Archive for the ‘Boiler’ Category
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Most heating and air conditioning companies in the Chicagoland area close up shop between 5 and 8pm. Unfortunately, this leaves many of their customers out in the cold when the heat stops working during non-business hours, and instead of having a real person to talk to, the customer has to vent their problems to an answering machine. The icy cold winter temperatures in the Chicagoland area do not close up shop, and furnaces and boilers don’t punch out on a time clock. These systems often breakdown at the coldest and most inconvenient times, and many homeowners simply accept the fact that they are going to have to go without heat until their HVAC company is open once again.
We Understand Your Needs
At Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning, we truly understand the needs of Chicagoans. We know that there are many of you out there that simply cannot allow your home to go without heat for more than a couple hours due to a variety of reasons. Maybe you have someone elderly or an infant living in the home. Maybe you have a medical condition that can be adversely affected by low temperatures. Maybe you are having friends and family over for a get together. Maybe you fear that your pipes may freeze, or maybe you just don’t want to start off the next morning in a freezing cold house. Whatever your reason, Four Seasons is always there for you with 24 hour live customer service representatives that can schedule an emergency service call for your home no matter what time or day it may be. (more…)
Tags: 24 Hour emergency service, around the clock service, boiler repair, Chicago, cold, Four Seasons, furnace repair, Heating, holidays, IL, open 24 hours a day, peace of mind, Skokie, Tinley Park, weekends, winter
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Furnace Repair, Heating, Safety, customer service | Comments Off
Monday, October 24th, 2011
Now that the cold has returned, the call center at Four Seasons has been flooded with customers scrambling to get their maintenance check performed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they are not the only people wanting a technician out to their home. The emergency furnace repair calls have also begun, and as more and more people turn on their system, there will be more and more of a wait to have your cleaning performed. Having no heat in your home in Chicago is an emergency especially for the elderly and those with children. These calls must be our priority, and unfortunately, those that need their cleaning done may have to wait a few days.
Clean and Check or Emergency Service?
If you are looking to have a cleaning performed, your furnace should be working. This service is simply meant to keep the unit in its functional condition all winter long and to help the unit run more efficiently during that time as well. Although cleaning off certain parts may solve some problems you may have with the unit, a cleaning is not meant to be a repair. If the furnace doesn’t turn on when you start it up for the season, you fall under the title of “emergency service.” Don’t sit around in the cold waiting for a cleaning with a broken furnace! What you really need is a repair technician at your home today! We feel terrible when we arrive at a customer’s home for a cleaning only to find that they have gone a week without heat waiting for the maintenance check that won’t necessarily solve their problem. (more…)
Tags: 24 hour service, Berwyn, Boiler, Chicago, cleaning, emergency service, fall, Four Seasons, Furnace, furnace repair, Heating, Hinsdale, IL, maintenance, service, winter
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Furnace Repair, Heating, Tips and Suggestions, maintenance | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Many of us have already fired up the boiler for at least a few days when the weather first began to change, but despite this warm spell we are experiencing, everyone is going to have to accept sooner or later that summer is over. With the end of summer comes a time to get the heating system out of hibernation and ready for a long winter ahead. For those that own boilers, the long hibernation of the system may present greater problems than forced air heating systems. This is because boilers rely on water to heat the home, and when it water sits for extended periods of time, problems arise and the heat may not work as expected.
Air Pockets and Bleeding Your Boiler
We have had many homeowners calling in saying that their boiler is only heating a couple rooms in the home and that there are areas where the radiators or baseboards just won’t heat up. The most likely cause of their problem is air pockets within the system. When the boiler sits unused for a long period of time, like over the summer, air can get into the water lines and prevent the distribution pump from delivering hot water to those radiators. Luckily, Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning always has a solution. If you are having this problem, mention it to your Four Seasons serviceman while he is out for your yearly cleaning. While at your home, he will be able to bleed each of the radiators and remove any air from the system. This will allow for efficient operation all winter long with maximum warmth all over the home.
Tags: air, air pockets, bleeding, Boiler, Chicago, Chicago Ridge, cleaning, efficiency, Four Seasons, Heating, hibernation, Hometown, IL, maintenance, Oak Lawn, repair, warmth, water heating
Posted in Boiler, Heating, Tips and Suggestions, maintenance | Comments Off
Monday, October 10th, 2011
Do you feel like you are at the mercy of your energy company every winter? Do you have to sacrifice comfort in order to save a few bucks every month when those utility bills arrive? Do you want to change all that this winter? Odds are the answer is a resounding “YES!” Well there is a way to do so, and Four Seasons can help. Many advice sites will tell you to set back the thermostat a few degrees to save a few dollars and yes this will help, but if you make changes to other areas of your home, you can keep the furnace at the temperature you find most comfortable and not have to worry about the cost. Making other green home improvements outside of the HVAC system is one of the specialties of our Home Services department, and they have a number of ways to help you offset your heating costs this winter.
Small Changes to Help Offset Heating Costs:
- Attic Insulation: Attic insulation will help you keep more of the heat that your furnace creates inside the home and will prevent the chilly air in the attic from cooling down your upper floors.
- Window Sealing: Window sealing will keep out pesky drafts that send you running to the thermostat to raise the temperature in the home. (more…)
Tags: attic insulation, Chicago, electricity, Elmhurst, energy cost, Four Seasons, Heating, IL, low flow faucet, McHenry, Melrose Park, Savings, temperature, thermostat, utility bills, window sealing
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Heating, Home Services, Savings, Tips and Suggestions, attic insulation | Comments Off
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
When it comes to winter weather, Chicago has seen some of the worst, and so far, it looks like this winter won’t be much different. It is being predicted that Chicago will have the worst winter in the nation this year, and this could be manifested as dangerously low temperatures and record breaking snow falls. As if the blizzard last year wasn’t enough, Chicagoans now need to get their homes ready for another brutal winter season, and Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning has the services you need to make sure that your family is warm inside no matter the conditions outside.
Preventative Maintenance
The first step towards having a worry free winter is having Four Seasons perform a 20+ point efficiency cleaning and tune-up on your furnace or boiler. This service will help identify problems early on that could cause a breakdown during harsh weather. For those that have a system in good condition, the cleaning will make sure that the unit is working at peek efficiency so that you can pay as little as possible for all of the extra time you will need to use your heating system this winter. (more…)
Tags: 20+ point efficiency check, 24 Hour Repair, Boiler, Chicago, comfort, emergency service, Four Seasons, Furnace, Grant Park, Heating, IL, Northbrook, repairs, Tune Up, Winnetka
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Furnace Repair, Heating, Tips and Suggestions | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Many homes use forced air heating systems, like furnaces, to heat their homes during the winter months. However, there are plenty of homeowners that still rely upon boilers, either steam of hot water, to keep the home comfortable. These homeowners may be in the minority in the HVAC industry, but they still need to have a licensed serviceman that they can count of to take care of their system. Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning has the experts that these homeowners need to keep their system in check on a yearly basis. Neglecting to do so because you think there isn’t someone out there who can care for the system is not an option and it could have detrimental consequences.
What Does the Pressure Relief Valve Do?
The pressure relief valve on your boiler is probably the single most important device on the system. This one part is what could save you from a boiler disaster. All heating systems have built in safety devices and the pressure relief valve is a key safety feature of your boiler. This valve is what prevents a dangerously high pressure level from building up within your boiler. Pressure within the boiler can build up for a variety of reasons and without a properly functioning relief valve, the boiler could blow, and at the very least, the high pressure could cause some serious damage to the inside of the unit. (more…)
Tags: Bellwood, Blue Island, Boiler, Chicago, cleaning, comfort, Four Seasons, Highland Park, IL, leaks, maintenance, pressure, pressure relief valve, repair, safety device, testing, water, winter
Posted in Boiler, Heating, Hot Water Heater, Informational, Safety | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Have you ever thought the home was warmer or colder than the thermostat was reading? This is a very common problem in many homes, and it could cause a great disruption in your family’s comfort and an increase in your energy bills. A thermostat that can’t properly read the temperature in the home could keep the furnace on for longer times than necessary this winter. The longer the furnace runs the more energy you could be wasting. Taking ten minutes out of your weekend could change your utility bills all winter. Four Seasons want you to take these few tips and get your thermostat working at its best.
Dust Distorting Temperature Controls
The thermostat has sensors inside it that tell it when to turn off the furnace and when to start it up. If your thermostat is very old, you may even have mercury inside it that performs this same function. If your thermostat has these sensors inside it, they may be coated with dust, and that dust could be what is interfering with your thermostat’s ability to match the temperature in the home. (more…)
Tags: accuracy, batteries, calibration, dust, energy bills, Four Seasons, Furnace, Heating, maintenance, mercury, save money, temperature, thermostat
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Heating, Tips and Suggestions, maintenance | Comments Off
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Every day, without fail, we have at least one customer call in asking us why their thermostat is flashing “filter.” They usually go on to explain that they checked the filter and the filter was clean but that the thermostat is still insisting that it needs to be changed. Luckily this is just a misconception about the capabilities of the thermostat, and Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning is here to help clear things up.
Reminding You to Check the Filter
Your thermostat is simply an on and off switch for your furnace and air conditioner. It senses the temperature in the home and turns the systems on and off in response to the temperature that you have set. Beyond that, the typical thermostat has little communication with the air conditioner and furnace. When the word “filter” shows up on your thermostat it isn’t actually detecting the dirt on your filter. It is simply a reminder to check it. The thermostat is reacting to the number of hours that the system has been running and not the actual filter itself. (more…)
Tags: air conditioner, communication, experts, filter, filter change, Four Seasons, Furnace, HVAC, IL, monthly, reminder, Rolling Meadows, Rosemont, Schaumburg, thermostat
Posted in Air conditioning, Boiler, Furnace, Heating, Tips and Suggestions | Comments Off
Friday, September 16th, 2011
In some parts of Chicago, we are already experiencing wind chills below zero, and many of us may be itching to turn the furnace on if even just to warm the house up for a few hours. However, many of the homeowners out there right now should do anything but turn on their furnace. Flooding was an all too common occurrence over this past summer season, and even those that had only a few inches of water in the home need to have the furnace looked at before they start it up for the season. Flood waters can do some devastating damage to furnaces and boilers, and even if your air conditioner was working fine all season, you should still have the system checked over. A certified furnace or boiler expert from Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning can help you determine what kind of shape your furnace is in after the flood, and can hopefully get your heat back up and running before the temperatures drop too low this fall.
A Dangerous Decision
Every year many homeowners ignore this advice and start using the furnace without having it checked. Even if the unit does fire up and seem to be working, odds are it will only last until you need it the most. For many homeowners the unit will work just long enough to get them into the thick of winter and then they must call Four Seasons for emergency service in order to keep their family comfortable and their home safe. Believe it or not this is actually the best thing that could happen to a water damaged system, and we have seen much worse things go wrong with water damaged furnaces. (more…)
Tags: Antioch, Argo, Boiler, Carbon Monoxide, Chicago, clean and check, comfort, danger, electrical components, fires, flooding, Four Seasons, Furnace, Heating, Oakbrook Terrace, Safety, safety mechanisms, summer floods, water damage, winter
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Furnace Repair, Heating, Safety, maintenance | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
In the few months we have before the snow begins to fall, many homeowners are trying to save money in a potentially dangerous way. How are they doing this? Well, there are some “do it yourselfers” out there that don’t recognize their limitations. They look at these few months of mild weather as an opportunity to figure out how to repair the furnace without the assistance of a professional. Their goal is to save money, but many end up with more problems than there were to begin with. You need to know your limitations, and you need know when to call Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning.
Doing More Damage than Good
If you are a “do it yourselfer,” it may be hard to admit defeat. You have become so used to fixing everything around the home that goes wrong, and you have probably saved hundreds and maybe even thousands doing so. However, not all “do it yourselfers” have to skills to tackle the complexity of the HVAC system. Furnaces in particular can be dangerous to mess with because they not only generate an extreme amount of heat, but they also create carbon monoxide that needs to be properly expelled from the home. If you are tinkering around inside a system you don’t fully understand, you could damage valuable components and possibly even put your family in danger once you attempt to operate the system. (more…)
Tags: breakdown, Burr Ridge, Carbon Monoxide, Chicago, dangerous, do it yourself, experience, experts, Four Seasons, Furnace, Heating, IL, Kenilworth, professional, repair, Riverdale, Safety, save money
Posted in Boiler, Furnace, Furnace Repair, Heating, Safety, Tips and Suggestions | Comments Off
