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HVAC
If you notice your home is not heating properly, or your heating bill has recently increased, you may need to examine your furnace and flue. Your furnace’s exhaust stack, also known as the flue, vents fumes and carbon monoxide safely away from your home’s interior as you heat your home. Over time, the galvanized metal…
HVAC
Why Is My Heater or AC Not Working?
Whether it’s a malfunctioning central air conditioner or a furnace that just doesn’t seem to be doing its job, a broken down heater or air conditioner is cause for alarm in anyone’s book. A faulty unit could mean a costly repair — and of course, all those uncomfortable hours waiting for it to be fixed!…
HVAC
How to Use Your HVAC System During a Fire Advisory
Are wildfires a threat to your home? A majority of scientists believe that climate change has increased the prevalence — and intensity — of forest fires, meaning we could see more of these hazards to come in the future, particularly in the western United States. Their reasoning? Droughts have contributed to drier than usual conditions…
HVAC
How to Replace a Baseboard Heater Cover
A quick DIY way to update your home’s decor is to replace the baseboard heater cover with a new, unblemished model — and it’s easy enough for most homeowners to do by themselves. Replacing the cover gives you a chance to clean the unit inside, so you may see better performance, too. Positioned low to…
Other Home Projects
How and When to Hire a Chimney Sweep
Did you know that fireplace chimneys need to be cleaned and maintained just like any other piece of equipment in the home? Chimneys that aren’t properly maintained can malfunction in a variety of ways. After enough fire burning, creosote can build up on the inside of your chimney, and if it’s not cleaned, it can…
HVAC
Heater Covers: What You Need to Know
As much as we love heating equipment here at Modernize, we also understand that it isn’t usually the most attractive thing in a home. Baseboard heaters, radiators, and central heating registers tend to detract from your home’s overall appeal, rather than add to it. But there is one way to cope with these common household…
Other Home Projects
How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of a Fireplace
How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Your Fireplace Fireplaces generate a lot of heat — when you’re standing right in front of them. Unfortunately, when the fire is out, they can suck warm air from the room and send it up the chimney, which wastes energy and leaves the room feeling cold. But with…
Other Home Projects
Warning: Learn These Home Heating Fire Hazards
Heating your home with poorly maintained equipment is like playing with fire—sometimes quite literally! Even if you don’t have a fireplace with an open flame, you could be putting the safety of your home and family at risk. Especially if you slack off on monitoring the condition and performance of your heating systems. While heating…