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today!

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Some of the Unusual Movies Released for Valentine’s Day

February 14th, 2015

Hollywood has always tried to match movies up to the seasons to draw droves of viewers to the theaters: October is packed with fright-offerings, while the winter holidays skew toward warm and pleasing family films (as well as Oscar hopefuls). Valentine’s Day falls in an odd spot when it comes to the movie release calendar, however, since February tends to be a slower time for the film industry. The studios are as likely to slot strange movies that don’t fit anywhere else in their annual schedules into the Valentine’s Day weekend as they are films with powerful romantic appeal.

So, while the second weekend of February has featured hugely successful romantic comedies like Hitch, The Wedding Singer, and (of course) Valentine’s Day, some truly weird choices have debuted in this weekend as well. And a few have even gone on to tremendous success despite the bizarre match with the holiday. Here are a couple of the odder Valentine’s Day movie releases:

  • Dracula (1931): Yes, this Halloween perennial and the start of Universal Studio’s Classic Monsters actually came out on Valentine’s Day! But perhaps this makes some sense, as the Dracula legend has often received a “doomed lover” approach in the many years since Bela Lugosi made the aristocratic vampire a screen icon.
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Does any film seem less appropriate for Valentine’s Day than this unnerving and sometimes very violent psychological thriller? What’s even more astonishing than the film’s release date is that The Silence of the Lambs eventually nabbed the Oscar for Best Picture, an almost unheard of occurrence for a movie released so early in the year.
  • Daredevil (2003): This Marvel comic adaptation featuring Ben Affleck as a blind superhero does contain a romantic subplot, but the stronger connection to Valentine’s Day may just be that Daredevil wears a bright red costume.
  • A Good Day to Die Hard (2013): The least successful of the Die Hard film franchise, this is an excellent example of a studio dropping a film into a weekend where it doesn’t fit in the hopes that it works as counter-programming. (It didn’t.)
  • Wayne’s World (1992): Now here is an example of counter-programming that clicked with audiences. This comedy based on a Saturday Night Live sketch turned into one of that year’s biggest hits and spawned a sequel.

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day with a trip to the movie theater, or you have your own special plans, everyone here at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning hopes you and your loved ones have a wonderful weekend.

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Ways a Heat Recovery Ventilator Helps Your Home

February 5th, 2015

Airflow and indoor climate go hand in hand, with the former affecting the latter in many ways. Often, the relationship between air circulation and climate control results in frustration for the homeowner. You may want to bring in some fresh air during the winter, but you don’t want to open a window and let heat out of the house. The alternative, however, is to let your heating system continue to dry out the air, which is uncomfortable and unhealthy. Luckily, there is actually a way to both get a steady supply of fresh air and keep your indoor climate intact. Read on to find out what a heat recovery ventilator is, and how it benefits your home.

What is a Heat Recovery Ventilator?

A heat recovery ventilator is a device designed to improve the home’s ventilation, while simultaneously maintaining its insulation from heat transfer. It can be used as an integrated part of an HVAC system, but can also operate as a stand-alone device. It is essentially a square or rectangular casing with 4 openings, one each for outgoing and incoming air flow on both the inside and outside parts of the ventilator. It is often installed on an exterior wall or in a window, as it needs access to both indoor and outdoor air.

Inside the unit is a heat exchanger, essentially a configuration of pipes through which the air flows in and out of the ventilator. As the air from inside travels out through the heat exchanger, outside air is traveling through a parallel section on the way inside. Heat always tries to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. As such, when the two air flows pass each other in the heat exchanger, the warmer air will transfer much of its heat to the cooler air. This is why the part is called a heat exchanger.

How Heat Recovery Ventilators Benefit Your Home

This transfer of heat is what makes heat recovery ventilators so useful. By using a heat exchanger, the ventilator can bring in a constant flow of fresh air without adversely affecting the climate inside. Cold air that enters the ventilator will be warm by the time it actually enters the home, while warm air will be cool. This keeps the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

If you’d like to know more about how a heat recovery ventilator helps your home, call Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning. We provide heat recovery ventilators throughout Security-Widefield, CO.

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Services to Improve the Commercial Indoor Air Quality

January 29th, 2015

Many of the features of your commercial property are regulated by federal and local building code, but the quality of the air in a commercial space rarely comes into question. However, it’s in your best interest to provide the most air filtration possible to protect anyone in your building including employees, customers, clients, and tenants. The filter included with your property’s HVAC system may not be enough to keep everyone healthy and comfortable. Follow along with our guide to find out which types of professional commercial indoor air quality services and installations can benefit you.

Commercial Air Purifiers

For any type of business, it’s important to have a system that filters as many harmful particles out of the air as possible. The air inside of your building may actually be more contaminated than the air outside. Although you currently have some filtration if you frequently run a forced-air heating and air conditioning system, smaller particles can still continuously circulate through the building, including mold spores, legionella, and pollen. An electronic air purifier uses ionization to attract particles, and may remove over 99% of contaminants when used in conjunction with a quality filter.

UV Germicidal Lights

UV germicidal lights are used to kill and sterilize biological contaminants which could otherwise make people sick or damage the structure of a building. This type of air purifying system is used primarily in areas such as hospitals where a bacterial infection could be deadly or laboratories that rely on sterile equipment. They’re also used in areas with a high concentration of bacteria like sewage treatment plants, and can even help to reduce odors. The UV light kills organic matter at the indoor air handler that could otherwise irritate the sinuses or lead to illness, and it may be useful for smaller businesses as well.

Humidifiers

There are some businesses in which a humidifier is absolutely necessary for the operation of the business. Greenhouses, fruit and vegetable storage facilities, laboratories, and some factories require a certain level of humidification, but other business owners prefer humidifiers because they help keep those in the building more comfortable. A humidifier can alleviate dry itchy skin and may even prevent paint from chipping or peeling due to dry air.

Call on the experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today to find out which Colorado Springs commercial indoor air quality services are best suited for your business needs.

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Which Parts of My Home Can I Control with Home Automation?

January 22nd, 2015

We all know that feeling: did you leave the toaster oven on? Is the front door locked? And when you ask yourself these questions, you are at least an hour away. But imagine being able to ask yourself those questions without the panic by being able to pick-up your smart device and actually check these things. This is what home automation for your Woodland Park, CO, home is all about: convenience, security and support, all at your fingertips.

All in One Place

Each home automation system works a little differently, but the systems and appliances that can be automated in your home are largely up to you. The Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning automation product of choice is the Nexia Home Intelligence system, which allows you to put a maximum of 230 compatible products onto the system. However, most automation systems will help you control most, if not all, of the following:

  • Electrical system
  • Lighting
  • Temperature setting and programming
  • Certain plumbed appliances
  • Door locks/security locks
  • Security systems, including security cameras
  • HVAC system
  • Audio-visual system

Many home automation systems can also send you alerts. Alerts can be related to the systems in your home, such as in regard to a power outage, or security alerts. With some home automation systems you can see real-time video with active security cameras or turn on your dishwasher. The bottom line is that you decide what you want to control.

What Are the Benefits of Home Automation?

There are some key benefits of home automation that make it worth consideration:

  • Better energy efficiency – not only can you program the energy-using systems in your home, many home automation systems allow you to monitor and track your energy usage.
  • Security and safety – you can manage security cameras, lock and unlock doors and turn up the lights at dusk, all from your smart device.
  • Convenience – the management of your household can be put at your fingertips, making home automation incredible convenient and easy to use.

Contact Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning today and schedule an appointment for home automation services in Woodland Park, CO.

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What Is a UV Air Purifier?

January 15th, 2015

The quality of the air in your home is important to you, which is part of the reason you mop, vacuum, and/or dust as regularly as you can. Unfortunately, there may still be several different contaminants floating around in the air you breathe, and many of these contaminants live in the ducts. Yes, your home heating and air conditioning system contains a filter which traps particles that may otherwise get sucked into the air handler. But these aren’t effective at filtering out every different type of particle, especially smaller ones. Besides that, there may already be microorganisms living in your ducts.

A UV air purifier is installed right above the indoor air handler of your air conditioning and heating system because this is an area where microorganisms tend to thrive. A furnace or air conditioning cooling coil can collect moisture as the components continuously heat up and cool down. A furnace may collect moisture when water vapor is created during combustion and a cooling coil gathers condensation as warm air blows over it.

Very small living organisms can thrive in areas with high levels of moisture. And since a fan blows over the parts to move conditioned air into a room, it’s likely that these microorganisms, which often aggravate allergies and may even cause illness, will blow into the room as well.

UV air purifiers emit enough UV radiation to kill small organisms like mold, bacteria, and viruses. Ultraviolet rays are able to kill small organic matter. When you go out into the sun for short periods of time, you won’t notice an effect, but a microscopic creature can die instantly when it’s exposed. It also sterilizes the organisms so that they no longer upset the quality of your air.

UV air purifiers are recommended for homeowners and residents with allergies, asthma, or immune conditions, or just those who notice that family members are frequently sick. A UV air purifier can even help to eliminate some odors left over from cooking and pets.

Call the indoor air quality experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning to learn more about the benefits of UV air purifiers in Monument, CO.

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Reasons to Consider a Commercial Boiler

January 9th, 2015

Having your commercial space be warm and comfortable throughout the winter months is critical to your business. As such, you’ll want to choose a system that will be durable and reliable for years to come. One such system to consider is a commercial boiler. Boilers are found in all kinds of properties, from residences to churches and schools because boilers can effectively heat various-sized spaces. Here are some factors to consider about the installation of a commercial boiler in your Fountain, CO business space:

  • Easy zoning – boilers use a system of pipes to deliver the hot water or steam that heats your space. It is very easy to set up different heating zones with this piping, which will allow you to customize your comfort as you want.
  • Efficient – today’s boilers have an average efficiency rating over 80%, and condensing boilers have efficiency ratings over 90%.
  • Fuel choices – boilers can be fueled by gas, oil, propane, electricity and solid fuels, such as pellets or wood.
  • Choices for outlets – the heat from boilers can be dispersed throughout your business space by radiators, hydronic radiant floor heating or baseboard heating; you can even create a combination of outlets.
  • Quiet – boiler systems are very quiet; in fact, the only noise made is when the boiler is heating the water.
  • Good for allergy sufferers – forced air system keep air circulating constantly, kicking up dust and dirt that can agitate indoor allergies.
  • Comfortable heating – the heat from boilers comes from a surface, not from blown hot air, so the heat is gentle and to many people, more comfortable.
  • Balances indoor moisture – forced air systems can create a very dry atmosphere; because boilers heat in radiant manner, the moisture levels stay more stable, which can feel better for skin, eyes and noses.

The installation of a commercial boiler in Fountain, CO, should be handled only be a trained commercial heating expert.

Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning technicians have been serving residential and commercial customers since 1970, so if you are ready for a new commercial heater, call us today!

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Is Installing a Furnace Safe for My Home?

January 2nd, 2015

Long ago, furnaces were not always considered the safest systems to install in a home. But today’s models are some of the most efficient, safe, and reliable heating systems out there, able to detect safety hazards quickly and activate features to shut down the unit or turn off the gas right away. New furnace installation should be very safe for your home, as long as you choose professionals for the job.

Furnaces used to operate using a standing pilot light, meaning that the pilot light had to remain lit at all times. Today’s manufacturer’s don’t use standing pilots, but even if your current furnace still has one, it probably has a safety feature that models built decades ago were not equipped with. Very old furnaces had no safety mechanism in place to prevent gas from continuing to leak out if the flame were to ever go out. This posed health and safety hazards that were later corrected with a piece called the thermocouple. The thermocouple senses when there is no longer a flame and shuts off the gas immediately.

But modern furnaces don’t actually need a standing gas pilot light. Instead, they use an electronic ignition system to light the burner only when heat is needed. If the burners don’t light up after a few seconds, a flame sensor shuts off the gas valve. A few other parts are also in place to protect you and your family, such as the air pressure switch that shuts off the gas when combustion gases are not venting properly and the limit switch which keeps the chamber from overheating.

When you choose professionals for the job, your new furnace installation should go smoothly. Your new furnace won’t just be as safe it can possibly be; it will also help you to save money from month to month if you work with an expert to choose a unit with a high AFUE rating and the ENERGY STAR seal of approval. And if you follow up your new installation with annual heating maintenance, you can protect your home safety for years to come.

The experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning are trained to give you the most thorough maintenance visit possible and install your new Colorado Springs heating system safely and with utmost accuracy.

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