With the cooler tempertures as of late your home's heat is most likely working over-time.  This abundance of heat can dry out the air in your home and lead to various problems.  Besides dry skin, the dry air can also affect your respiratory system.  This is especially true if you or others in your home are prone to allergies or are asthmatic. 

One thing we can suggest is to implement a whole-house humidifier.  If you don't mind tackling a pretty involved DIY project, you can install one yourself.  Of course, it's always best to let a MTB professional do the installation to ensure the job is done properly. You may see whole house humidifiers sold at the big box stores, but these generally don't perform very well. The humidifiers that we recommend and install range from $500-$1600.  This is a big range, mainly because there are many different types of humidifiers.  We will discuss a few in this post.

Steam humidifiers – The steam humidifiers are generally the most expensive, but they are usually the best for a few reasons.  These actually watch the humidity in your home and will activate the blower every time it senses a drop in the humidity level.

Spray mist humidifiers – These humidifiers actually spray a mist into your ducts, which is carried throughout your home via the forced air of your HVAC system.  This is one of the most common and easiest humidifiers to install.  Most home owners will find these to work well in moderate climates.

Flow-through humidifiers - Flow-through humidifiers use a foam or aluminum pad to absorb water, which is then blown through the ducts by your blower fan. The bypass humidifier pad should be replaced every fall to prevent mold growth and allow proper operation. If your home has hard water, you may need to clean or replace your bypass humidifier pad more frequently.

Wicking humidifiers – the simplest type of humidifier, wicking humidifiers consist of little more than a small reservoir and a filter. The filter absorbs water from the reservoir (wicking) and the water is blown through your ducts via the blower fan.

Wicking humidifiers are fairly cheap, but they can be a bit of a pain. In order to clean a wicking humidifier, you need to remove the whole unit from your ducts and then put it back in.

Drum humidifiers – drum humidifiers use a drum shaped rotating frame that is partly submerged in water and continually picks up water to be blown through the ducts by your furnace blower. Drum humidifiers require more maintenance than any other type of humidifier, as mold spores can easily develop on the drum and motor and can be flung into your ductwork (and home) relatively easily.

Of course, introducting a new component to your HVAC system, means more maintainence.  Ask about our maintainence packages, because humidifiers can be included in certain packages.

For more on whole house filtration and humidifier systems contact your specialist at MTB Mechanical today! 

A lot of our posts are about saving you money! Of course we are in the business of helping you with your home's heating, cooling and plumbing needs but there are many simple things you can do yourself to cut down expenses. 

Clean or replace your filters frequently - This seems like a simple item, but it's one area many homeowners neglect to do in a timely manner.  As far as frequency it depends on the type of filters you buy and how dusty your home may be, (if you have pets, etc.)  You should visually inspect each filter every month or two.  If the filter is full of dust and dander, it's best to replace.  This dirty filter will impede your unit's performance.

Try to cut down on your home's leaks - Keeping your doors and windows closed seems pretty obvious, but there can be other areas where you can prevent drafts.  Use weather-stripping on door seals and windows, as well as additional insulation to the attic. 

Don't let plants and other obstructions block your condenser.  It's always best to have lots of air-flow around you HVAC unit.  Keep all plants and vegetation a minimum of 18 inches away.  Your unit works by pulling air out of the environment so any obstruction is going to lower performance.  Also, don't cover your unit with a shed or anything else.  This will also limit the air flow and could overheat the unit.

Set your thermostat properly.  We all want to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but you have to make sure not to overwork your system.  It's best to keep your temperature set around 70 degrees in the winter and 75 or higher in the summer.  You would be very surprised to know how much your costs can spike for each degree your thermostat is raised or lowered.  We've seen reports that for each degree warmed or cooled your costs could raise 4-8%! 

The moral of this story; you can do some simple things to increase your HVAC unit's efficiency and save yourself some money. 

As always, please contact MTB Mechanical for help with your heating, cooling and plumbing needs! 

Often this question come to mind when your unit starts not operating properly.  Completely replacing your unit can be a costly project that no homeowner looks forward to purchasing.  Even though it's not pleasant to think about, there can be some positive factors to buying a new unit. 

A new unit will generally perform much more efficiently than your outdated unit.  There are also the rebates that we have previously mentioned to keep in mind.  This way you can at least make up some of that cash back on your taxes!  Also, you will be saving on your monthly utility bill because newer units are more energy efficient.

In the heating and air industry, there is the '50%' rule. This means if the repairs to your current system is approaching 50% of the value of your heating or cooling system, it's probably best to replace.  Another factor of course is age.  If your unit is 12-15 years old and not functioning properly, also probably best to invest in a new system. 

I thought Lenox had some additional information worth sharing below.

• Convenience – When you purchase a new system, you can avoid the hassle of unexpected repairs down the line, and you don’t have to sit around uncomfortable while waiting for parts.
• Lower utility bills – A high-efficiency home comfort system from Lennox can save you hundreds of dollars each year in energy costs, compared to an older system.
• Energy tax credits – You can recover up to 30% of the cost of select high-efficiency systems in the form of tax credits.
• Friendlier refrigerant – Due to growing environmental concerns, the U.S. federal government has mandated that all HVAC manufacturers phase R-22 refrigerant-based equipment out of production. In response, Lennox now mainly manufactures cooling systems with R-410A, a U.S. EPA-approved, chlorine-free refrigerant.
• Enhanced comfort – Advanced technologies that improve energy efficiency also enhance your comfort, so you can enjoy more even temperatures, better humidity control and a constant flow of conditioned air.
• Improved air quality – Better humidity control means a reduced potential for mold and mildew growth. Lennox home comfort systems are also available with Healthy Climate^® filtration, which minimizes the impact of indoor pollutants.

Please contact your heating and air pros at MTB today.  We will help you with your decision to repair or replace.

Wow, can anyone else believe it's almost Christmas?  We have had a very mild season so far in the Charlotte area, but you can be assured cooler temps will be coming soon.  Along with the cooler weather comes a heat pump or furnace in your home that runs more and more, which in turn is costing you money!  Below we are going to give you some tips for making your home more efficient and in the process lower your power bill. 

Don't pay to heat an empty house!

-This should be pretty self-explanatory but often people are in a hurry and just don't think about turning down the thermostat.  When you leave to go out of town or even for work in the morning, turn that thermostat down! The energy consumed to bring your home's temperature back from 60 to 70 is minimal compared to constantly running at 70 degrees when no one's home.

Should we close our registers/vents in rooms not being used?

-This is a tricky question that you will see argued both ways.  We don't recommend you closing any of your registers if you have a modern, properly designed duct system.  By closing off the register, you will run the risk of reducing the proper air flow back to the unit. Also, back pressure can actually create an air foil back to the main trunk line and slow down air flow to all registers.

Turn off exhaust fans.

-Exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens can be great for expelling smells, smoke, etc.  Unfortunately they also will expel your heat! They are fine to use, but just remember to cut them off when they are no longer needed.

Open doors inside the home to maximize air flow.

-By keeping your doors open inside, the air flow is maximized and your unit can operate more efficiently.

Hang a fan!

-Everyone knows a fan in the summer can cool you off, but what about the winter? Most all ceiling fans have a reverse switch.  You can reverse the blades direction to push down and circulate the hot air trapped against the ceiling.

We hope these tips add some extra cash to your bank account! Contact MTB today for any of your heating, cooling and plumbing needs!

Here at MTB we are constantly watching market trends and trying to stay ahead of the curve.  We especially love products that are energy efficient and can save you money! We've recently stumbled across a new thermostat company that is garnering a lot of attention.  If the thermostat to the left looks sleek, simple and modern it should. 

Two of the founders spent quite a few years at Apple working on various projects.  Most recently they helped develop some of the latest iPod and iPad designs. 

Since heating and cooling makes up for about 50% of your power bill, they saw a big gap in the market for thermostats.  Thermostats have traditionally been a boring box that you have to keep manually changing the setting or they are programmable.  I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm reasonably intelligent and the programmable thermostats I've experienced are insanely complex. 

According to the nest site, you teach nest in about a week.  As more time passes the more it will learn your temperature preferences and save you money.  Additionally nest can connect to wi-fi.  This means you can connect remotely via your smartphone or laptop to adjust the temperature. 

The nest site is great and has a lot of fun videos and additional information. 

The unit is selling for $249 and hasn't been officially released. 

Fall is in the air!  Don't wait until you can see your breath in your house to upgrade your current heating system.  Upgrading your unit to a newer, energy efficient model is something that will save you mucho dinero on your energy bills. 

We found this great Heating Systems Savings Calculator on the Duke Energy web site. This may give you a general idea of how much it will cost to replace your current system and how much money you can save by doing so. 

For a more exact answer on these questions, feel free to contact us at 704.321.9250.  We would be happy to come out and give you a free estimate. 

When we work with builders and homeowners on HVAC systems for residential new construction in Charlotte, the most important thing we focus on is that we design and install exactly the right equipment with the optimal configuration to ensure that you are comfortable year round with the efficiency you expect.

MTB Mechanical Co-Founder, Britt Thomas, shown left looking over new construction plans with a customer. We are proud to be family owned and operated.

The Steps We Take:

1. We run computerized Manual J loads -these tests take into account the sq. footage, layout and materials used in house construction to ensure the proper equipment is in place for your home and configured properly.
2. All duct systems are custom designed for each home -this is the next logical step after properly setting up your equipment. Having adequate airflow around your home is crucial, without it even the most powerful mechanical system will not give you the comfort you deserve.
3. Specialized teams work on different parts of the system -We do not believe in one crew that is just pretty good at everything in a mechanical system. At MTB we have specialized crews that are the absolute best at what they do. You can expect to work with a number of these specialized crews throughout the design and installation process.
4. Quality control is extremely important to us. Our supervisors check on our projects daily to make sure we perform at the very high standards we have set for ourselves every single time.

Whether you are a homebuilder or homeowner our intention is to keep you as a customer for life - everything we do is with that in mind.