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Your Heat Pump Needs Maintenance Twice a Year

May 9th, 2022

Recently we posted our seasonal reminder about air conditioning maintenance. This is an essential service if you want to get the most efficient, effective, and reliable performance from your home’s AC over the summer. Maintenance is a great investment that pays you back in many ways, and it’s probably the most important service you can have scheduled for it.

But what if you have a heat pump? Are its maintenance requirements different from an air conditioner? Yes, they are—and we’re glad you asked. You need to schedule maintenance for your heat pump this spring to help it help you through the summer. But you also need to schedule another maintenance appointment for it in the fall.

Does My AC’s Air Filter Help With Indoor Air Quality?

April 25th, 2022

First, we’re glad to hear that you know about the air filter for your air conditioning system. If your AC is in the same cabinet as your furnace (and this is the most common type of HVAC setup), then the same filter works for both units. It’s important to know about this filter, since you must change it routinely to help your HVAC system work at the optimal condition and avoid several serious problems, which can include the system overheating and the evaporator coil freezing over.

But if you think that the AC filter is there to help improve the air quality of your home, we’re glad you stopped by to read this. Although the filter has some effect on air quality, it’s usually harming the indoor air quality because the filter is too congested. The filter otherwise doesn’t noticeably improve air quality.

Enjoy the Coming Summer by Having Your AC Professionally Tuned-Up

April 11th, 2022

Do you want to head into the coming summer—guaranteed to be another hot and humid one—with an air conditioner that’s worn down, dirty, energy-wasting, and possibly in danger of failing when the temperature is at its highest? Of course you don’t. But that’s what you’ll have if you don’t arrange for a spring tune-up and inspection with HVAC professionals.

This annual AC maintenance is one of the most important services you can schedule for your cooling equipment. It pays off in numerous ways. We should know: we’ve handled many AC tune-ups over the more than 20 years we’ve been in business. We’ve seen how much they benefit homes, and we don’t want your home to miss out on these benefits. We’ll go over several of the reasons you want an AC tune-up each spring.

Better Insulation: Great for Winter AND Summer

March 28th, 2022

When people think of insulation, their minds often move to how insulation improves warmth. For example, a coat with good insulation is a coat that helps its wearer stay warm. Likewise, the insulation in a home, such as in the attic and between the walls, helps the house stay warm during cold weather.

However, insulation works two ways: it’s also a method to keep a house cooler during the heat. Insulation is an important part of how a house stays energy efficient throughout the year. If your house has poor insulation or its insulation is aging and turning ineffective, you’ll end up with a house that’s more uncomfortable in winter and summer, along with energy bills that are far steeper as your HVAC system works overtime trying to combat the extra heat and cold.

What Makes a Heat Pump Different From an AC

March 14th, 2022

You may already know the big answer to this question: a heat pump operates like an air conditioner, except it can change the direction it moves heat so it can work as a heating system as well. This makes a heat pump an excellent two-in-one option for homeowners looking to change out their standard furnace/air conditioner combo.

But we plan to go deeper into the heat pump differences in this post. We’ll examine three parts in a heat pump that help it work as both a heating and cooling system. In most ways, a heat pump resembles an air conditioner, with two sets of refrigerant coils, a compressor, an expansion valve, an indoor blower fan, and an outdoor exhaust fan. The following three components are only in heat pumps and are critical for allowing them to work the way they do.

The Importance of Proper Ventilation for Your Commercial Building

February 28th, 2022

At Gowland’s, we work on more than residential heating and cooling. We’re also pros when it comes to commercial HVAC in Kenner, LA and throughout the New Orleans area. We can help local businesses achieve the right balance of indoor climate through heating and cooling system installations.

You already know the importance of proper climate control for a building—the wrong temperatures not only affect employees, customers, clients, tenants, etc. but can also ruin equipment and make it impossible to achieve daily tasks. But business owners often overlook the ventilation system of their building—the “V” in “HVAC”—when it comes to HVAC service. We’ll explain why it’s critical to have professionals help with your ductwork and building ventilation.

Can a Heat Pump Handle Our Summers and Winters?

February 14th, 2022

Heat pumps offer several major benefits as home comfort systems, but the biggest one is that heat pumps operate as both air conditioners and heaters. They aren’t two systems packaged into one: they use the same set of components to deliver heating or cooling to a house.

The easiest way to think of how a heat pump works is to visualize a standard central air conditioner. An AC circulates refrigerant between two sets of coils, indoors and outdoors. The indoor coil removes heat from the air, cooling it, and then the outdoor coil releases the heat. A heat pump works the same way—it’s a refrigerant-based system and from the outside looks identical to a central AC—except it can reverse the flow of refrigerant, and this causes the two coils to swap roles. Now the exterior coil absorbs heat and the indoor coil releases it. Presto! An AC becomes a heater.

But here’s the big question: is this system enough to handle our weather? Is a heat pump installation in Kenner, LA a viable choice for you?

Could the Thermostat Be the Problem With Your Heater?

January 17th, 2022

When you start to experience discomfort in the winter in your house even though your heating system is running, it’s easy to imagine the heater itself is at fault. Heating system malfunctions can cause a heater to turn off early, produce lower levels of heat, go through rapid cycling, or other problems.

But sometimes the problem lies outside of the heater and in another part of the HVAC system: the thermostat. You might not have thought of the thermostat as a part of the HVAC system, but it definitely is—it’s where you get to interact with your home’s heating, cooling, and ventilation, and in the cases of programmable and smart thermostats, it serves as a central brain controlling when to heat and cool the house.

Below we’ll list some of the ways a thermostat could end up making heating trouble in your home. In most of these situations, you can call our team for the repair necessary to fix the thermostat. In some cases, we may need to replace the thermostat.

How Strong an Air Filter Does My Home Need?

January 3rd, 2022

If you’re asking this question, it’s because you want cleaner and healthier air inside your home, and you know you have powerful options available. Although your HVAC system comes with an air filter, it isn’t designed to clean the air but protect the interior of the HVAC cabinet components. An actual air filtration system that provides cleaner air requires experts to integrate the filters into the ductwork.

Filters come in different strengths, depending on how strong the weave is. The stronger the weave, the smaller the particles the filter can trap. And therein lies the tricky part: a filter can be so strong that it not only traps particles, it ends up blocking airflow. If you put in too powerful a set of filters, your HVAC system won’t be much good to you. In fact, the thick filter will lead to damaging it.

You won’t need to worry, however, when you have our experts to assist you. We know how to find the right indoor air quality solutions for homes.

Is a Tankless Water Heater a Good Idea for My Home?

December 20th, 2021

We think tankless water heaters are a great idea in general. That doesn’t mean they’re right for every home, and we’re glad you’re asking yourself this question first rather than running out to have one installed. When replacing a powerful appliance that’s important for the daily well-being of your family, you don’t want to rush.

The best way to know if getting a tankless water heater in Slidell, LA is the right choice is to work with our professionals. We’ll always give you the honest answers you need, followed by superb service.

Although we can’t give you a specific answer about whether a tankless water heater is ideal for your house in this post, we can give an outline of why many homes love their tankless water heaters.