There is an exciting new program from the gas company that will allow you to get a $1000 rebate and when combined with federal tax credits of $1500, earns a total of $2500 off the cost of a new heating and cooling system. This is almost half the cost of the entire system and when combined with the $1000 rebate now available from Trane, makes this the most lucrative time of the year to replace your old worn out furnace and air conditioner. This new program is called “Dump the Pump” .

The new program from the AGL, the local gas provider, gives you the chance to replace your old heat pump or dual fuel system with a new high efficiency gas furnace and air conditioner and get $1000 no strings attached. Many of these old heat pump dual fuel systems were installed in past years as a result of kickbacks paid to heating and air contractors or builders by the local electrical companies. Many of these systems were not installed or applied correctly and they have not given good service or comfort. The local gas company for most of metro Atlanta is AGL and they serve everyone except the city of Sugar Hill and city of Austell. If you have a marketer, such a Scana or Walton Gas you purchase your gas through AGL and can earn the rebate. This rebate is available only through a select few approved contractors chosen by AGL to perform these dual fuel replacements. While a heat pump can be a good choice for a basement, many times they do not work as well as a gas furnace as the primary heating system in existing older homes or homes without extensive insulation in the walls and attics. This $1000 rebate is a great opportunity to get rid of an old heat pump that never should have been installed in the first place.

Trane now has some very lucrative rebates and finance offers available through the end of November 2010 that will help reduce the cost of a replacement system even more. There are instant rebates of $200, $400 and even $1000 on 16, 17 and 20 seer systems. Or if you prefer, Trane will give you three year interest free financing to pay for a new comfort system as you enjoy the energy savings and comfort afforded you by modern day Energy Star systems. The 3 year program requires no down payment, so one can immediately start enjoying the comfort and savings aspect of this program without any initial outlay of resources. Many people have contacted us this past summer about high energy bills and air conditioners that cannot keep up with the extreme heat wave we have seen this year. This past winter, we also saw colder temperatures than I can remember and the cold snap went on and on for months. These new tax credit qualifying systems also save hundreds of dollars in gas cost and can improve the comfort level of any home.

Dump your Pump today and enjoy up to $3500 in true rebate and incentives that will help you long term to enjoy your most valued belonging, your home. Enjoy lower utility cost, improved comfort, and lower humidity levels today!

After a ten year phase out, Freon is now dead and gone forever and this change will have an impact on most every home and business in the country. Back in the early 1990’s, law was enacted that called for the phase out of CFC’s, halons, and HCFC,s due to the fact they destroy the ozone layer and are responsible for creating an ozone hole over the South Pole. Freon is an HCFC and whether you believe in the ozone issue or not, everyone who currently has an old air conditioner that runs on Freon will be affected by the phase out since the law mandated that no new Freon based a/c units can be built after January 1, 2010 and after January 1, 2015, there is a ban on the sale and use of Freon in residential use. As the production of new Freon is limited, the price of this gas is going up to the point to where if you have an old leaky a/c system that uses Freon R-22, it will be a better idea to replace your a/c system instead of spending hundreds of dollars fixing leaks and recharging the system with Freon. Freon is going to be expensive this summer and to keep adding more to a leaky system is not a good use of your money. The state of the economy has the price of new systems lower than ever before and warranties have been escalated to 10 years parts and labor making this the best of times to cut ties with your Freon based a/c system.

New units now use R410a refrigerant which is far better than Freon in removing heat and moisture and is the only refrigerant available for home use. New units can cut your electric bill by 50 percent while giving you comfort you have never known. There are tax credits available of $1500 from the federal government which will pay the cost of upgrading to the very best furnace and a/c system. You will get a variable speed furnace with a built in dehumidifier and a 16 seer a/c system that will keep your home cool and dry in the summer and an even temperature in the winter. There are also factory rebates of $1000 or 36 months same as cash to help with the cost of upgrading your comfort system.

Every year people who know they have to replace their cooling systems get estimates over the winter when business is slow and they get the best prices of the year. But instead of going ahead and getting the work done early before the warm weather arrives, they procrastinate until it get hot and contractors are already busy, then they call and try to get off season deals. The heating and cooling business is all about supply and demand. In the warm months, there is an abundance of jobs and customers waiting to have work performed and no contractor can give you a special deal because the time to do your work could be sold at full price to the next person waiting in line. Do not wait until spring to try and repair or replace your a/c if you already know you need service. Get it done early if you want the best price and experience no waiting in a hot house.

There is a new furnace on the market that provides unparallel comfort and efficiency and includes features that will be the standard for all furnaces in the future. The furnace is a modulating variable speed furnace that has an efficiency rating of 95% that means that 95 cents of a dollar worth of gas is converted into heat and 5 cents is wasted up the chimney.

The modulating feature is the part of the furnace that makes this furnace unique and is the feature that will someday be included in all furnaces, not just top of the line models. Furnaces today are single stage, two stage or three stage. A single stage furnace is either on or off and anytime the furnace is on, it puts out the maximum amount of heat possible. This design works ok for very cold climates. But in climates like Atlanta, where the temperatures can vary drastically from moderate to extreme cold, it is not the best choice. The early answer for this comfort problem was a furnace with a two stage gas valve that can put out a little heat on a moderate day and then ramp up to put out more heat on a very cold day. This design is much more comfortable and even as it can keep the temperature band of plus or minus one degree. This two-stage furnace was first introduced with a two-speed blower motor that had a low and high-speed setting and then later brought out with a variable speed blower with infinite fan settings that really improved the comfort level.

The three-stage furnace was an attempt to improve comfort even more by having three distinct heat levels combined with a variable speed motor to give many more potential settings. These furnaces have efficiency ratings of 95% and were more comfortable than two stage models as they were able to adjust their heat output more accurately to the need than a furnace with only two stages.

The new modulating furnace has a gas valve that has infinite numbers of settings that allows the heat output to be precisely matched to the need in your home at any given time. As the temperature in your home starts to reach the preset setting, the gas valve starts to throttle back and the furnace slows down to just achieve the temperature settings and not overshoot it. It then puts out just enough heat to maintain the desired temperature plus or minus one degree. This type of operation will provide a type of comfort never before experienced before with a quiet, warm feeling that you will love. It also will save gas dollars and electrical costs. The blower motor or fan uses D/C current to allow it to be variable speed and this motor only consumes $30 a year in electric. The furnace also has the ability to commicate with the other components in the system and sends reports back to the installing dealer as to its performance and proper operation. This feature is the start of the wave of the future in home appliances to be part of home automation systems and to be interactive with the owner and the servicing dealer. The furnace also has an integrated dehumidification feature that will help remove extra moisture in the summer.

The new modulating furnace is a great option to look at if you are in need of a new furnace and it also qualifies for a tax credit of 30% of the installed cost from the federal government.

One of the most important aspects of having a new comfort system installed in your home is who is going to install it and maintain it. For many years, potential customers would perform their due diligence by asking for a number of references from former customers and of course, contractors would give a
list of their customers who were the most pleased. Somehow unhappy former customers would never be included in this reference list. Due to the advent of certain Internet sites, these days are over. Customers never ask for references anymore, instead they turn to websites that list former customer
reviews that are posted on these sites and give all the details of their experiences with contracting firms, both positive and negative. The most popular site people turn to is Kudzu.com and it lists reviews all types of companies.

Kudzu.com has been online for 4 or 5 years and it is an amazing tool to be used in selecting a service business. Kudzu.com is anonymous, so many people open up and write reviews they might not if their identity was disclosed. They are brutal if a company does not perform up to snuff, and many times will write very negative reviews over small missteps. They are also quick to
sing the praise of a company that goes above and beyond the normal level of expectations that they had. What also is very useful and fascinating is the fact the business owner or manager has the ability to answer every review listed about their company. One of the most telling parts of this website is how they respond, if they respond and what their response is to negative comments. We at Reliable Heating & Air use every comment about our company
as a learning/training experience. We go over every detail with the employee or crew and see what caused a negative review and how we could avoid a similar reoccurrence. We then answer each and every review and if a customer is not 100% pleased, we try and rectify the problem. I strive for 100% customer satisfaction and will not stop until we achieve that goal. We will redo the service or refund a customers money if that is what it takes to make sure every one of our customers is pleased.
The best outcome of having a website like Kudzu.com is it has raised the bar of the industry by keeping companies on their toes and forcing them to perform their best work. Before the Internet, companies could sweep unhappy customers under the rug and go on. Now the whole world can read each and every detail about each unhappy experience. I personally know some HVAC
company owners who have changed the way they do business to keep their Kudzu clean and they have had employees change the way they treat their clients.
There are also some big heating and air/plumbing companies who just can’t get it when it comes to the level of service needed to have a good Kudzu rating. Several companies refuse to even answer their reviews because they get so many negatives ones. Some blamed their negative reviews on other companies writing fake reviews about their companies instead of taking a long hard look at their own level of customer service. It is an attitude that will catch up with them soon or later.

The next time you need a service business, a new restaurant, a doctor or a lawyer I suggest you turn to Kudzu.com to look at reviews from other people who have used these business’s to see how they stack up.
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There are many different ways to find and screen good contractors to perform work at your home. Some people prefer word of mouth and personal referrals. A number of people turn to Internet services such as Kudzu.com or Angie’s List. Others use the yellow pages or other advertising services when compiling a short list of companies to interview.

Whatever method you use, when selecting a heating and air conditioning contractor, one of the most important questions one should ask is whether sub contractors or employees perform the actual work. One would never want to use a company that uses subcontractors, as they are paid a set amount to perform a certain task and they have no vested interest in the outcome or quality of the job. They simply do the work as fast as possible so they can move on to the next job. They gain nothing by taking their time and making sure all the little extras are done properly. In the past, most heating and air companies that specialize in new construction residential installation work would use subcontractors so they could control the labor costs when building new homes. On the other hand, most heating and air companies that service and replace systems in existing homes all employed technicians that work by the hour and work only for that particular company.

Now, there is a new method of paying employees who replace and install heating and cooling systems that is designed to fool the homeowner into thinking they are not getting a subcontractor, but in reality they are. The method of payment is called “piece rate” and it is the most dangerous method of payment arrangement a homeowner could contract for. Under this method, a technician or installer is paid a certain amount of money to install each component or “piece” of equipment regardless of complexity or difficulty. The technician’s goal would to be installing a new system as quickly as possible so as to expend the least amount of time possible allowing them to move on to the next job. This method was developed by the managers of a certain large heating and cooling company as a method to control their costs and insulate the company of the ups and downs of the individual jobs. When a customer asks this company if they use subcontractors, they are told no without any mention of this other payment method. It is a dishonest way of tricking a customer into thinking they are contracting with a company that pays a technician for all the time spent at their home when in reality they are just getting a subcontractor who will not care about the finished product, only the time spent installing it.

One needs to ask their heating and cooling company they are considering hiring if the people installing or servicing their heating and cooling equipment are hourly workers paid prevailing hourly wages to work at their home and are not paid any type of “piece rate” or performance incentitive to perform this type of work. This same type of query would be appropriate for other types of companies one might be contemplating hiring. You will much happier with a contractor who does not employ this type of payment method. If you are unsure of how a company pays it employees, give me a call and I will be glad to give you what information I have from interviewing people who have worked for these “Piece Rate” companies.

The floods that struck Atlanta brought many tragic results included the destruction of life and home for many and my heart goes out to all those affected. Sometimes one is at a loss to understand why such occurrences happen and how they become so terrible out of something so necessary such as rain. The floodwater also can have long reaching affects on our lives and safety unless properly cleaned up and treated.

Many basements and crawl spaces were flooded with water that was laden with bacteria and byproducts of sewer due to the overflowing of the drain water systems and septic tanks. This water made its way into walls, carpets, floors, and most importantly, furnaces and water heaters. The modern day furnace is lined with insulation panels that absorbed all this very dangerous and polluted water and it cannot be removed the fibrous material. These panels have to be replaced as do all the controls devices, limits, fan motors and gas valves. The furnaces have to be removed and completely taken apart and scrubbed and disinfected and by the time all the damaged parts are replaced, one would come out much better by replacing the entire furnace. The cooling coils are also insulated with fiberglass panels that soaked up this dirty infected water and should also be replaced to ensure safe indoor air quality.

Water heaters that have been under water are extremely dangerous, as they often will relight after drying out, and people assume sine they fire up and heat water, they are safe. This could not be farther from the truth, as the water and sediment that seeped in gas valves, burners and safeties can cause trouble in the days that follow the flood. One should never attempt to light a flooded water heater without a complete replacement of the controls and burners or replacement of the entire heater. These appliances are far too cheap and the consequences of a malfunction are too severe to chance using a damaged and flooded heater.

Outdoor air conditioner condensers are designed to sit outside in the rain and they faired much better in the floods than furnaces. If an outdoor unit flooded and the controls did not get immersed under water, there is a good chance the unit can be cleaned out and put back in service. If the control box and the electronics got wet, they will need to be replaced. The coils should be acid washed and thoroughly cleaned before the unit is operated.

The two mail concerns with flooded systems are safety from gas valves and controls that were damaged and dangerous indoor air quality from fecal matter and sewer water that was mixed in with the rain water. The last area of concern was ductwork and insulation that got soaked in the flood. All duct work that got saturated needs to be replaced regardless whether it’s metal or flexible. The insulation on ductwork will never dry out to properly insulate the ductwork after it has been under water, and the ducting itself can’t be properly cleaned to make sure it is clean and disinfected to not spread airborne pollutants.

The floods hurt many people and cost untold millions in damage to homes and property. Make sure you properly repair and replace your homes heating and cooling systems along with your water heating appliances to make sure you are safe and secure and all systems work as designed.

There has been some exciting news in the world of tax credits and heating and air. When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed into law, it included a provision allowing a tax credit for a furnace that has a high efficiency blower motor regardless of the thermal efficiency of the gas burner section. Up until recently, the IRS was not recognizing this section of the law and was giving credit only for furnaces that were 95% efficient or greater and this limited many people’s choices, as this model was not always the best choice for everyone. They had not included this important “main air circulating fan” portion of the law failing to realize that in some parts of the country, the largest energy savings can be derived from electric savings from these special fans in 80% efficient furnaces. Now due to a recent ruling by the IRS, two more types of furnaces are now eligible to earn tax credits for the years 2009 & 2010. These are 80% efficient variable speed furnaces with two stage gas valves and 80% efficient single stage furnaces with super high efficient blowers. Both of this types of furnaces can now earn a credit by themselves and not just as a piece of a qualify system. This a great ruling coming just before the winter season when many people will be looking to replace their furnace and cannot afford to install a 95% model or can’t install one due to the type of home they own. Both of these furnaces will save hundreds of dollars a year for people and will provide much lower gas bills over an old 50% to 60% furnace.

On another note:
As we move closer to the beginning of the cooler weather, I want to alert homeowners to a safety problem that has become of epidemic proportions in the last year. Many thousands of homes have had to have their roofs replaced due to hailstorms that hit the metro area in the last couple of years and as we have been going in peoples attics to work on their heating and cooling systems we have noticed some alarming and dangerous problems that need to be brought to peoples attention before heating season arrives and they start using their furnaces. Roofing companies are inadvertently causing problems when replacing roofs by dislodging furnace flues completely and by pushing flues up against the wood decking of homes they are roofing. Most roofers do not come into the inside of the attic to check the furnace flues or chimneys when replacing roofs. We have found numerous flues knocked completely off and many more touching wood decking, which is very dangerous and a code violation. Double wall furnace flues must have 1” clearance from wood and the roofers are accidentally sliding the pipe into the wood and attaching the roof flashing in the wrong place. You can check for this problem by going into the attic with a flashlight and look for the round silver pipe coming from the either the attic furnace or up through the roof of the second floor and make sure it is not touching the decking or has been knocked completely off the furnace. If you have had your roof replaced recently and you are unsure if there is a problem, call your heating and air company to perform an inspection of your furnace flue, as there could be a situation that needs attention before heating season arrives.

As I stare at the keyboard trying to write this months article that so many people tell me they enjoy and read every issue, I am overwhelmed with a personal loss and tragedy that is causing a “writers block”. So I decided to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, customers, competitors and even strangers who have showed an outpouring of love to my family and business over the loss of my daughter, Elizabeth Ann. She passed away June 21, 2009, fathers day night. Elizabeth was very well known at Reliable as she was one of our customer service reps and spoke to many of you everyday, booking service appointments and dealing with the everyday issues that come up in this sometimes-hectic business. She is missed and our lives will never be the same without her. Hundreds of people came to the funeral home to comfort us at our time of loss and the crowd at the church was a standing room only affair as hundreds more showed up to pay their respects to Elizabeth, who would have been 21 this August. This is really the topic I want to discuss here this month. The multitude of people who showed the courage and strength to show up in person and look us in the eye and hug our necks have no idea how much they helped myself, her mother, and my son in this horrible time of loss. There were times in the past when I should have gone to show my support and love when such loss occurs in someone’s life, but I did not go fearing what to say and what to do that could help ease the pain. Now that I have been on the other side of that receiving line of mourners, I can tell you it does not matter what you say or do, but rather that you just hug and comfort someone in their time of loss and show that you care and love. I know everyone does not know what to say and that is ok. Just a simple “sorry for your loss” is all that needs to be said. A hug and a look one in the eye is also so comforting, you would not believe. A number of people had personal stories of their own loss and how they overcame it that was very comforting. The afternoon of the first viewing of my precious baby girl, I had dreaded the time I thought would be a huge painful experience, but instead this time and the next day’s viewing became a few very short hours of that first week when by heart and soul did not ache beyond belief and that was only because of all of the brave and loving people who came and shared their stories of love and of how my daughter had touched their lives. You never know how one impacts the lives of others until something like this happens. I had a people call me after the funeral and tell me they did not come to the viewing or funeral because they were “not good with funerals and they do not know what to say” at these times of loss. If at all possible, put this discomfort aside and just come and hug and show support. If you only knew how much that helped one hurting so, I think you would come. Thank you all once again for all the flowers, cards, food, support and love you have all showered on us. Dan Jape