Technician Awards
5 Winter Tips to Maintain Indoor Air Quality
Published January 31, 2012 | 
With your home shut tight during the winter months and the furnace constantly blowing dry heat, very little fresh air enters the home. So, we suggest that you follow these easy tips for better air quality during cold winter months:
- If your furnace doesn’t have a built-in humidifier, you can still create the effect of one with simple steps.
- Keep a cool mist humidifier in the bedrooms, especially in the rooms of young children prone to colds and ear infections.
- Another inexpensive option is to place bowls of water on the floor near warm air registers to add to the humidity level and comfort of your home. Replenish water frequently.
- Add moisture to the air while you work in the kitchen. Fill a teakettle with water and heat the water to boiling on your stove top. Then open the whistle, lower the heat and let the water simmer away into the air. Just don’t walk away and let the teakettle boil dry.
- Keep the thermostat set at 68 degrees F during the day, and lower it to 64 degrees at night. Not only will you save heating dollars, the lower temperatures are better for sleeping.
- Good insulation and efficient windows are excellent for saving money and energy, but sometimes a detriment to healthy indoor air. On milder winter days, briefly open a few windows to freshen the air and eliminate built-up toxins from carpets, dust and poor air circulation.
- Vacuuming regularly is especially important during these cooped-up months, when dust and dirt can settle in vent systems and re-circulate through the ductwork constantly. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
Importance of Servicing Your Furnace
Published December 31, 2011 | Your heating system burns fuel. In a well- functioning system, the heat from the combustion process goes into your house while the combustion gasses vent outside. There are several reasons why combustion gasses may end up flowing into the house. If an animal builds its home in your chimney, for example, combustion gasses can back up into your house. Combustion gasses that leak into your house present health and safety hazards. In a worst-case scenario, carbon monoxide poisoning can lead to death.
A well- tuned heating system is more efficient. This is good for the environment and saves you money. A quick adjustment of the fuel mixture in your heating system may make all the difference. Again, this is something only a Detroit Metro Area qualified Heating Technician can assess.
A qualified technician should perform the following checks:
- Safety test for carbon monoxide (CO)
- Check for hazardous debris in the chimney and flue
- Maintain air filters and re-install
- Check operation of thermostat and safety controls
- Check gas pilot safety system and service as required
- Maintain the motor and fan
- Check blower operation
- Check condition, tension and alignment of fan belt and perform required adjustments
- Service burners and set for proper combustion & ignition
- Check gas piping to furnace
The benefit to you is:
- Regular maintenance can help sure that your furnace runs to manufacturers’ design specifications
- Help reduce your monthly heating bills by ensuring your furnace is operating at peak efficiency
- Help increase the lifespan of your furnace
- Reduce the hassle of unexpected and inconvenient breakdowns
If you have questions about having your Furnace Serviced, please contact us.
Posted in Energy, Equipment Maintenance, Heating | 
Bloomfield Hills Furnace Service, Detroit Metro Furnace Service, Farmington Hills Furnace Service, Reford Furnace Service, Rochester Hills Furnace Service, Royal Oak Furnace Service, Servicing Furnace, Southfield Furnace Service, Troy Furnace Service, Warren Furnace Service | 
Leave a commentChoosing a Programmable Thermostat to Save Energy
Published November 28, 2011 | When shopping for a thermostat, bring information with you about your current unit, including the brand and model number. Also, ask these questions before buying a thermostat:
- Does the unit’s clock draw its power from the heating system’s low-voltage electrical control circuit instead of a battery? If so, is the clock disrupted when the furnace cycles on and off? Battery-operated back-up thermostats are preferred by many homeowners.
- Is the thermostat compatible with the electrical wiring found in your current unit?
- Are you able to install it yourself, or should you hire an electrician or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor?
- How precise is the thermostat?
- Are the programming instructions easy to understand and remember? Some thermostats have the instructions printed on the cover or inside the housing box. Otherwise, will you have to consult the instruction booklet every time you want to change the setback times?
Most automatic and programmable thermostats completely replace existing units. These are preferred by many homeowners. However, some devices can be placed over existing thermostats and are mechanically controlled to permit automatic setbacks. These units are usually powered by batteries, which eliminates the need for electrical wiring. They tend to be easy to program, and because they run on batteries, the clocks do not lose time during power outages.
If you have questions about programmable thermostats, please give us a call.
4 Tips to minimize the chances of your pipes freezing.
Published October 31, 2011 | Here are some simple things you can do that will minimize the chances for your pipes freezing.
- Drain water from swimming pool and water sprinkler supply lines following manufacturer’s or installer’s directions. Do not put antifreeze in these lines unless directed. Antifreeze is environmentally harmful and is dangerous to humans, pets, wildlife and landscaping.
- Remove, drain and carefully store hoses used outdoors. Close inside valves supplying outdoor hose bibs. Open the outside hose taps to allow water to drain. Keep the outside valve open so that any water remaining in the pipe can expand without causing the pipe to break.
- Check around the home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas. Look in the basement, crawl space, attic, garage, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated. A hot water supply line can freeze just as a cold water supply line can freeze if water is not running through the pipe, and the water temperature becomes cold.
- Consider installing specific products made to insulate water pipes like a “pipe sleeve” or installing UL-listed “heat tape,” “heat cable,” or similar materials on exposed water pipes. Many products are available at a building supplies retailer. Pipes should be carefully wrapped, with ends butted tightly and joints wrapped with tape. Follow manufacturer’s recommendations for installing and using these products. Newspaper can provide some degree of insulation and protection to exposed pipes
10 Tips for Hiring a Heating and Cooling Contractor
Published September 29, 2011 | 10 Tips for Hiring a Heating and Cooling Contractor
These are 10 excellent and highly recommended tips outlined by EnergyStar.gov to help you choose a reliable Heating and Cooling Contractor.
Ideas to Heating your Garage in the Winter
Published August 31, 2011 | Whether you use your garage for tinkering on projects or for just parking your vehicles, when winter comes, you’ll appreciate the warmth of a heated garage. Here are several ideas that help you.
- Making sure your garage is adequately insulated.
- Making sure the garage door seals to the garage floor
- Instating your garage door if it’s not.
- Using a portable type heater
- Propane heater (need to worry about fumes).
- Kerosene heater (need to worry about fumes).
- Gasoline heater (need to worry about fumes).
- Electric Heater
- Natural gas powered overhead blower/heater
- Electric overhead blower/heater.
- Electric baseboard.
- Hot water baseboard connected to a small circulatory pump, line voltage thermostat, and instant hot water on demand tank heater.
- Solar heat with a panel on the roof. In the short day light hours of winter time, it might not be too practical, but could be used for making hot water.
These are some of the ways you could heat your garage this winter.
We at CMC recommend that you contact us for a consultation on what would be the MOST cost and energy effective method to give you a nicely heated garage this winter.
Posted in Heating | Garage Heating, Garage Heating Farmington Hills, Garage Heating Redford, Garage Heating Rochester Hills, Garage Heating Royal Oak, Garage Heating Southfield, Garage Heating Sterling Heights, Garage Heating Troy, Garage Heating Warren, Garage Heating West Bloomfield, Heated Garage | Leave a comment10 Tips for Choosing a Good Plumber
Published May 10, 2011 | 10 Tips for Choosing a Good Plumber Great article that gives sound advise and excellent tips when choosing a good Plumber. (via Connect Utilities)
What’s a spring A/C maintenance entail?
Published April 8, 2011 | We recommend getting your air conditioning condenser and coil prepared for summer by a professional technician. Your condenser’s been getting snowed on all winter, so they will perform tests to make sure it’s running correctly. But it just begins there.
It’s always a good idea to check on your HVAC technician to ensure that work defined in your agreement is actually being done. At CMC Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, we take pride in our work, and want to see your air conditioning equipment have a long life.
Other items on our checklist include:
- Checking thermostat
- Checking or replace filter
- Checking for temperature drop
- Cleaning condenser coil
- Checking and adjusting air flow
- Checking electrical connections
- Checking amp and volt draw on motors
- Check refrigerant charge
- Lubricating moving parts
- Checking condenser drain
- Checking all capacitors
- Looking for refrigerant leaks
- Checking disconnect power box
Don’t wait until you’re already using your HVAC system to get it serviced by a quality technician. Air conditioner maintenance, like servicing your car, getting a physical, or any other activity involving maintenance, is meant to proactively prevent catastrophic issues from taking place.
Benefits of a tankless water heater
Published January 8, 2011 | 
Conventional storage tank water heaters have been used since the early twentieth century. While most household electronics have taken great strides in terms of new technology and efficiency, the traditional tank water heater has not. Most consumers do not need a lesson in the inefficiencies and problems associated with traditional water heaters as we have all experienced them at one time or another. With energy costs continuing to rise and interest in household technology and environmental stewardship at an all-time high, the concept of “on demand” or tankless water heating has increase dramatically in popularity during the past decade.
The general premise behind a tankless water heater is to only heat water “on demand” as it is needed. This eliminates the need for a storage tank and dramatically increases energy efficiency.
Benefits of the tankless water heater
- Reduce water heating costs as much as 50%! – Tankless water heaters heat entirely on demand only when hot water is needed. Since there is no hot water storage, thermal heat loss is almost completely eliminated.
- Tankless heaters never run out of hot water – they can literally run all day long if necessary and they will never stop producing hot water since they heat water instantly on demand.
- Sophisticated tankless heaters allow you to set the ongoing water temperature to a much more reasonable and safer temperature, closer to the actual temperature you will use the water at, thereby reducing risk of scalding. According to the US. Department of Energy, for each 10°F reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%-5% in energy costs.
- Since hot water is not stored, tankless water heaters generally handle hard water minerals and sediments much better than conventional tanks. This makes them far less likely to leak or rupture, and able to maintain efficiency throughout their whole lifecycle. Accordingly, many have much longer warranties.
- Tankless water heaters can last more than 20 years.
- Tankless water heaters are about the size of a briefcase (electric units) – they save valuable floor space that can be used for storage etc. especially in condos and apartments.
Maintaining Good Indoor Air Quality during the Winter
Published December 10, 2010 | Winter may be a great time to “hibernate”, but if the air inside your home isn’t up to par, then it’s time to follow some tips to improve and maintain the quality of the air you breath.
Reduce indoor contaminants by:
- Changing filters in forced-air heating systems every 3 months, or when they become dirty, whichever comes first.
- Cleaning and freshening the air with non-toxic products.
- Avoiding harmful VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, if you’re sprucing up the house with paint. Low-VOC paint and paint that contains zero VOCs are readily available and can be color matched just like any other paint.
- Making sure combustion appliances, like gas stoves, fireplaces, boilers, and furnaces are working properly.
- Regularly cleaning, dusting and vacuuming to reduce allergens such as dust mites and pet hair & dander.
- Fixing plumbing leaks and getting rid of excess moisture, in the bathroom, kitchen and basement. Throw away items that have been contaminated with mold and mildew, and thoroughly clean surfaces, such as bathroom tiles, that have become moldy and mildewy. Make sure exhaust fans vent to the outdoors.
- Eliminating secondhand smoke in your home (and car).
- Being aware of sources of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and toxic gas that causes health effects which are often mistaken for the flu. Install carbon monoxide detectors in living spaces.
- Testing your home for cancer-causing radon, a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can enter a home through cracks and openings in floors and walls that are in contact with the ground. Testing your home is simple and inexpensive.
Like us on Facebook!
Thank You for Voting!
Follow & Review Us!