Cold winter weather brings cozy evenings, and an increase in the use of home heating equipment. It's probably time to give your heating system a safety check. Heating equipment failures or malfunctions are one of the leading causes of all home fires. We can reduce the occurrence of these types of fires with a little preventative maintenance and some good fire safety habits.
The following are some tips for safety around heating systems:
Never discard hot ashes inside or near the home. Place them in a covered metal container outside and well away from the house.
If you use a wood-burning stove or fireplace, have a licensed chimney sweep clean and inspect your chimney at least once a year.
Place a glass or metal spark screen in front of the fireplace and install caps on chimneys.
Never use a flammable liquid (gasoline, kerosene, lighter fluid, etc.) to start a fire or rekindle a small one.
Keep paper, clothing, trash, and other combustibles at least three feet away from your furnace, hot water heater, or wood-burning device.
Have a professional clean and inspected your heating system yearly. This may prevent a fire and will make your heating system more energy efficient.
Keep portable heaters away from curtains, beds, clothes, and children. Make sure there is at least three feet of clearance around the heater for proper ventilation. Turn heaters off when you leave the room or go to bed.
Never refuel the heater while it is operating or while it is still hot. Always refuel outside. Avoid overfilling.
Be sure your space heater has an emergency shut off in case the heater is tipped over.
Atlanta professinal Inspection service company. Over 14yrs experience. Call the rest the call the best!
The standard for newly installed air conditioners has changed from SEER 10 to SEER 13: a 30% increase in efficiency. However, for many with older homes (pre-1992), the increase in efficiency can be even greater than 30%, due to the older units much lower SEER ratings--usually around 6 or 7. Thus the "payback" will be even bigger, and faster, and the reduction in electricity costs will be even nicer!
Initially, the up front costs for the new SEER 13 units are going to be higher than the SEER 10 units. Talking with a well respected Atlanta HVAC firm who represents several well known brands, the representative noted the price difference between a SEER 10 and a SEER 13 two-and-a-half ton unit, including the cost of a matching evaporator coil (if needed) would range about $600 higher on average.
There may be additional costs for sheet-metal work around the new, larger sized evaporator coil at the furnace, possibly new copper tubing from the compressor to the evaporator. The new units require very clean plumbing, so the current plumbing may need to be cleaned or replaced. The new units required 40% more "freon".
There has been much speculation about how much larger the new outside units will be. Actually some manufacturers like Amana, Goodman and Bryant (and perhaps others) new units will be the same or smaller than their current SEER 10 units.
A new digital thermostat is recommended if your unit is an older, say 15 year old analog thermostat, for more efficient operation.
And, just like car a/c systems where the old R-12 was changed, in 2010 the current R-22 air conditioner coolant will be changed to the R-410A. At least one manufacturer, Carrier, already includes the new freon, so you‘ll already have an a/c that meets the SEER 13 requirements with the new coolant
Through the years we all get older...even our homes,cars etc. Proper maintainance on a home is a steady, and some times costy effort to keep up with. That brings me to this residential code I think all home sellers need to know.International Residential Code Council Ref {R102.7}- Provisions allowing the legal occupancy of a residential structure to continue without fully compling with current codes are grandfather-In.
The IRC provides such relief to home owners. To impose regulations to bring existing structures into current compliance would be impractical and unreasonable and penalized the owners. Since the structure was constructed in compliance with all applicable building standards at the time of construction.Of course, if due to lack of repair or improper repair and maintance,and the structure falls below generally acceptable threshold for sanitation,health,safety, and welfare, the IRC requires corrections in accordance with spefic codes.Additions,alterations or repairs cannot cause any portion of the existing structure to unsafe or affect performance by added excessive loads to exist on structural members,impededfire egress,overload the electrical service, or exceeds plumbing capacity DWV system.If any of the affected elements would need to be brought into compliance with current codes.
There is a appendix J clause such as water heater replacement,heating or air system or componets will have to be installed to todays IRC Code standards. As a code inspector we don't perform code inspections when performing home inspection. But when safety codes are missed and somethings tragic happens all eyes seem to look at you.
The Georgia state mininum for residential structres are outlined.
The Uniform Codes Act is codified at chapter 2 of title 8 of The Official Code of Georgia Annotated. O.C.G.A. Section 8-2-20(9)(B) identifies the ten "state minimum standard codes". Each of these separate codes typically consist of a base code (e.g. The International Building Code as published by the International Code Council) and a set of Georgia amendments to the base code. Georgia law further dictates that eight of these codes are "mandatory" (are applicable to all construction whether or not they are locally enforced.
1.) International Building Code 2.)One and Two Family Dwelling Code (International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings 3.)International Fire Code 4.)International Plumbing Code 5.)International Mechanical Code 6.)Fuel Gas Code 7.)National Electrical Code 8.) Energy Conservation Code
As noted above, the building, one and two family dwelling, fire, plumbing, mechanical, gas, electrical and energy codes are mandatory codes, meaning that under Georgia law, any structure built in Georgia must comply with these codes, whether or not the local government chooses to locally enforce these codes.
So remember if you are trying to sell in this market have a pre-listing inspection to see what needs to be brought up to codes.It will help sell faster as well.
Gas Furnaces There are a variety of ways to describe different types residential gas furnaces. Gas furnaces can be classified by:
the direction of the air flowing through the heating unit;
the heating efficiency of the unit; and
the type of ignition system installed on the unit.
Airflow in Gas Furnaces One way to identify and describe a gas furnace is by the direction of the air flowing through the heating unit, or the location of the warm-air outlet and the return-air inlet on the furnace. Gas furnaces can be described as upflow, downflow (counterflow), highboy, lowboy, and horizontal flow. Air can flow up through the furnace (upflow), down through the furnace (downflow), or across the furnace (horizontal). The arrangement of the furnace should not significantly affect its operation, or your inspection. BTU Gas furnaces can be classified by their different capacities. A furnace capacity can be described by BTU output. The BTU is determined by what is required by the heating unit for the structure, which is the amount of heat the unit needs to produce to replace heat loss and provide the occupants a good comfort level. AFUE Furnaces can be identified and described by heating efficiency. The energy efficiency of a natural gas furnace is measured by its annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). The higher the rating, the more efficient the furnace. The U.S. government has established a minimum rating for furnaces of 78%. Mid-efficiency furnaces have AFUE ratings from 78 to 82%. High-efficiency furnaces have AFUE ratings from 88 to 97%. Old, standing-pilot gas furnaces have AFUE ratings from 60 to 65%. Gravity warm-air furnaces might have efficiencies lower than 60%.
BTU and Efficiency BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. The BTU is a unit of energy. It is approximately the amount of energy needed to heat one pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit. Once cubic foot of natural gas contains about 1,000 BTUs. A gas furnace that fires at a rate of 100,000 BTUs per hour will burn about 100 cubic feet of gas every hour. On a gas furnace, there should be a data plate. On that plate there might be written the input and output capacities. For example, the data plate may say, "Input 100,000 BTU per hour." And it may also say, "Output 80,000 BTU per hour." While this furnace is running, about 20% of the heat generated is lost out through the exhaust gases. The ratio of the output to the input BTU is 80,000 ÷ 100,000 = 80% efficiency. This is the "steady state efficiency" of the furnace. Steady state efficiency measures how efficiently a furnace converts fuel to heat, once the furnace has warmed up and is running steadily. However, furnaces cycle on and off as they maintain their desired temperature. Furnaces typically do not operate as efficiently as they start up and cool down.
As a result, steady state efficiency is not as reliable an indicator of the overall efficiency of your furnace. AFUE and Efficiency The AFUE is the most widely used measure of a furnace's heating efficiency. It measures the amount of heat delivered to your house compared to the amount of fuel that must be supplied to the furnace. Thus, a furnace that has an 80% AFUE rating converts 80% of the fuel that is supplied to heat. The other 20% is lost and wasted. Note that the AFUE refers only to the unit's fuel efficiency, not its electricity usage. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) determined that all furnaces sold in the U.S. must have a minimum AFUE of 78%, beginning January 1, 1992. Mobile home furnaces are required to have a minimum AFUE of 75%.
These fires typically cause an alarming 500 deaths and 2,800 serious injuries.Over $1 billion in property and personal possessions are destroyed.An additional 890,000 electrical related fires in homes go unreported every year!.
Every year in North America 82,500 MAJOR electrical related fires are reported.
In 50% of fatal structure fires response time is 5 minutes or less.
It can take less than 3 minutes for a smoldering fire to reach flash over (900oF) and engulf an entire room! In 2006, heating equipment was involved in an estimated 64,100 reported home structure fires, 540 civilian deaths, 1,400 civilian injuries, and $943 million in direct property damage.
In 2006, most home heating fire deaths (73%) and, injuries (43%) and half (51%) of associated direct property damage involved stationary or portable space heaters.
Space heating poses a much higher risk of fire, death, injury, and loss per million users than central heating. Comparisons of risk among different types of space heaters or different types of central heating show no clear, consistent, significant differences.
My home inspection lasted about 1.5 hrs. The inspector was from one of the larger inspection companies. A friend used the company and apparently had a very competent inspector.
At the time I thought my inspector was good. In hindsight he missed a lot of things that in my opinion an inspection should discover. He had a bad back and could barely bend down so he only looked in places in plain sight. He barely peeked behind the knee walls upstairs. He didn't look under the front porch. He claimed he looked at the roof with binoculars before I got there...
I was clueless at the time and really depended on him to seek out anything that may be a long term issue. Every single system he looked at he wrote a disclaimer to have someone else inspect it. When the inspection was complete I needed a builder to look at the structure, an electrician to look at the electrical, an exterminator to look for any bug damage. The list went on and on.
His disclaimer would have required me to hire someone from pretty much every trade out there to look at the house. The whole inspection report was one big CYA for him and his company.
I hired accurate inspection of atlanta the next time to perform another inspection because I wasn't satisfied. He found things that were electrical code violation and one circuit had oversized wiring and had started melting the insulation. The chimney was pulling away from the structure. Luckly I hired him to perform this warranty inspection. If not I would have been out a lot of money.I think I will and never go with one of the big inspection firms.
When a heat pump is operating in the heating mode or heat cycle, the outdoor air is relatively cool and the outdoor coil acts as an evaporator.Under certain conditions of temperature and relative humidity, frost might form on the surface of the outdoor coil. The layer of frost will interfere with the operation of the heat pump by making the pump work harder and, therefore, inefficiently. The frost must be removed. A heat pump has a cycle called a defrost cycle, which removes the frost from the outdoor coil.
A heat pump unit will defrost regularly when frost conditions occur.The defrost cycle should be long enough to melt the ice, and short enough to be energy-efficient.
In the defrost cycle, the heat pump is automatically operated in reverse, for a moment, in the cooling cycle.This action temporarily warms up the outdoor coil and melts the frost from the coil. In this defrost cycle, the outdoor fan is prevented from turning on when the heat pump switches over,and the temperature rise of the outdoor coil is accelerated and increased.
The heat pump will operate in the defrost cycle until the outdoor coil temperature reaches around 57° F.The time it takes to melt and remove accumulated frost from an outdoor coil will vary, depending on the amount of frost and the internal timing device of the system.
Interior Heating Element
During this defrost cycle with older heat pumps, the indoor unit might be operating with the fan blowing cool air. To prevent cool air from being produced and distributed inside the house, an electric heating element can be installed and engaged at the same time as the defrost cycle. In defrost mode, this heating element will automatically turn on, or the interior blower fan will turn off. The heating component is wired up to the second stage of a two-stage thermostat.
The Typical Cycle
The components that make up the defrost cycle system includes a thermostat, timer and a relay. There is a special thermostat or sensor of the defrost cycle system, often referred to as the frost thermostat. It is located on the bottom of the outdoor coil where it can detect the temperature of the coil.
When the outdoor coil temperature drops to around 32° F, the thermostat closes the circuit and makes the system respond. This causes an internal timer to start. Many heat pumps have a generic timer that energizes the defrost relays at certain intervals of time. Some generic timers will energize the defrost cycle every 30, 60 and 90 minutes.
The defrost relays turn on the compressor, switch the reversing valve of the heat pump, turn on the interior electric heating element, and stop the fan at the outdoor coil from spinning. The unit is now in the defrost cycle.
The unit remains in the defrost cycle (or cooling cycle) until the thermostat on the bottom of the outdoor coil senses that the outdoor coil temperature has reached about 57° F. At that temperature, the outdoor coil should be free of frost. The frost thermostat opens the circuit, stops the timer, then the defrost cycle stops, the internal heater turns off, the valve reverses, and the unit returns to the heating cycle. A typical defrost cycle might run from 30 seconds to a few minutes. The defrost cycles should repeat regularly at timed intervals. An inspector should not observe a rapid cycling of the defrost operation. In summary, certain conditions can force a heat pump into a defrost cycle (or cooling cycle) where the fan in the outdoor coil is stopped, the indoor fan is stopped or electric heat is turned on, the frost melts and is removed from the outdoor coils. When the frost thermostat is satisfied or a certain pre-set time period elapses, the outdoor fan comes back on, and the heat pump goes back into the heating cycle.
All air conditioners and heat pumps are specifically designed to work with matched indoor units (furnace or air handler) for optimum efficiency and performance.While an outdoor cooling system may "work" with indoor units, including older systems, it will only operate at its peak potential when it's paired with the right sized system for your home.
Bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to heating and cooling systems. A system that is too large for your home will frequently cycle on and off, which wastes energy. Plus, it won't run long enough to remove humidity from the air, which can impact the comfort and health of your home. A system that is too small can't do its job of making you comfortable. In this case, it will run continuously to keep up with the thermostat setting, costing you more on your utility bills and potentially shortening the system's life.
The only reliable way to determine the size that best matches the needs of your home is to have a load calculation, which takes into account the square footage of your house, the insulation value of your windows, the amount of insulation in your walls and roof and many other factors.A load calculation is required to ensure proper sizing of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment.
The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) calculation is required by Georgia's energy code. Common rules-of-thumb, such as 1 ton of air conditioning per 600 square feet, are not acceptable because there are many factors, other than the size of the home, that affect the size of heating and air conditioning equipment required.
A correctly sized cooling unit is critical for providing proper dehumidification, comfort,and efficiency.accounts for details such as orientation, window-to-wall area ratio, window type, insulation levels, air infiltration, duct losses and internal heat sources. All are significant factors that affect the load of a home.
A duct design is required to ensure proper sizing of the duct system. The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) recommends.determining the size of the duct system. A duct sizing calculation takes the size of the HVAC equipment, the corresponding air handler, the air requirements for the rooms and the type of ducts being installed (hard pipe or flex duct) into account. The common rules-of-thumb for duct sizing such as an assumed friction rate of .1 per 100 feet of ductwork are not acceptable. The air handler, required air flow and duct length and fittings used all contribute to the friction rate and static pressure of a particular system.
To repair or replace, that is the question that likely comes to mind whenever your heating or cooling system stops working like it should. Although repairing may be the most affordable solution now, it might not be the best choice over the long run.When the cost of repairs approaches 50% of the value of your heating or cooling system, it's generally time to replace the system.Even if needed repair costs aren't quite as daunting as 50%, you might want to replace your system if it's more than 12 years old or you've had a history of problems with it.
The BTU from the furnance entering the flue ARE less on a on a induced draft when compared to a gravity draft.A foraced draft even less but this type of furnace would have a plastic vent. Usually two sources of water can cause the corrosion, condensation or rain water. (sometimes Plumbing leaks).
Some condensation is normal at startup. A flue is checked with a micro-manometer after it is at a operating tempature (aprox 10 min.) At this point it should draw. If there is not a draw than there is a venting issue. It can have various reasons: Indueced draft into a masonary (usually exterior) chiminey (this is called a cold cap in some areas) , inducer fan isssues (craks or leaks), flue and/or connecter issues (bird nest, T-connector vs Y a water heater). Bottom Line- testing is beyond the visual home, But visible installation issue are within the scope of a HI , such as a induced drat into a masonary flue (wrong at some geographacial areas) , connecter issues and some inducer fan issues, these should be reported.
TEMPERATURE : When it's cold outside, your mission is to prevent as little heat as possible from leaving your home, because anytime it leaves, you have to pay to replace it. The price you pay is reflected in your monthly heating bill.There are two physical laws which affect how well your home hangs onto its heat.
Temperature Gradient- Heat moves from warm areas to cold areas. Pressure Gradient- Warm air moves from high pressure to low pressure.
HOW HEAT LEAVES YOUR HOME- Thermal Bridging The living space is warm and it's cold outside. Materials that conduct heat will try to radiate warmth from inside the home to the outside, just like... a radiator! Solid materials like concrete and wood are better radiators than materials like insulation, which is filled with tiny air pockets.Solid materials offer better thermal bridging, allowing heat to move more easily from the warm inside to the cold outside, except in this case, better is worse. Building methods which minimize thermal bridging help save on heating costs.
You Change the Air Pressure When you turn on a fan in a bathroom, above a stove or in a laundry room, you are pushing warm air out of the home through the fan vent. Whenever anything in your home burns fuel such as wood, propane or natural gas, combustion takes place. Since the products of combustion are poisonous gasses (and moisture), those gasses are vented to the outside, along with warm air from the home.Low air pressure is created in a home when air is removed either by using a fan or by creating a strong draft using the combustion process. Since the air pressure is lower in the warm house, air will come in to replace it... cold air. Nature Changes the Air Pressure-Blowing wind will create areas of high and low pressure around your home, pushing and sucking the warm air out and replacing it with... cold air.
Stack Effect-As cold air enters the home and is heated, the warm air rises and leaves the home through vents in bathrooms and laundry rooms and through cracks and airspaces in and around ceilings.This rising heat loss is called stack effect. As warm air leaves the home through stack effect, it's replaced by cold air.
Are you serious about how to go about cutting your heating and cooling costs?
Follow these steps:
Where appropriate, improve the insulation and air sealing in your home.
Use this guide to help you decide what kinds of changes to your heating and cooling systems will be right for you.
Consult with a registered heating/cooling contractor and your fuel supplier before making a final decision.
Heating Units and Controls There are four common types of heating units:
A furnace provides heat through a forced air distribution system.
A boiler provides heat through a hydronic distribution system. (Hydronic systems are also referred to as hot water systems.)
A space heater supplies heat directly to the room where it is located.
A heat pump extracts heat from the air, ground or water outside the house and usually delivers it through a forced air distribution system.
Most heating systems need air for combustion. Furnaces, boilers and space heaters that burn fuels need a supply of air to be able to burn properly, and a vent to the outdoors so that combustion gases can escape from the house. Electric heaters do not need to be vented. Combustion is a two-step process: air in, and gases out.
Curtis Petty
The building Inspector Code Enforcement Professional Certification Program adopted by the Association provides a means of gaining recognition of the competency levels acceptable for inspection responsibilities and improved professional standing in the community.
SBCCI (Southern Building Code Congress International)
CAB0/ICC (Council of American Building Officials/International Code Council)
As a Inspector I see where poor maintance from keeping gutters clean or installing gutters guards could have saved the deterioration damage caused. Water is your worst enemy to a home.
As a Bellingham WA home inspector, I see this one a lot. I see both sides of the coin: Sellers who have done no maintenance on the home they are selling, to those who have gone all out in their efforts.
In the Pacific Northwest we have many trees growing around our homes. Many of those trees shed their leaves about this time of year. When that occurs, the leaves end up in the gutters more often than not.
When leaves block a gutter, obviously, not much drainage takes place. This is one, usually quite simple, maintenance problem that the seller could have resolved prior to the home inspection. Now, if the seller cannot get up on a ladder, there are affordable avenues available to get this problem resolved. Put simply: Hire someone.
Accurate Home inspections of Atlanta
can provide you with a level of accountability, professionalism by a qualified building codes inspector knowledgeable of the home building industry. Inspection area 50 mile radius of Atlanta.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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