While in Hawaii, enjoying the beautiful weather, our cabin in Central Oregon was in the middle of a severe winter storm. The cabin was a vacation rental at the time, and the renters called, saying they had no hot water and the range was sputtering, like it was running out of propane and not lighting….
The question I get asked more than any other about gas piping is whether a new gas range can just tap into the furnace’s gas line. It usually comes up in a basement, where the furnace’s gas pipe happens to run right underneath where the new range is going in the kitchen above. It looks…
Manufactured home HVAC ended up being one of my favorite niches later in my career. As an older guy, I liked that I could install a new heat pump and get the whole job done in about two days without killing myself over it. And the people I worked for were about as down-home and…
Getting three bids for a new furnace or AC system sounds simple enough. Call three companies, they show up, they write a number on a piece of paper, you pick the cheapest one or the one you liked best. Except it rarely works that way, because bids aren’t just numbers — they’re pitches. And pitches…
Millennials are turning away from hustle culture and turning on their smart thermostats. This generation has learned the value of comfort — not just in self-care, but in how their home functions day to day. As priorities shift from status to sanctuary, HVAC upgrades and smart home tools are leading the way. I see this…
If you’re buying your first home, don’t overlook the HVAC system. Here are the key questions to ask about heating, cooling, and air quality before you close. In my first home, I had no clue about HVAC. And I had no idea at the time that my profession would be in that industry. The term…
I’m an older adult, born in the mid-1940s. So I qualify to say older adults have more HVAC concerns. I worry more now about the cost of replacement and year-round comfort. While many homeowners treat HVAC like a set-it-and-forget-it appliance, older adults tend to see things differently—and for good reason. Once you’ve lived through a…
A customer recently called me with a strange complaint: In my son’s bedroom, his HVAC duct is gurgling. Every time the HVAC fan kicked on, I’d hear a bubbling noise in the ductwork in my son’s bedroom—like an old coffee pot percolating. It didn’t sound like refrigerant noise—refrigerant lines don’t usually make that kind of…
Thermostats for dual fuel heat pumps must manage switching from electric to gas heat. Here’s what to look for and which models work best to do that. In a dual fuel system, the heat pump handles mild-weather heating but loses efficiency as temperature dip toward freezing. As the outdoor temperatures drop too low, a gas…
