Mechanical H-C

As wintertime quickly approaches, the thought of your furnace or electricity going out while you are away from your home, cabin or office would be nothing short of disastrous! Frozen and busted plumbing pipes can flood a home in an instant, leaving thousands of dollars in damage that otherwise could have been avoided easily. If you’ve ever been worried about your furnace not working when you’re away, a freeze alarm can give you peace of mind and save you countless thousands in repair damages. Here’s how it works. The … [Read more...] about ‘Alarming’ news may help save your furnace, pipes

Frozen water pipes due to extremely low temperatures are very common here in Michigan, but it’s just the first step. The next step is busted water pipes, so when they freeze, you have to act quickly — and that’s where the trouble starts. So what’s the fastest way to thaw a water pipe? With a blowtorch, of course. Now, that’s also the fastest way to burn down your home, as we’ve seen a few times already this winter. Here are some better ways to handle frozen pipes so you won’t need a new house when you’ve finished. Your … [Read more...] about How to handle frozen pipes

Here’s a relatively new product that’s vital for a safe and comfortable home. I’m referring to what’s called a flexible chimney liner. Flue or chimney liners protect masonry chimneys from the corrosive effects of flue gases. Flue gases are acidic and eat away the mortar joints of unlined chimneys. While driving through your neighborhood, you may notice a few of these poking up out of the chimney tops. Those are usually neighbors who have recently installed a new, higher efficiency furnace. Here’s why these are so … [Read more...] about Silver lining for chimney a good idea for new furnaces

How’s this for a kick in the pants? You walk downstairs and notice that in the area all around your furnace, there’s water everywhere. Today’s new high-efficiency furnaces produce moisture, and if you have an air conditioner or humidifier attached, they make water as well. This water is generally channeled down to a floor drain, or what’s called a condensation pump, which is attached to your furnace with 3/4-inch PVC pipe. Because of the slime and junk that collects after a while, it’s a real good idea to clean this out from … [Read more...] about Newer furnaces can bring wet surprises without pipe cleaning

It’s bad enough to have outrageous heating bills during the wintertime, but the real kick in the pants is to have a home that’s uncomfortable and unevenly heated as well. Here’s a way to save money and be more comfortable all at the same time. This is what’s called a three-stage furnace. It’s 95 percent efficient, so it saves a ton on your gas bills. But the best part about it is the way it helps to develop a much more even temperature throughout your entire home. Here’s how it works. When a regular furnace turns on, it … [Read more...] about Warm up house more evenly with three-stage furnace

On a busy day your garage door may open and close 20 times, so routine maintenance is a must to keep it in good working order. Today we’ll see if we can breathe some life into this old, creaking monster. Clean the exterior of the door periodically with a mild detergent and brush, and if there’s exposed wood, be sure to paint it to keep it from water damage and rotting. Clean the weather stripping around the frame and bottom edge with vinyl cleaner and lubricate it once every other month with a silicone-based product to keep … [Read more...] about Garage door maintenance will keep it in working order

Electrical problems can be a big inconvenience, and if it’s something simple, calling an electrician can run into a lot of money in a short time. But changing a bad light switch can turn into a major ordeal if you aren’t sure of what to do, so here’s a little help for you. First things first: Let’s cut the power. Assuming you don’t have the fancy tools to detect which circuit breaker runs the switch, we’ll have to flip the main power switch at the breaker box so we can safely proceed. Since the switch is bad, you just … [Read more...] about Changing a bad light switch can be easy — here’s how

Radon is an invisible and odorless radioactive gas that occurs naturally from decaying uranium underneath the earth’s surface. Though you cannot see, smell, or taste radon, it is there and has been noted as the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Radon gas rises through the soil and seeps through cracks, holes and drain pipes in the foundation or basement of your home or office. Radon gas can be found all over the country, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, one out of every 15 homes … [Read more...] about Test buildings yearly to detect stealthy killer gas

Well, it’s not quite beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but the cold weather will be com-ing in pretty fast, so here’s a few tips to get your home in order and prepared for the winter season. • Check the gutters on your house. Make sure they are cleaned and will drain water properly. This will help prevent ice dam-ming when we really get into the winter season. • Remove hoses from all outdoor faucets and make sure they are drained. Turn off the water supply to outdoor faucets if the water lines are not in a heated space, … [Read more...] about Preparing your home for winter can save money, prevent damage

By Joel Wensley “It wasn’t much of a struggle to get the girls around the office to wear pink for the entire month of October, but the guys on the other hand, were a bit more of a challenge.” said Joel Wensley, owner of Dearborn Heights-based Mechanical Heating and Cooling. Wensley decided that for the entire month of October, his entire company will wear pink company shirts adorned with the breast cancer ribbon in support of winning the battle against breast cancer that thousands of women face every year. Breast cancer is … [Read more...] about Local heating company goes ‘pink’ to help fight breast cancer