Air and energy leaks in ductwork of your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system can account for a loss of as much as 20 percent or more of the air that should be heating or cooling your home. However, sealing your ductwork will reduce or eliminate this wasteful loss of energy, thereby increasing your home’s comfort level while also reducing your energy bills.

Here is a brief guide to duct sealing strategies that you can use to improve your Portland-area home.

Symptoms of air loss

There are four major symptoms of ductwork leaks, including:

• Higher than normal energy bills: Unusually high heating or cooling bills, which you can’t attribute to increased use of your HVAC system or significant weather changes, could indicate that you’re losing your costly conditioned air through ductwork leaks.
• Uneven heating or cooling: If you have rooms or sections of your home in which you notice issues, such as stuffiness, inconsistent levels of heating or cooling, or increased amounts of airborne dust and particles, you might need to seal your ducts.
• Visible damage to your ductwork: This can include loose, detached, or missing sections. You may not be able to see damage. If you suspect ductwork damage, contact your HVAC contractor, who should have specialized equipment to be able to pinpoint issues.
• Insufficient insulation: If you have uninsulated or poorly insulated ducts in crawl spaces, garages, unfinished rooms or other unconditioned areas, you could be losing your conditioned air.

Solutions

You can seal your ductwork yourself or hire an HVAC professional to do it. Since ductwork is often difficult to access, it’s often better to hire a pro for the job. Here is a quick guide to duct sealing tasks that your HVAC contractor likely will do:

• Check the entire length of the duct network for problems and possible leaks.
• Repair or replaced damaged duct sections, reconnect loose sections tightly, and straighten out any bent or kinked ducts.
• Seal holes, cracks, or other openings in the ductwork.
• Seal connections between all duct sections with mastic, a specialized sealant, or metal tape. Avoid using standard duct tape, because the adhesive on the tape can dry out and fail over time.
• Make sure ducts are connected securely to registers and vents.
• Test ducts for possible carbon-monoxide leaks, to ensure the safety of you and your loved ones.

Roth Home & Cooling has been a supplier of professional HVAC sales, maintenance and repair in Portland, Bend, Salem, Canby, and the surrounding Oregon communities for more than 35 years. Contact us today for more information that you can use as a guide to duct sealing and how it can improve your home comfort while lowering your seasonal heating and cooling bills.

One of the home improvement projects with the highest payback is upgrading insulation. The Portland area has far more heating degree days than cooling, so beefing up what’s in your attic can lower your heating load, translating to reduced energy consumption and lower bills.

The Department of Energy recommends that homes in our area have 16 inches of insulation in the attic. This translates to an R-value of 38, which means the insulation can resist temperature change for 38 hours.

The most common insulation used in homes is fiberglass batts or blown-in cellulose. If your attic has ample space, laying down batts or blowing in insulation is the easiest and most cost-effective way to increase attic insulation. However, if space is tight, you can use rigid foam board insulation that has a higher R-value per inch than other types. An inch of expanded polystyrene insulation offers 3.8 hours of protection from heat transfer, while more expensive extruded polystyrene has an R-value of 5. Neither of these products use hydrocarbons, which makes them healthy products to use when upgrading insulation.

Blown-in insulation is made from either loose fiberglass or recycled paper called cellulose. After processing the paper, manufacturers spray it with borates, which act as fire, insect and moisture retardants. Installing blown-in insulation is a two-person job, since someone has to feed the blower while another handles the hose.

If you choose batt insulation, check the material first to see what the manufacturer requires for fire protection. Some rolls have paper backing that may need to be covered with noncombustible materials like drywall to prevent them from burning.

Upgrading insulation means you’ll need your heating system less, and given the cost of fuel, the upgrade pays for itself down the road. Another effective way to lower your heating costs is to have your heating system serviced annually.

If you’d like more information about upgrading insulation, contact Roth Home & Cooling. We’ve provided HVAC services to the Portland area since 1976.

If you’ve chosen a geothermal heating and cooling system, you have decades of energy savings, reduced maintenance and durable equipment to enjoy. Geothermal heat pumps have fewer moving parts than air-source pumps and almost all the system components are either underground or out of the elements, which reduces their wear.

Once your geothermal heating and cooling system is in place, the first thing you’ll notice are reduced electric bills. If you’re replacing an electric resistance heater, you’ll probably see your bills go down by as much as 70 percent. You may see a 50 percent reduction if you use used a fuel-burning system previously.

A geothermal system’s underground loop field, which is made from the same materials that natural gas providers use, can last up to 50 years. The indoor air handler may reach 25 years with routine maintenance, compared to a seven- to 10-year life for fuel-burning furnace. Unlike air-source heat pumps, the geothermal heat pumps have no outdoor condenser, which lowers the amount of noise in your home and backyard and it gives you more livable space outdoors.

So efficient are the geothermal heat pumps that the federal government is offering a 30 percent tax credit for qualifying systems through the end of 2016. The credit includes the total cost of the equipment, labor and the installation. There is no ceiling on the system costs, and homeowners can claim the credit for primary or vacation homes, as well as for new and existing homes.

Combined with the tax credit and the measurably lower operating costs of the geothermal systems, you should see a payback for your initial investment in a few years, depending on how much you use it for heating and cooling your home and your home’s energy efficiency.

If you’d like to learn more about a geothermal heating and cooling system and all their benefits, contact Roth Home & Cooling. We’ve provided heating and air conditioning services for the Portland area since 1976.

Are you looking to improve the performance of your air conditioner and your indoor air quality, as well as reduce your energy costs? If so, you should consider ways in which you can increase your air-filter efficiency. Choosing the right air filter for your home isn’t hard. However, it is important to understand several key factors that impact how you can increase air-filter efficiency.

A filter’s MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating is a valuable metric to consider. However, there are others that you should consider, including a filter’s resistance or pressure drop, and its dust-holding capacity and dust-spot efficiency.

A filter’s resistance, or pressure drop, indicates the impact that a given filter has on an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system’s airflow. To increase air-filter efficiency, select a filter with a lower pressure drop. Filters with lower pressure drops have less resistance, which increases airflow and helps your air conditioner operate more efficiently.

Dust-holding capacity is closely related to pressure drop. This metric indicates how much dust a filter can hold at a specific pressure-drop point. To compare the relative dust-holding capacities of different air filters, be sure to look at products with similar or identical pressure-drop ratings. However, keep in mind that your filter’s pressure-drop performance will decrease as dust accumulates in the filter. To maintain optimal performance, it’s vital to clean or change your air filter every six to eight weeks.

Finally, dust-spot efficiency is a measurement of how well a given filter removes large particles of dust from the air under controlled test conditions. The greater a filter’s dust-spot efficiency, the better your air quality will be.

Also, you should know that filter efficiency is also rated in two ways. Initial efficiency indicates the filter’s effectiveness when it is new, and sustained efficiency indicates the average effectiveness that it maintains during its lifespan.

If you have questions about how to increase air-filter efficiency, or if you have any other home-comfort concerns, please contact us at Roth Home & Cooling. We’ve proudly served residential and commercial customers throughout the Portland area since 1976.

A well-maintained heat pump is one of the most energy-efficient ways to condition our homes in this region. However, heat pump performance depends on three primary components to keep it running in top-notch condition. The airflow, refrigerant charge and ductwork make a big impact on your electric bills and interior comfort.

1. Airflow: A dirty air filter is the most common problem associated with heat pump performance. The dirt that builds up on a filter blocks the air going through the air handler and makes the heat pump work harder to condition your home. If you suspect your system isn’t delivering enough air, start with the filter. Clean or replace it if it’s dirty. If your filter is fine, you may need to ask an HVAC technician to evaluate the amount of air that the air handler circulates through the ductwork. Optimal amounts run between 400 and 500 cubic feet per minute. If the fan isn’t bringing in enough air, the technician may be able to increase its speed.
2. Ductwork: As part of the evaluation of your home’s airflow, the HVAC technician will check for leaks in your ductwork. Ducts are responsible for more issues with high conditioning bills than any other problem. You can lose more than 30 percent of the conditioned air to your walls, attic or basement. HVAC professionals can seal the leaks, regardless of their location, which immediately improves your heat pump’s operation and lowers your electric bills.
3. Refrigerant charge: An improper refrigerant charge—typically too low—makes your heat pump run longer. When the level gets too low, your system will stop running altogether. Unlike a furnace, heat pumps rely on refrigerant during both the cooling and heating seasons. Running your heat pump with inadequate refrigerant can cause it to fail prematurely. If the pressure is too low, technicians look for leaks in the coils and connectors, fix the problems and replace the refrigerant.

If you suspect that your heat pump performance isn’t what it should be, contact Roth Home & Cooling. We’ve provided HVAC services for the Portland region since 1976.

When it comes to choosing an energy-efficient heating and cooling solution for your Portland-area home, a heat pump might be your best option. The more you know about heat-pump efficiency ratings, the better decision you can make on what heat pump will work best for your needs.

A heat pump does two jobs in one by both heating and cooling your home. Because of that, it has two energy efficiency ratings to which you should pay attention while choosing a heat pump. The SEER rating, or seasonal energy efficiency ratio, measures cooling efficiency. The HSPF rating, or heating seasonal performance factor, measures heating efficiency. While both ratings are important, SEER should be higher in warmer climates, and HSPF should be higher in cooler climates for maximum efficiency.

SEER is determined by first measuring the amount of cooling that is actually provided during the hot season. This amount is measured in BTUs, or British thermal units. It is divided by the total amount of energy that the heat pump uses during the summer, as measured in watt hours. Beginning in 2006, the standard set for SEER ratings is a minimum of 12, double the old standard of 6. However, heat pumps with the highest cooling efficiency will have a SEER rating between 14 to 18.

An HSPF rating is similar to SEER, but is used to measure a heat pump’s heating efficiency. The HSPF rating is determined by measuring how much total heat is output during a heating season. Like SEER, this amount is measured in BTUs and is divided by the amount of energy that the heat pump actually uses during the winter. In 2006, the standard HSPF rating was set at a minimum of 7.7. A HSPF rating between 8 and 10 indicates that the heat pump has the highest efficiency currently available.

In order to make efficiency ratings easier to understand, the Energy Star label was created. A heat pump that has earned an Energy Star label is one that meets high standards for energy efficiency, and likely is your best option when choosing a heat pump.

For more expert advice on choosing a heat pump or any other HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) matters in the Portland area, contact Roth Home & Cooling. We’ve proudly served residential and commercial customers since 1976.

If your home’s air-conditioning capacity suddenly takes a dive this summer, and you’ve already had your annual preventive maintenance done, there could be a cause that you’ve never even considered: refrigerant huffing. While it may sound far-fetched, refrigerant huffing is a problem from Portland to Miami to New York, and everywhere in between.

Huffing, or intentionally inhaling refrigerant to get high, not only poses a significant health risk to those who do it, it can cause serious damage to your HVAC
(heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system.

The dangers of low refrigerant

Refrigerant huffing will quickly deplete your system’s most vital component. When an air conditioner (A/C) operates with too little refrigerant, it’s capacity to produce cooled air will diminish. In fact, if your system operates with just 10 percent less refrigerant than it needs, you’ll likely see an increase of 20 percent in the costs to run your A/C.

This decrease occurs because your system relies on having a certain amount of refrigerant in place so that all of the other components can operate efficiently. For instance, too little refrigerant will put a lot of stress on the compressor, causing it to work harder, and creating a domino effect of damage to the system’s other components.

Furthermore, R-22 refrigerant, also sometimes known as Freon, which most older air conditioners use, is harmful to the environment. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that it be safely capture by a certified professional, and even has followed an international mandate by calling for the banning of its use by 2020.

The dangers of inhaling refrigerant

The health hazards of inhaling refrigerant are significant, and the young people who typically huff it likely have no idea as to the real dangers that can occur, including but not limited to:

• Burns in the eyes and nose
• Difficulty breathing
• Throat pain
• Vision loss
• Cardiac arrest
• Heart attack
• High blood pressure
• Irregular heart rhythm

What you can do about it

Putting a stop to refrigerant huffing is fairly simple. Call your local contractor to have a lock installed on the refrigerant’s cap. It’s a low-cost action that will preserve your system and save lives, and the locking cap is similar to the same type of locking cap that you can install on your car’s gas tank.

If you have concerns about refrigerant huffing in your neighborhood, the experts at Roth Home & Cooling are here to help. Contact us today to talk about a locking cap, or to have your system’s efficiency tested. We’ve proudly served homeowners and commercial customers in the Portland area since 1976.

Do you want to keep your home’s air conditioner running efficiently and smoothly this summer? Consider installing and using an attic fan, which is an essential tool for keeping your home cool, and preventing unnecessary stress on your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system.

As hot air rises, inadequate ventilation causes hot air to become trapped in a home’s attic, which can raise the temperature in your attic to as high as 150 degrees. Therefore, be on the lookout for these signs of inadequate attic ventilation:

• Curling and bulging roof shingles often indicate that the attic is too hot.
• In the winter, check for frost or ice that has developed in the attic. This indicates that moisture has become trapped, which indicates poor ventilation. Moisture and ice in the attic can lead to rotting wood.

How an attic fan works
Installing an attic fan helps improve ventilation, by both cooling the attic space and allowing hot air to escape properly. You control the fans via your HVAC thermostat, and only need to turn the fan on when the temperature in the attic rises above a set point. The fan draws in cooler air from outside your home, lowering the attic’s temperature, and reducing stress on your air conditioner. At the same time, hot air is pushed out by the fan.

Don’t forget about vents and insulation
Unfortunately, an attic fan cannot work efficiently without proper attic vents. Attics should include rafter, soffit and gable vents. These vents allow for natural airflow to occur, which prevents excess heat or the buildup of ice. Hire a trusted HVAC specialist to conduct a ventilation audit prior to installing your fan. The audit will help determine if additional vents are necessary.

Don’t forget to check your attic’s insulation, as well. Adding a layer of insulation between the attic and the rest of your home further reduces stress on your HVAC system, as it prevents your air conditioner from working overtime to cool unfinished attic spaces.

For more expert information on attic fans, contact Roth Home & Cooling. Roth has been serving residential and commercial customers in the Portland area since 1976.

Like “real” vampires, energy vampires leach the life source from their victims. However, unlike the type of vampires that transform into bats and sleep in coffins, energy vampires won’t drain the life out of you. What they can do, though, is drain your bank account by increasing your energy bills without you even knowing it.

This is done through something called standby power. Any electronic device with its own power supply that you leave plugged into the wall 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is an energy vampire. And it’ll suck the life out of your energy-saving efforts. Therefore, here are five ways to drive a stake through the heart of energy vampires, and save on your energy bills every month:

• Seek out the Energy Star: Appliances that qualify for the Energy Star label consume less electricity from the get-go. In standby mode, they also are proven to suck less energy from the outlet and reduce energy waste while plugged in.
• Employ power-management settings: Computers and monitors are principal energy vampires in your home. Navigate to the location in which you can configure your computer’s settings, and look at the various options for either increasing or decreasing your computer’s power consumption. Most computers, by default, are set with moderate power-saving settings, but you can choose to ratchet down your settings to conserve even more.
• Utilize power strips: Plug home-theater equipment, computers and monitors into central power strips. Then, when you’re done using them, you can prevent energy loss by flipping the switch on the power strip. You’ll also protect your electronics from power surges this way. Keep in mind that any device with a timer, such as a VCR or DVR, will need to remain plugged in to function the way that you want.
• Unplug chargers: MP3 players, cell phones, cameras, hand-held gaming devices and other wireless electronics require wall chargers to power up their batteries. Unplug these, along with power adapters, to prevent them from becoming energy vampires while they’re not in use.
• Schedule annual maintenance: Heating and cooling systems can become extreme energy vampires if you neglect them. Cure them of their energy-wasting habits by scheduling annual inspections from a qualified technician.

For more energy-saving tips, please contact Roth Home & Cooling in Portland today. Our experience dates back to 1976, and we proudly serve residential and commercial customers. Ask about our Precision Tune-Up to ensure that your heating and cooling equipment is working optimally.