Furnace Replacement and Installation in the Grand Lake Area
When Grand Lake winter temperatures dip to 24 degrees, you seal windows and place draft guards under exterior doors to keep these near-freezing temperatures from seeping in. After you’ve battened down the hatches for a long winter, the last thing you want is the issue starting from within your home as your furnace backfires. So, ask us about furnace replacement and installation in Grand Lake.
Our local Air Comfort Solutions team understands these temperatures are no joke. As such, we’re here for you 24/7 in Grand Lake and surrounding areas. Whatever your make or model, questions, or service needs, we can help.
How To Care for a New Furnace Installation
If you’ve recently had a furnace installation, heating replacements and repairs are probably the last things on your mind. However, preventing these further services starts from your system’s first cycle since how you care for and maintain your system affects its usability and lifespan.
Like your air conditioner, your furnace has a filter that traps and locks dust, dander, and other debris. Therefore, it needs regular cleaning or replacement every three to four months for optimal airflow and efficiency. You should also always ensure your pilot light stays lit and displays a blue flame and your burners are not dirty.
If you notice any issues with these parts or other symptoms that affect your furnace’s functionality, call for immediate repairs. You should also contact a professional semi-annually to fully inspect and maintain your system before and after each season of use. During these visits, a Grand Lake technician will:
- Vacuum your burners
- Lubricate bearings and other moving parts
- Check the exhaust and air intake pipes
- Replace a worn or cracked drive belt
- Dust the igniter, pilot light, and other internal parts
- And more!
How Long Do Furnaces Last?
With the above regular monthly DIY care, such as wiping down vents, changing filters, replacing thermostat batteries, and calling in professional assistance semi-annually, your system should always be in top condition. That means your furnace should not only make it to the latter end of its 15-to-30-year lifespan but may even surpass it.
Some furnaces even last 40 years or more, maintaining their efficiency their entire life. But without proper maintenance, your heating system may barely make it to a decade. So, call an expert if you notice symptoms or haven’t had a tune-up in a while.
What Factors Call for a Premature Furnace Replacement?
Whether you’ve had your heating system for ten years or 30, the signs that you need a furnace replacement and installation in the Grand Lake area always look the same. While a repair will suffice in some of the below cases, a technician may suggest a replacement instead if your unit:
- Is outdated
- Requires discontinued parts to complete a repair
- Needs more than two repairs annually
- Demands a repair that costs at least half as much as your original installation
Unusual Sounds
Like with your cooling unit, unusual noises are a common symptom, but not all noises mean something’s wrong.
If you hear pinging or popping in your ducts at the start or end of each heating cycle, it’s only the metal sheets expanding and contracting with the shifting temperatures, which are no cause for alarm. Similarly, clicking as the thermostat turns on or rattling as the unit cools down stems from normal operation. However, if these sounds persist throughout the cycle, it usually indicates an underlying factor. Other noises to look out for include:
- Loud banging or crashing sounds caused by a gas buildup
- Clanking or scraping from a blower wheel issue or loose parts grinding together
- Loud buzzing or rattling from loose screws that allow parts to shift out of place
- Screeching or whistling from dry parts that need lubricating
Hot and Cold Spots
Furnace issues offend other senses, too, such as your sense of feeling, since hot and cold spots are another common issue. In some cases, drafty areas or spaces furthest from the air vents may feel cooler if you have poor insulation or weak air circulation. Having a Grand Lake expert seal entry points, improve wall and roof insulation, and check your ducts offers the best way to remedy these issues.
Your air ducts work to move your controlled climate uniformly throughout your home. However, if the ducts have too wide or winding passageways, the air loses momentum and doesn’t make it to further rooms or all corners of each room.
Even if a professional HVAC technician correctly designs your ductwork to suit your home, the constant high-pressure air can cause cracks, broken seams, and holes. These imperfections lead to air seeping within your walls, never entering your rooms.
Higher Utility Bills
Since your unit keeps functioning until your thermostat matches your desired temperature, air duct leaks can cause long cycling due to the loss of controlled air. Long cycling wears out your heating system and pulls more electricity from your local energy grid, raising monthly utility costs. But, even with top-notch ducts, a furnace with reduced cooling capacity and energy efficiency can cause the same outcome.
Types of Furnaces: Gas vs. Electric
Whether you plan to undergo a furnace replacement or need to install your first one, you will have to choose between a gas and electric furnace. Consider the main difference between the two. Electric furnaces use electricity to pull heat into the system, and once it reaches the heat exchanger, the heating coils heat the air, and the blower fan pushes the air into the air ducts.
Gas furnaces, however, create heat by using natural gas from the connecting main gas line and allowing the pilot light and burners to ignite it in the combustion chamber. The heat exchanger then pulls the heat from this process and sends it through the air ducts.
The Installation Process
However, it’s not just the heating process that differs since the steps to a furnace replacement and installation in Grand Lake vary depending on the unit type.
For instance, if you want to install a gas furnace for the first time, you need to find a suitable location for the system, so it has proper venting to the outdoors to prevent carbon monoxide from building up within your home after combustion. The unit must also be on a block that lifts the unit four inches from the ground, and a professional will clear debris from the area before installing the system.
Furnace installers then attach a drain line and a return air duct before connecting the latter to the air duct system. They then connect the system to the main gas line and attach a gas valve that regulates gas pressure before it enters the system. Finally, before checking their work, they’ll connect your system to your electrical supply.
Electric furnaces have a similar installation process. However, they don’t require venting or access to a gas line, making the installation process simpler and, therefore, more cost-effective than a gas furnace installation.
Other Types of Heater Installations
Heat Pump Installation in Grand Lake
If an electric or gas furnace replacement or installation won’t work for you, consider a heat pump installation in Grand Lake. Heat pumps transfer rather than create heat by moving warmth from outside indoors during the winter and reversing the flow of heat outdoors during the summer. Therefore, they pull less electricity but may not provide enough warmth in extreme temperatures.
Boiler Installation in Grand Lake
A boiler installation in Grand Lake presents another popular option that burns fuel like gas, coal, or oil to create hot gases. The heat from these gases comes in contact with water vapors, creating steam that travels to radiators in each room. The water remains in the radiators until it cools. It then travels back to the heat exchanger to restart the process.
Furnace Replacement Near Me!
We believe you shouldn’t put your comfort on hold. So we never put our customers on hold. We offer 24/7 scheduled and emergency services to suit your needs, whether you need us during the day or night, on weekends, or on holidays.
So when you need a “furnace replacement near me,” call Air Comfort Solutions at 918-782-2263 for a furnace replacement and installation in the Grand Lake area and surrounding areas. We guarantee 100% customer satisfaction today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do gas furnaces still need an electrical connection?
Even though gas furnaces rely on combustion (not needing electricity to conduct the heating process), they still require electricity to work the blower fan, which moves the air through the vents. However, electric furnaces rely on electricity during every part of the process, which makes running them more expensive and more dependent on your utility grid.
What brands do Air Comfort Solutions service?
Our team has experience with heat pumps, furnaces, boilers, and other heating systems across all leading brands, including Carrier, Lennox, and Trane.
Are there furnace installers near me?
Our Air Comfort Solutions team can conduct a residential or commercial furnace replacement and installation in the Grand Lake area. We also service Tulsa, Little Rock, Fort Smith, and other surrounding Oklahoma and Arkansas cities.