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You finally get home after a long, chilly day. As soon as you come inside, you crank up the thermostat hoping to knock some of the chill out of your bones. But instead of being greeted with a warm, gentle breeze from the furnace, you’re startled by the sound of an earsplitting, hair-raising screech.

Your first thought is probably, “That sounds expensive.”

A screeching heater is unnerving. However, most of the time, it’s a simple fix that requires a bit of expert knowledge and skilled hands to repair. It’s not a sound that you want to turn up the TV and ignore, though—the longer your heater screeches, the more you risk costly damage.

Let’s take a look at the most common causes of a screeching or squealing heater.

Your furnace clicks on and the blower motor is running, but the air coming from the vents is cold or cool instead of hot. Or maybe the air starts off hot, then turns cool before the furnace shuts down.

Let’s look at some of the solutions to this common furnace problem.

Gas fired appliances like furnaces, boilers and water heaters create gases as a byproduct of the combustion process. In order for these appliances to work safely, they must be vented properly and maintain a proper draft to make sure the gases exit your home. Gas leaks, high carbon monoxide levels, and improper drafting can all be dangerous if not addressed.

If you need to turn off your home’s gas or water due to a needed repair or a weather issue, first you have to know where the water and gas shut off valves are located. Ideally, you’ll want to locate the main or master shut offs, as well as the supply shut offs, before an emergency happens.

SAFETY NOTE: If you suspect a gas leak, do not try to turn off the gas to your home. Get outside, move away from the house, and then call the gas company.

If you have a water leak, your municipal water supplier may have an emergency number you can call to report it.

Oh, fantastic. You’re sweltering on a hot day and no matter how low you set the thermostat, your air conditioning system just can’t seem to cool the house. Or maybe you feel warm-ish air coming out of the vents instead of nice cold air. What could be going on?

Do you know the differences between residential HVAC and commercial HVAC? Knowing the differences can help you choose the right contractor for your routine maintenance, repairs and HVAC replacements.

Most of us view our homes as inanimate objects, constructed of wood, bricks, steel, glass, and roofing materials. Few look at our houses as a representation of who we are. Literally.

Take, for example, our home's electrical system. It serves as the “nervous system” of our houses, providing the power it needs to function efficiently. A home's plumbing serves much like our own and even our insulation qualities are similar. Have you ever given thought to the fact that your home's HVAC system serves as the lungs of your home?

This has been another brutal winter in Crystal Lake and the NW Chicago area. The fact is, relatively few areas of the country have been spared from the cold. In Northwest Chicago, however, it seems we have gone weeks at a time without the temperatures reaching above freezing. It is easy to see these conditions are tough on our cars and our attitudes but they are also tough on our furnaces. Our furnaces are asked to work overtime to keep us comfortable in these weather conditions without much regard to age or condition. Eventually, the weakest link or links will fail creating a need for a furnace repair. At Althoff Industries, these are the most common repairs that we have encountered for NW Chicago area homeowners.

HVAC installation day for your new HVAC system is an exciting time for our team at Althoff Industries. While we try to minimize any negative impact HVAC installation day may have on you and your family, we want you to know what to expect. We also hope that the day brings a certain excitement to you, knowing you will soon have a new, more efficient HVAC system providing a more comfortable indoor environment.

Many view home heating from a pretty straight-forward standpoint. If they are comfortable, their thermostat is set correctly. If they are not comfortable, the thermostat is set too low or too high. Of course, when multiple family members are involved, this can create quite a challenging situation that is often resolved by the person who pays the utility bills. There is, however, another major factor in the comfort of your home. It is humidity.