Downtown Air and Heat Blog

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 Downtown Air and Heat hopes you and your loved ones have a wonderful weekend.

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Signs of Low Refrigerant in Your Air Conditioner

February 5th, 2015

Refrigerant is vital to your AC because it continuously cycles through every single component. Refrigerant is a chemical blend that can easily convert from a gas to a liquid under pressure and back to a gas again. Heat dissipates from the refrigerant as it moves outside to the condenser unit, but the refrigerant itself is not meant to dissipate from the system. When refrigerant leaks from the air conditioner, it’s never a good sign, and it may result in some costly repairs if it’s not taken care of ASAP.

Learn to recognize the signs of low refrigerant, and call Downtown Air & Heat at the first sign of trouble. Our team of skilled technicians are trained to locate and seal refrigerant leaks or take care of any other home air conditioning repair in Central Florida.

Loss of Cooling

The main problem you’re most likely to notice from a loss of refrigerant is if there is not a lot of cool air entering the home. Refrigerant is vital to the heat exchange process, and as more and more begins to leak out, heat cannot absorb into the refrigerant effectively, and temperatures may remain high in the home, or it might just take your system longer to cool a space. Either way, immediate repairs are necessary as other parts may become overworked and break down as a result.

Frozen Coil

If you happen to get a peek at the inside air handler portion of your AC, you may notice a set of coils. The evaporator coil cools down as refrigerant runs through and converts into a gas, and the blower fan sends air over it to bring cool air into the home. The warm air blowing over the coil should keep it from freezing, but only if there is the right amount of refrigerant running through it. A frozen coil won’t actually keep you cooler, and your unit may shut down entirely.

Failing Compressor

This last symptom is one you’re a lot less likely to notice, but it’s certainly one of the most important reasons to consider maintenance every year. The compressor is designed to process a certain amount of refrigerant in every cycle. If there is not enough refrigerant the compressor will struggle, and it may fail, which usually results in replacing the entire outside unit.

Speak with the friendly professionals at Downtown Air & Heat for quality air conditioning repair in Central Florida at the first sign of trouble.

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Types of Ignition Systems for Furnaces

January 29th, 2015

There was a time not too long ago that there was only one type of ignition system for furnaces. Indeed, the same kind of ignition system served pretty much every type of combustion based heating system. That system was the standing pilot light, which was used for many decades. More recently, however, there have been a number of innovations that have risen up to challenge the standing pilot light for supremacy. Let’s take a look at the different kinds of ignition systems for furnaces, and which one you should look for when installing a new one.

Standing Pilot Light

The standing pilot light is the oldest of the ignition systems, and is still used by many furnaces across the country. It consists of a small burner assembly attached to a gas line. The assembly and gas line are connected to a flame sensor called a “thermocouple.” The thermocouple keeps a valve in the gas line open as long as the flame is lit, to keep gas flowing to the flame. If the flame goes out, the thermocouple closes the gas valve as a safety measure. Standing pilot lights are always supposed to be lit, and are only out if there is a problem. While they are a fairly reliable ignition sources, standing pilot lights are not very energy efficient, and waste a lot of fuel by being lit all the time.

Intermittent Pilot Light

Intermittent pilot lights were invented in an attempt to solve a lot of the problems associated with standing pilot lights. They consist of a much more complex electrical system, instead of gas, culminating in an electrode instead of a flame. When the thermostat sends a call for heat, the electrode generates a spark that ignites the system. When not needed, the intermittent pilot remains dormant. This solves the two biggest problems with standing pilot lights: having the flame blow out and wasting energy.

Heating Element Pilots

Heating element pilots are another type of electrical ignition system. Rather than throwing off sparks to ignite the burners, however, heating element pilots use similar heating elements to a lightbulb wire. Instead of giving off light, however, most of the energy directed into the heating element is expelled as heat. This heat eventually gets high enough to ignite the gas and start the burners. This also avoids the standing pilot light’s two biggest issues. However, the actual heating elements do eventually burn out and require replacing.

If you aren’t sure what kind of ignition system would fit your furnace best, call Downtown Air & Heat. We provide furnace services throughout Orlando.

 

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Why Is My Furnace Booming?

January 22nd, 2015

It’s a pretty unnerving thing to hear your furnace make a loud booming noise during operation. Don’t worry, though, your furnace is not going to explode. It does very likely have a problem that needs to be addressed, however. There are a couple of different things that can contribute to a furnace making booming noises. Let’s take a look at these issues, and help you determine whether or not you need to call a professional.

Delayed Burner Ignition

A very common cause of furnaces booming is something called “delayed burner ignition.” This is caused by a buildup of carbon on the burner assembly over time. Carbon builds up on a burner assembly because it is a byproduct of the combustion of natural gas. Though virtually all combustion byproducts move through the exhaust flue and out of the house, carbon particles are heavy enough to settle on the burner assembly instead. This buildup can eventually get so high that the burner has issues getting enough oxygen to actually light the gas being supplied through the gas line. When the burner finally does ignite, it tends to ignite all the excess gas at once. This is what can cause a sudden BOOM without any sort of warning.

Duct Flexing

Another common cause of a booming noise coming from your heater is the ducts in your house expanding and contracting. As the warm air moves through your ducts, they react to the heat by expanding. Sheet metal tends to make a good bit of noise when it flexes, which can be a cause of that booming sound. This is especially true in colder climates, where the contrast in temperature results in a greater fluctuation in the ducts.

So which of these two causes applies to you? That will require a professional HVAC technician to actually examine your furnace and ductwork. The duct flexing isn’t really a problem, as long as everything is secured properly. The delayed burner ignition can get progressively worse, however, and may end up in that burner not being able to ignite at all.

If your furnace is making a booming noise, contact Downtown Air & Heat. We provide furnace repairs throughout Orlando.

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Why Is Sizing Part of Heating Installation Service?

January 15th, 2015

Properly sizing a heater is a very important part of installing a new heating system. Though homeowners almost never think about this when shopping for a new system, the size of the heater will drastically affect how well their home is actually heated. You may be tempted to think that the old adage “bigger is better” would apply here, but that is not the case. A heater that is too large can be just as bad for your home as a heater that is too small. Let’s take a look at what can happen if you ignore sizing during your heating installation.

Oversized Heaters

Oversized heaters often waste a great deal of energy by putting out more heat than the home actually needs. This doesn’t seem like that much of a disadvantage, but the picture becomes clear when you consider specific systems like furnaces and boilers. Any combustion based system is equipped with what is called a “limit switch,” which is responsible for monitoring the central heater’s internal temperature. If that internal temperature gets too high, the limit switch activates and shuts down the system as a safety measure.

An oversized heater will naturally provoke the limit switch, due to its heat output being much higher than the limit the system is naturally set for. This causes the limit switch to shut down the system in order to stop what it reads as the heater overheating. Once the heater has cooled off a bit, it will start up again and provoke the limit switch to shut it down again. This endless on/off cycle is called “short-cycling,” and wastes a great deal of heat while shortening your system’s life.

Undersized Heaters

Far from provoking the overheating safety measures, undersized heaters simply lack the ability to heat the entire home to a satisfactory degree. Instead, they will turn on and stay on for longer and longer periods of time, trying to reach the thermostat temperature when it is completely beyond them. This leads to early burnouts and breakdowns for the heater, as well as wasting quite a bit of energy.

If you’d like to know more, call Downtown Air & Heat. We provide heating services in Winter Park.

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What Are the Benefits of Duct Cleaning?

January 12th, 2015

Quick! When was the last time you had your ducts cleaned? If you can’t remember the last time you had your ducts cleaned, or if you’ve never had them cleaned, you likely have a big problem that you can’t even detect. Ducts serve a vital role inside the home, allowing central heating and air conditioning systems to circulate air throughout the living space. Without ducts, many home heating and air conditioning systems would not be possible. Unfortunately, ducts are also home to a lot of unsavory things that can lessen your quality of life. Read on to find out why duct cleaning is necessary.

Contaminants in the Ducts

The air in your home is actually filled with thousands of different particulates and microorganisms. Most of these are harmless, but there are several that can provoke allergy attacks and more serious illnesses. These contaminants include dust, pollen, bacteria, insect dander, viruses, mold, and many others. Though they can be found in smaller numbers throughout the house, the ducts are often the central hub for these contaminants. This is because the ducts are out of the way, and relatively undisturbed by human or animal activity in the home. The contaminants collect in the ducts until the heat or air is turned on, at which point they are blown out of the vents and throughout the house, where they come in contact with humans and affect their health.

Duct Cleaning

The primary reason for duct cleaning is to eliminate as much of these airborne contaminants as possible. Depending on the type of ducts you have, an HVAC technician can either suck all the debris out of the network with a specialized vacuum or carefully clean each area with a set of brushes. By cleaning the ducts in your home once every year or two, you can substantially increase your air quality and health. If you neglect your ducts, however, you provide a haven for these germs and other contaminants from which to infect you.

If you haven’t had your ducts cleaned in a while, call Downtown Air & Heat. We provide duct cleaning throughout the Orlando area.

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Can’t I Install a Dehumidifier Myself?

January 5th, 2015

High levels of humidity can be quite a pain both inside the home and out. Humidity can cause you to feel hot and sticky and can keep you from enjoying some of the activities you partake in every day. And at this time of year, you never know whether it’s going to be a cool, temperate day, or if moisture in the air will drag you down.

Thankfully, you can purchase a dehumidifier so that you and your family can feel more comfortable inside of the home and so that you can prevent the nasty effects of a potential buildup of moisture. Many people decide to get simple single-room dehumidifiers which they can plug into the wall themselves in order to remove some moisture from a single room. But these don’t take care of moisture in every area of the home.

It’s important to have a dehumidifying system throughout the home if the air in your house is prone to holding moisture. While a single-room dehumidifier can make you feel cooler, it’s unable to reach moisture in parts of the house where it may actually do some damage. When water collects around the walls or on ceilings, it could cause permanent damage to the structure of the building. And what’s worse is the potential for mold growth which could actually make you feel ill. Mold particularly affects family members with asthma and allergies, but it can easily start to take a toll on other household members as well.

It’s important to have whole-home dehumidifying capabilities to prevent moisture from ruining the structure of your home, keeping you uncomfortable, or even making you feel sick. But can you install a whole-house system by yourself? Well, this task will be difficult to complete without the right expertise. A whole-house dehumidifier is located in the ducts and works with your HVAC system to collect and drain moisture. You’ll need professional tools to enter the ducts, often slicing through it or replacing a portion of ductwork. And afterwards, you’ll need to make sure the ducts are sealed properly to prevent air leaks from decreasing the overall efficiency of your unit.

Call Downtown Air & Heat whenever you need a trained professional to install a new dehumidifier in Orlando.

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When New Year’s Day Was Not on January 1st

January 1st, 2015

Some holidays fall on shifting calendar days for every year, such as Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November) and Easter (the first Sunday after the first full moon to occur on or after March 21). Other holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween, are fixed. No holiday has a more solid calendar date attached to it than New Year’s Day. It has to fall on January 1st because it celebrates the first day of a new year. That only makes sense…

…except that, like most things that at first appear obvious, there is a bit more to the story. The beginning of the year was not always on the first of January. As with an enormous numbers of traditions in the Western World, the establishment of January 1st as the inaugural day of a new year goes back to the ancient Romans.

The modern solar calendar is derived from the Roman model, but the earliest Roman calendars did not have 365 days in a year spread over 12 months. Instead, there were 304 days spread over 10 months. The Romans believed this calendar originated with the mythical founder of the city, Romulus. If Romulus were a real person, we can credit him with a poor understanding of the seasons, as this abbreviated calendar soon got out of sync with Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Numa, one of the Kings of Rome (probably also fictional) receives credit for creating a longer year with two added months, Ianuarius and Februarius, bringing the number of days in the year to 355. The new month of Ianuarius, named after Ianus (Janus in contemporary spelling), the god of beginnings, would eventually be known in English as January. But when this new calendar was instituted, January was not the first month. March, named after the god of war, remained the first month, and March 1st was New Year’s Day.

This extended calendar still did not keep in synch with the seasons. In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar instituted reforms to align the calendar correctly according to calculations of astronomers, with an additional 10 days distributed across the year. January also became set as the first month, and offerings to the god Janus on this day started the tradition we now know as New Year’s. The date still fluctuated during the ensuing centuries, with a number of Western European holy days treated as the beginning of the year instead. It wasn’t until the next calendar reform in 1582, the Gregorian Calendar, that the date of the New Year was fixed at January 1st.

However you choose to celebrate the beginning of the current calendar, everyone here at Downtown Air & Heat hopes you have a wonderful 2015!

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The Composition of Snowflakes: Are No Two Alike?

December 25th, 2014

“No two snowflakes are alike.”

This is a statement nearly every schoolchild has heard at least once, either while crafting unique snowflakes with a sheet of folded paper and some scissors or while learning a lesson on the science of snow. While even most scientists don’t quite understand what causes a snowflake to form such complex and beautiful columns and points and branches, one thing is for certain, the composition of snowflakes guarantees that no two will ever be identical.  However, it is possible for two snowflakes to appear to be nearly exactly alike.

A snowflake begins to form when a piece of dust catches water vapor out of the air. Water is created when two hydrogen molecules attach to an oxygen molecule. The two hydrogen molecules are angled from one another in such a way that they form a hexagonal shape when they come together during the freezing process; thus, a snowflake begins as a simple hexagonal shape or as layers of hexagons called diamond dust. The emergent properties that follow from the original hexagon are what differentiate one snowflake from another, as the humidity, the temperature in the air, and many other factors (some of which remain unclear to scientists) allow each snowflake to form in an entirely unique way with a seemingly endless variety of shapes.

However, in 1988, a scientist named Nancy Knight claimed to have located two that were the same while studying snowflakes as part of an atmospheric research project. And it appeared to be so; when put under a microscope, the emergent properties looked nearly identical. But while it is feasible that two snowflakes can appear to be exactly alike on the outside, they are never identical on an atomic level. Deuterium is an atom that appears attached to about one in every 3000 hydrogen molecules in the air. Because there are millions of atoms that make up a snowflake, the random assortment of deuterium in any two snowflakes—even in two that so very closely resemble one another—simply cannot be the same.

Here at Downtown Air & Heat, we’d like to remind you to grab a cup of cocoa and relax with your family this holiday, perhaps by crafting some unique snowflake creations of your own. We wish you a very happy holiday season, from our family to yours!

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Reasons to Schedule Heating Maintenance

December 19th, 2014

Usually, when you call a technician to your home, you have a pretty good reason for it. Perhaps your heating system is making some particularly strange noises, your heater struggles to switch on, or you just want to upgrade with zone heating or a new thermostat.  But you may not know that there are plenty of very good reasons to call a technician when there are no apparent problems with your heating system.

Here in Orlando, we go for a long time without running our heating systems. This means that you may not know if there is a lurking problem with the components of your heater. And with a defunct heating system, you may leave yourself vulnerable to a few different problems that can affect your comfort, your bills, and even your safety.

There are a few good reasons to call a technician for maintenance on a regular basis. We’d like to remind you that it’s not too late for a heating maintenance visit this season, especially since you may end up with the following benefits afterwards.

  1. A more comfortable space: Maintenance includes an inspection, cleaning, and adjustment of some of the most crucial components to the operation of your system and some of the seemingly minor ones as well. This helps to make sure your unit is in top shape, as a unit runs at its very best well all of the components are in an optimal condition.
  2. Energy savings: When parts are loose, out of place, bent, or dirty, they have to run for longer and use up more energy to get the house to the proper temperature. This costs you more than expected every month, and a maintenance visit may actually offset the extra cost in some cases.
  3. Peace of mind: Finally, heating maintenance gives you peace of mind that your system will not breakdown any time soon. And with a gas furnace, you’ll feel confident that there is not a safety issue that could lead to a gas leak.

Call the experts at Downtown Air & Heat to make sure you get a thorough and complete heating maintenance in Orlando. We offer a twice yearly tune-up as part of our maintenance program with discounts on parts and services as well.

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