Key Bank Business Of The Month

We Are Key Bank’s Business of the Month

Alpine Heating And Cooling was chosen as business of the month for April 2013 by Keybank of Burlington, WA. Alpine Heating And Cooling will have a unmanned display up inside of the entry way into Keybank. Stop by, take a look and fill out an entry form to win either a FREE Maintenance or a FREE Honeywell programmable FocusPro 6000 thermostat (not installed) your choice.

We will have an American Standard 95% Modulating Gas Furnace on display for you to look at.

Keybank Display

Keybank Display

Thanks,

Gary

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

Alpine Heating and Cooling Video

We’ve made a little video to give you an idea of who Alpine Heating and Cooling is and what we represent. We hope you enjoy it. Please let us know how we can serve your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning needs.

Call or email us to make an appointment.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

Oil Furnace to Gas Furnace Upgrade

Loud, Inefficient, Even Dangerous – It Had to Go

Here we have yet another oil furnace that should have been converted over many many years ago. At a certain point, a furnace becomes an unmanageable risk. You are, after all, playing with fire. Once you upgrade, you’ll spend less on fuel, be more comfortable, and be safer in your home.

Chrysler oil furnace

Chrysler oil furnace

It was an old Chrysler Airtemp oil furnace, built by Chrysler Corporation. I may have seen a half dozen of these in the last 30 years. It was built like a tank. The home was built in 1951 and I’m willing to bet the furnace was original.

Furnace American Standard 80%

Furnace American Standard 80%

The Oil Furnace Legacy

One of the biggest things to consider when changing from oil to gas is the old tank. If your tank is in the ground sooner or later your going to be dealing with that tank … better sooner than later. Have it decommissioned.

The American Standard 80% furnace is obviously a little smaller in dimensions and in this case as in most we down-sized the furnace to match the home. We added a liner in to the existing masonry chimney and ran a new gas line from the new meter to the furnace. Pretty simple, straightforward project.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

An Oil to Gas Furnace Upgrade

Gas Furnaces: Smaller, yet More Powerful

Perhaps the most satisfying change outs to me are going from oil to natural gas. There’s always a dramatic reduction in the size of the equipment as well as an increase in the efficiency. Customers love the results. Gas furnaces are easier on their wallets and quieter. People are more comfortable in their homes with a new, efficient gas furnace, and they get some square footage back.

Older 80% Oil Furnace

Older 80% Oil Furnace

This older oil furnace above is no exception. While natural gas has been available for more than 20 years, this old, loud, inefficient oil burner is still clunking along.

80% American Standard Gas Furnace

80% American Standard Gas Furnace

A Properly Sized Furnace Will Save Money

The existing oil furnace was too large for the home. The new, smaller-sized American Standard 80% gas furnace is a perfect match. Now the home won’t over shoot in temperature and the customer will start saving money. We added a liner to the existing masonry chimney and installed a Honeywell 4″ pleated air filter in to the return system. The Honeywell filter will improve indoor air quality and the comfort of the home’s occupants.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

American Standard Heating System

Strange Heating System Installs

I have seen some pretty weird heating system installations. Some make me wonder why the installer put all the effort into short cutting when it would have been faster to do it right. This is one of those.

York 80% Furnace part of the old heating system

York 80% Furnace.

The existing York furnace was sitting on an overly complex steel angled frame. So much effort was put in to this angle iron frame. Half that effort could have been put into making a simple transitional base can. But, it’s in place now and it is what we have to work with. Professional installations should be simple and functional, with no more than the necessary parts and pieces.

Many times, when we find a messy, complex, or non-standard install we know that the previous installer was not a true professional. These systems are usually less efficient and less reliable than they were designed by the manufacturer to be. Saving a few dollars on an install can often cost much more over the years.

95% 2 stage variable speed American Standard heating system

95% 2-stage variable-speed American Standard furnace

Simplify for the Win

We adapted the new American Standard 95% efficiency 2-stage variable-speed gas furnace into the existing duct system. Some simple modifications were made to the supply and return plena. A new PVC vent pipe and a new condensate drain line were run. Everything else simply bolted right up, and it worked great when we were done.

It is incredibly satisfying to walk in to a mess of complexity and inefficiency and leave behind a beautiful, clean, and simple heating system that the owner will enjoy for many years.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

Older Lennox 80% To New 95% 2 Stage Variable.

This older Lennox 80% Furnace had a control board that went beyond having a hot spot. The existing board actually caught fire and caused some alarm in the home.

Older Lennox 80% Furnace

Older Lennox 80% Furnace

When your furnace gets beyond 10 years of age we usually(based on expense) like to give our customers the option of repairing or replacing. And in this case you have to consider the cost of the control board and any other unknown electrical part that has failed.

New Variable Speed 2 stage 95% American Standard Furnace

New Variable Speed 2 stage 95% American Standard Furnace

If you have not figured this out by now by reading our posts is that the American Standard 95% 2 stage Variable speed gas furnace is our favorite furnace to install. We have had almost zero warranty issues caused by the manufacture. That being said we have had installation issues .. .primarily getting a good slope on the drain line when existing the right side of the cabinet. Its very hard to do with all the components in the way. BUT as you can see the furnace slipped right in to place with very little modifications. Venting changed and a condensate line added.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

2011 Tax Credit Extended Thru 2012

On January 3, 2013 President Obama signed legislation designed to avoid the “fiscal cliff” and keep rates from increasing for every American who pays taxes. In Addition to its many other tax provisions, the bill retroactively reinstates the 25C tax credits for highly efficient HVAC and water heating equipment that expired at the end of 2011.

Read the full document here.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.

Erratic Furnace issues

There is nothing worse for a technician than to get dispatched to a no heat call and then upon arrival finding out the furnace is working correctly. He will run it through all its cycles several times and find absolutely nothing wrong with the furnace.

Furnace Control Board

Furnace Control Board

And of course if the technician leaves without finding the issue the customer will call back within days and complain the furnace is not working again. This is very frustrating for both the technician and the customer, especially if he shows up for the 2nd time to find the furnace is still working just fine. We have found under these circumstances that the furnace control board is more than likely the issue. The picture above shows what appears to be a perfectly good control board.

Furnace Control Board under.

Furnace Control Board under.

Its after you flip the board over and inspect it that you will see a hot spot on the board. Its hot spots like the one above that will cause intermittent issues with the furnace operation. Sometimes the furnace works great .. other times it short cycles and blows cold air. These issues will get gradually worse over time. Simply turning the board over can save a technician a lot of time.

The hard thing to overcome for a technician is being 100% confident that this is the issue with the furnace, after all it is a expensive repair. But in almost every case that we have changed the control board under these circumstances the erratic operation went away. And if you do not change the control board you may end up with a possible fire hazard as shown above.

Heating And Cooling Skagit County

Need a Heat Pump, Air Conditioner, Furnace, Boiler, Ductless, Mini-Split or Tankless Water Heater? We install them all over Skagit county including Mount Vernon WA, Burlington WA, Anacortes, Sedro Woolley, La Conner, Stanwood WA, and on Camano Is.