Your nose knows. If you smell something burning and it’s coming from your light fixture don’t ignore it. If a light fixture gives off a burning smell, disconnect the fixture until you have determined the source of the odor. Overheating electrical wires and devices often emit a burning smell....
home safety
The Importance of a Home Inspection
Is your dream home a sweet dream or a potential nightmare? So, you found your dream home. Do you know what you are really buying? Many cases of disappointment and financial ruin could have been avoided with a simple, but comprehensive pre-offer home inspection. A licensed home inspector can...
Dryer Fires
Be safe with your dryer. In 1997, according to the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission, there were 16,800 residential fires reported and responded to by fire departments where the source of the fire was the clothes dryer or vent. These fires caused $97.3 million in damage, 430 injuries,...
Cleaning Your Gutters
Clean your gutters. During a rainstorm, gutters route runoff from a very large surface–a home’s roof-to where it can drain away from the house. By doing so, they protect siding, windows, doors, and foundations from water damage and help prevent flooding in basements. To do their job, gutters and...
Ozone
Ozone generators are not air cleaners. Have you been approached by sales people or seen a marketing ad stating that their air cleaning machine makes “activated oxygen” or refreshes the air “like a thunderstorm”. These terms give an impression that breathing ozone is good. In reality, the opposite is...
UV Technology
Clean the air in your home with UV? A healthy home buzz that has been going around is installing ultraviolet (UV) lights in air returns in your home to kill germs, viruses, mold, and bacteria before circulating back into your home. The UV lights in air returns can be...
Chimneys
Don’t take your chimney for granted. Chimneys are designed to safely funnel smoke and hot gasses away from the interior of your house. Inspect your chimney at the beginning of each heating season. Shine a flashlight up inside and look for obstructions such as leaves or birds’ nests and...
Single Stage vs. Two Stage Furnace
Most furnaces either have all of their burners lit or all turned off. However, over 80% of the time, it is not necessary to have all of the burners of the furnace lit to meet the heat demands. Having all of the burners lit when it is not necessary...
Furnace Energy Saving Tip
Today, new furnaces are generally between 80-96% efficient. If a furnace is 96% efficient, it simply means that 96% of the energy that goes into the furnace is converted into heat. Older furnaces in 15+-year-old homes, can be as low as 60% efficient. Thus, upgrading to a 96% efficient...
