Vapor compression, electrical, water drainage, computer technology and air quality — your air conditioner utilizes and links together an array of mechanics and properties to cool your home. As an A/C system ages or if it isn’t well maintained, a lot can go wrong. Following are warning signs that indicate your A/C unit is experiencing problems or dying.

Strange Noises

With a compressor, blower motor and airflow, air conditioners make noise — some more than others. If you hear any of these unusual noises, your A/C system needs immediate attention:

• Droning: Laborious droning and whirring noises from your outdoor unit indicate significant compressor problems.
• Grinding: Grinding and screeching noises from the indoor air handler or outdoor unit are telltale signs of a failing blower motor.
• Clicking: If your A/C system won’t turn on and makes a rapid clicking noise, you have electrical problems to contend with.
• Duct noises: Rattling, clamoring, whooshing and even banging noises from the air vents are usually caused by problems with ductwork design. Take care of duct problems before they affect your A/C system.

Too Many Repairs

When you’re uncomfortable, there’s no such thing as a small A/C repair. However, if your A/C has needed frequent repairs in recent years, you may be better off upgrading to a new A/C unit with a warranty. Talk to your A/C technician about lifetime costs of different A/C models. The lifetime cost is your estimated investment for the A/C purchase, installation, energy usage and maintenance from day one to the end of its useful service life.

Poor Performance, High Energy Bills

With so many interlinking systems, one unresolved A/C problem often causes another… and another. For example, an old compressor may cause ice to accumulate on the evaporator. Leaky air ducts make your A/C work harder. In both instances, your home comfort suffers, energy bills increase and other A/C parts may begin to fail.

Sooner or later, you’ll need to replace your A/C system. Start planning your new system by working with reputable HVAC professionals at Roth Home & Cooling. We’ve helped Lake Oswego homeowners with HVAC decisions since 1976.

One of the most important systems in our homes—especially during the winter time—is our electricity. We rely on our home’s power for warmth, to stay connected, and to keep our appliances running. In the event of inclement weather, falling debris, or a storm results in a loss of electricity, a standby generator can keep your home’s power going.

Also known as a whole house generator, it is installed on a concrete pad outside of your home. The heart of the system consists of an internal combustion engine which provides self-sustaining power for days until the home’s main power is restored.

The following are the benefits of having a standby generator installed in your home during the cold winter months:

• Automatically turns on when necessary – When a power outage or equipment failure occurs, the standby generator will automatically disconnect your utility and provides power to your home’s electrical panel. The generator will continue to run until the utility power comes back. Once the power has been restored, the generator will switch to standby mode and will be ready for the next outage.
• Power your HVAC systems and appliances – Without a standby generator and power throughout your home for several days, all of the contents inside your refrigerator needs to be trashed and cold temperatures can be hazardous for children and anyone with poor health or medical conditions. A standby generator can keep your food cold or frozen and your home warm.
• Maintain communications – Wi-Fi, phone lines, computers, and other devices rely on power to function. While many devices have long battery lives, having no power for an indefinite period of time can still be an issue. A standby generator enables homeowners and their occupants to maintain communication when they need it most.
• Prevent security breach – Thieves often target homes with no power since it also means home security systems are temporarily disabled. If your home is without power for several days and you have chosen to stay somewhere else until the electricity returns, you leave your home vulnerable to burglary. A standby generator means thieves will be discouraged from robbing your home due to the power being on.

Whether you wish to install a standby generator or require professional maintenance service on your current model, our Portland HVAC technicians at Roth Home can provide experienced and certified help. Contact us and schedule an appointment today.

Nest is proud to produce some of the most ingenious and popular smart home products on the market today. Whether it’s their tremendously popular smart thermostat that makes saving energy while staying comfortable a breeze or any of their other smart home security or home monitoring systems, Nest has been welcomed into millions of homes across the country.

At Roth Home, we’re extremely pleased to be a Nest Elite Pro Dealer, and the only one in the Portland area! This means our team has been highly-trained and demonstrated substantial proficiency in working with Nest products in order to give you the best possible experience. When you trust us to install Nest products in your home, you can trust that it’ll be done right and you’ll be thrilled with the way it helps your home save energy and save money.

Benefits of a Nest Elite Pro Dealer

Nest Elite Pro Dealers are hand-selected by Nest as the best of the best when it comes to using and working with their products. Those who are chosen have demonstrated a high level of capability not only when it comes to the services they offer their customers, but also in their ability to use, install, and recommend nest products.

There are other benefits to a Nest Elite Pro Dealer that other dealers can’t offer you as well. First, those who choose a Nest Elite Pro Dealer are offered an extended warranty on all Nest products. Since Nest as a manufacturer can have the confidence of knowing that the product was installed correctly and will work correctly, they can offer you an added degree of protection and stand by their product for longer. The installation is also guaranteed, which means that if anything were to go wrong as a result of the labor, we’ll happily come back to you and take care of it.

As a Nest Elite Pro Dealer, we also offer a number Nest whole-home packages, including devices that take care of your safety, security, and your in-home comfort! And to make things even better, we’ll even take the time to make sure that your system is properly working and communicating with the rest of the devices in your home and set it all up so they can be controlled right from the comfort of your smartphone… anywhere in the world!

Our team proudly offers and services the following Nest products:

• Nest Learning Thermostats
• Nest Secure home security system
• Nest Protect home carbon monoxide detector
• Nest Outdoor Camera
• Nest Camera Indoor
• Nest Camera IQ Outdoor
• Next Camera IQ Indoor

These are just a few of the benefits you’ll enjoy by selecting a Nest Elite Pro Dealer to install your Nest products in your home.

Call Roth Home at (503) 673-6394 to schedule a consultation with one of our team members and learn more about how Nest products could help you enjoy your home to the fullest!

Commercial HVAC systems are heavy-duty systems used for public or private buildings (not for residential homes), and therefore they need to be treated differently. There are many reasons for these systems to be installed on the roofs of buildings:

• Flexibility – The ability to locate two or more units some distance apart may reduce the overall length of ductwork, reducing duct cleaning costs. It may also make it easier to create separate temperature zones within the same building, and permit better sizing of HVAC components.
• Easier, less-disruptive maintenance – Rooftop HVAC installation provides easy, unobstructed access to the system by HVAC service personnel. More importantly, that access can occur 100% out of the way of your employees. Replacement components, man lifts, ladders and such will never block or stall your employees or customers. Rooftop installation means less maintenance dust, debris, and noise.
• No loss of useful space – Rooftop installation of HVAC systems never results in loss of usable floor or yard space. All other locations, even basement installations in large buildings take up valuable space. A building with abundant outdoor space for an HVAC installation may still benefit from a rooftop install if it shortens total duct length.
• Better energy efficiency, more choices – This one’s a big deal. Since you have more space on a rooftop, you can select from a broader range of efficiency-enhancing systems and technologies. Fresh air dampers (FAD) are among the many energy-saving technologies commonly available with rooftop HVAC systems. The damper is a flap inside a duct and when opened, permits a stream of cool outside air to mix with the conditioned air from the HVAC unit. Its operation is automatic and programmable. Systems to vary the volume of air flowing through the ductwork — usually by changing the rate of flow — are standard on rooftop HVAC installations. Again, programmed control is the norm.
• Option to use natural gas – The use of natural gas for the heating part of an HVAC system is well known. Natural-gas air conditioning is widely used, extremely efficient, and is not new technology.

Other Factors That May Favor Roof Installation of HVAC

• Noise – A commercial HVAC unit located on the ground outside a building may prevent building occupants from hearing the system. It will not, however, prevent workers, customers, or neighboring business from hearing the system’s operation like a rooftop installation will.
• Security – Locating HVAC units on the roof provides security in two ways. It deters theft of valuable HVAC components, and it eliminates damage from vehicles or falling tree limbs.
• Maintenance – The roof is a cleaner environment so your equipment will stay cleaner and require less maintenance. Ground units lack side and overhead protection that a rooftop installation provides.

Commercial Heating and AC Services in Central Oregon

The heating and cooling needs of commercial properties differ from those of residential homes. As a business owner or commercial property manager, you need to know that you can rely on your property’s heating and air conditioning systems as a matter of health, safety, and comfort. No matter the size or scope of the project, you can rely on our team to get right to work. For more than three decades, we’ve assisted commercial property owners throughout all of Central Oregon to ensure that their businesses continue operating at peak comfort.

 

Last winter Portland saw record low temperatures. While the thermostat seldom dips below freezing here, whenever it’s predicted it’s a good idea to survey your home and property and prepare for the worst. Besides wrapping or covering vulnerable plants, you also want to protect your pipes from the predicted frozen temperature drop.

Protecting Your Pipes

When water in your pipes freezes, it will expand and can burst your pipes and cause flooding. Here’s how to protect pipes.

Outdoors

If you don’t regularly disconnect your outdoor hoses and wrap your faucets when freezing temperatures are predicted, you should. Drain faucets and wrap them with a commercially manufactured faucet cover, or use old towels. It’s best to turn the faucet off at the inside valve if you can, and leave the faucet open to drain. Leaving a trickle of water running slightly will also help.

Water sprinkler lines and swimming pool supply lines are also vulnerable and should be protected. Never use antifreeze, which is attractive to pets and some wild animals and can kill them.

Inside

If you have pipes running through the basement, attic or the crawl space, increase the insulation in those areas to prevent freezing. This will also help lower your utility bill.

Inspect your home for any areas where pipes located on an exterior wall might freeze, such as in a kitchen or bathroom. Even though you might think you’ll always keep the temperatures high enough to avoid freezing, you could have a furnace breakdown in the midst of a cold spell. If this happens when you’re away, you could return to a flooded home. Pipes in cabinets may be particularly at risk.

Wrap pipes in a pipe sleeve or use heat tape or a heated cable. The latter methods rely on electricity so won’t help if your power goes out. You can also wrap pipes in 1/4-inch-thick newspaper or insulation. Also, leave the cabinet door open during cold spells so the heat gets inside the cabinets.

To learn more about protecting pipes when a frozen temperature prediction is issued, contact Roth Home.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Metro Portland, Oregon area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “illustrade/Pixabay”

If you’re concerned about the high cost of heating and cooling your home, you’re probably looking for effective ways to lower your yearly household energy consumption. Getting all of your home’s various systems into sync goes a long way toward improving efficiency and saving energy. Taking the following measures makes syncing HVAC systems easier and can bring you the greatest boost in overall efficiency:

Maintain HVAC Equipment

Keeping your HVAC equipment clean and tuned up, and catching/fixing developing issues early all play a part in maximizing its efficiency, so be sure to schedule twice-yearly preventive maintenance visits.

Stop Air Leaks

While you need controlled air exchange for good indoor air quality, sealing uncontrolled air leaks in your home’s exterior envelope is vital to limit energy losses. To curb such losses, seal gaps and cracks around windows and doors, along the foundation and around penetrations for pipes, vents and wiring using caulk, weatherstripping and expandable spray foam.

Attend to the Ductwork

Uninsulated, leaky ducts can cost you 20 percent or more in lost HVAC equipment output. To limit this loss of efficiency, correct any duct defects like damaged or disconnected sections, then seal the joints/seams with metal-backed tape and install an R-6 insulation wrap on all accessible ducting.

Air Seal and Insulate the Attic

Air leakage and insufficient attic insulation can let conditioned air escape and allow heat transfer between the attic and your living space. You can curtail this energy drain by sealing leaks around HVAC, electrical and plumbing lines, the chimney and access hatch, and the attic perimeter. Then, increase the amount of insulation between your attic floor joists so you have a total of R-38 to R-60.

Replace Drafty Windows

Updating your older windows can eliminate drafts and limit heat gains and losses through the glass. In our climate zone, the most efficient windows are Energy Star-certified and have a U-factor of 0.25 or less, a solar heat gain co-efficient (SHGC) between 0.35—0.60, and an air leakage (AL) rating below 30.

For more advice on syncing HVAC systems in your Portland home, contact us at Roth Home & Cooling.

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “OpenClipart-Vectors/Pixabay”

When the snow and freezing rain of a typical Portland winter storm blow in, a power outage is often close behind. Take some time to prepare, though, and you can stay comfortable no matter the weather.

Staying Cozy Without Heating

If you have a propane or kerosene heater designed for use indoors and a very well ventilated room, this is your best bet for staying warm. If you have any suspicions that the room might lack good airflow, however, don’t risk it or you’re liable to end up ill from carbon monoxide exposure.

A safer bet is to make sure everyone in your household is dressed in layers of warm clothing and equipped with a warm blanket, then bring everyone into a small room. Your body heat, taken together, will keep the room warm.

When you know a storm’s coming, raise your thermostat temperature around 10 degrees so your home will take longer to cool down if the power goes out. If you have a fireplace, bring in extra firewood. Before winter hits, make time to seal air leaks around doors and windows, put up insulating drapes, and make other improvements that will help your home hold in warmth.

When a Generator is Worth It

A generator is always a nice convenience, but when your household includes a young child, elderly person or anyone else vulnerable to hypothermia, a generator can be a literal lifesaver. Depending on its size, a gasoline- or diesel-powered portable generator can power one or more circuits in your home. A smaller model can at least power an electric space heater.

If you prefer to have your whole home powered, consider investing in a standby generator. This is wired into your home’s electrical system and starts up automatically when a power outage occurs, then turns off when the power comes back. It’s connected to the natural gas mains, so it won’t run out of fuel.

For more ideas on staying cozy and safe during a power outage, talk with us at Roth Home & Cooling in the Portland area.

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “ehendel/Pixabay”

Portland winters can take a toll on your water heater, leaving you with cold showers and icy baths when temperatures plummet. The good news is that you can take steps now to lower the risk of water heater damage this winter. Keep the following prevention tips in mind to protect your water heater.

Flush Sediment From Your Water Heater

Sediment can build up inside your water heater as minerals accumulate in the bottom part of it. Over time, this sediment can make it more difficult for your water heater to work properly, since it needs more energy to heat your water. Have a technician inspect your water heater for sediment buildup and flush it as needed. This helps prevent you from running out of hot water this winter.

Insulate Your Water Heater

Just as you can insulate your pipes to stop them from freezing, you can also insulate your water heater to help save energy and protect it from damage. If you have an electric water heater, consider covering it with neoprene foam to insulate it this winter. For gas water heaters, you’ll most likely need to use fiberglass pipe insulation, along with aluminum foil tape to secure it. Insulation helps prevent water heater damage and also keeps the water in your heater warmer than usual. This reduces wear and tear on your water heater and lowers your energy usage.

Schedule an Inspection

Having your water heater checked for faulty parts helps lower your risk of losing hot water this winter. A technician can check your gas or electric water heater parts for any signs of damage and replace or repair them as needed.

Watch for Rusty Water

If the water coming out of your sinks and other fixtures has a rusty color, this can indicate a problem with your water heater. Have a technician check your water heater to determine if it needs to be fixed or replaced.

If your water heater needs maintenance or repairs this winter, please contact Roth Home & Cooling. We offer dependable heating and cooling services for homeowners in the Portland area.

Maintaining your furnace during the winter keeps it running smoothly efficiently. It’s easy to take this hard working appliance for granted, but like all mechanical systems, it needs periodic attention to run at its best.

Schedule a Professional Service Check

The energy efficiency and durability of your furnace improves when a professional HVAC technician goes through it annually. The service includes thorough cleaning of the burner and the ignition system, as well as adjusting the air to fuel ratio based on the manufacturer’s specifications.

The technician will check all the safety switches to make sure they’re fully functional, as well as checking the gas lines and exhaust venting. The blower motor may require lubrication and the belt might need adjustment or replacement.

Check and Change the Air Filter

Checking and changing the air filter monthly will keep your system running as efficiently as possible. When the filters get dirty, the air flowing through the air handler slows down, and it will take the furnace longer to heat your home.

Dust also collects on the parts inside the air handler, which reduces their efficiency and can lead to system problems. It’s particularly serious when it covers the heat exchanger. When dust covers this part, it acts as insulation and keeps it warmer than the manufacturer intended.

Over time, the metal can crack, which may force an entire system replacement. Cracked heat exchangers may emit carbon monoxide (CO) into the air, which is a safety hazard, largely avoidable by maintaining the furnace and keeping the air filter clean.

Clean the Registers

Over the winter, keep an eye on the register covers. Clean them when they’re dirty and note any areas of excessive dust, which could indicate ductwork leaks. Leaks need to be repaired quickly to prevent high heating costs and keep indoor air quality high. All the ducts should be open and remove anything that blocks the free flow of air.

Each of these suggestions for maintaining your furnace will help it keep your home comfortable and lower your heating costs. For more information, contact Roth Home & Cooling, providing top-notch HVAC services for Portland-area homeowners.