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.
Does your toilet require lengthy instructions to guests on how to flush it? Is it worn out to the point where no amount of cleaning can make it presentable, and you hope guests don’t ask to use it in the first place? Why haven’t you replaced that old toilet already?
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.
“Do you know how old your sump pump is?”
I love to ask people this when I get the chance. Unless they recently had a flooded basement, they don’t remember. Nobody does.
That’s not surprising. There’s a lot to remember these days … passwords, websites, birthdays, anniversaries (especially that last one!). After awhile, it’s hard enough to remember your own age, let alone the age of your sump pump. Plus, it’s down in the basement where you never go if you can help it. Even if you do look at the sump pump, it’s not like there’s a tag on it that clearly tells you the age.
Here’s the thing. Even though forgetting your sump pump’s birthday is understandable, it can lead to problems (and not because you didn’t get it a gift…).
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.
The debate rages on at cocktail parties and family gatherings. There are some who have an extreme view to the right and those who would prefer people lean left when it comes to the subject. One thing we can all agree on is that in Crystal Lake and the Northwest Chicago area suburbs, winters are cold. So what is the definitive answer to what is the best temperature for a house in winter? What are appropriate winter thermostat settings for your home? The answer may be a bit more complicated than you think.
