The air filter that serves your furnace is one of the most important components of the whole system. You may already know that you should swap out your old filter for a new one regularly, and doing so is an easy (and affordable) job. But could you skip the air filter altogether and just run the furnace without one? This post will resolve this interesting question.

If you are looking for help with a furnace installation project, or if you need heating repair, Berico is the ideal pick for that job. Thanks to a history that dates back generations, Berico is a proven leader in the market and is the easy choice for all of your HVAC needs.

 

The Simple Answer is Yes

To answer the question posed in the title of this article, yes – your furnace will run without a filter. If you were to take out the filter and then turn on the unit, it would run, and you might not even really notice a difference at first.

There is, however, a big difference between asking “Will your furnace run” and “Should your furnace run” without a filter. Yes, it will run, but no, it should not. The filter is an integral component in the system, and you absolutely do not want to run the furnace without one.

 

A Number of Problems Await

If you were to decide to run your furnace without a filter, you would almost certainly run into problems very quickly. For starters, you will have dirt and debris pulled into the furnace system from the air return, and those particles are going to start to collect on key components like the blower motor and heat exchanger. It is the job of the filter to prevent that buildup from occurring, so with no filter in place, things inside the furnace would get dirty and it will soon struggle to work as well as it did previously.

You will also notice that the air quality in your home goes down dramatically when the furnace doesn’t have a filter. A large volume of air is moved through the furnace each day during the cold season, and if that air isn’t filtered, you are going to notice problems like allergy symptoms, dust accumulating on surfaces, and more.

 

A Simple Problem to Solve

Fortunately, there really isn’t any reason to run your furnace without an air filter in place. Purchasing a new air filter is a low-cost investment that will more than pay for itself in terms of the lasting performance you wind up getting out of the unit. And you don’t even need to pay a professional to install the filter, as this is an easy DIY task. Just pick up a new filter that fits your system, put it in place, and provide your furnace equipment with the protection that it needs. An even easier solution is to sign up with Berico’s filter delivery service here: filter delivery service.

Ready to get started with a Burlington furnace repair or installation project? It all starts with a call to Berico. Get in touch today to learn more and schedule your appointment.

What energy source do you use to heat your home? There are a number of options available in the area, but more and more people in this region are turning to propane to keep things toasty all winter long. This post will take a closer look at why so many people are finding propane to be the ideal heating fuel for their needs.

If you decide to make the switch to propane, or you already use propane and need a reliable residential propane delivery company on your side, Berico is the easy choice. Get in touch today to learn more.

 

Reliable Performance All Year Long

When heating your home, the one thing you want more than anything else is reliability. You simply want to be able to set your thermostat and know that your system is going to keep the home at the right temperature day and night. With propane, that’s exactly what you’ll get. Some other types of systems, such as electric heating, can struggle to get the job done when the weather gets particularly cold, but propane will have no such issues.

 

Enjoy Excellent Value

As the winter months add up, the cost of keeping your home warm can start to accumulate. Again here, propane looks like a great pick, as it is an affordable option with steady prices. If you look at the price of propane over time, it tends to be quite stable, so you can plan on paying a reasonable rate for your heating fuel all winter long. If you have noticed that your current fuel source is getting more and more expensive, it might be time to make a switch.

 

Serve the Entire Home

You don’t have to limit your propane usage to just heating your house. While that’s a great starting point, there is much more that can be accomplished with this versatile fuel. You may also want to have it run your water heater, stove, laundry machines, and more. Propane is impressively efficient, so you’ll always be getting a lot of performance for the money you put into filling up the tank.

 

Environmental Benefits

As an added bonus, switching to propane is a smart choice from an environmental perspective, as well. If you would like to lower the overall carbon footprint of your home, go for propane and feel good about the reduced greenhouse gas output of your system as a whole. Even if your primary motivations for making this change are rooted in things like saving money and getting great performance, it’s still nice to know that you’ve done something that will benefit the world around you, as well.

Thanks to excellent furnace efficiency, affordable prices, and many other factors, propane is an outstanding choice for your heating needs. As a local propane delivery company with a history that dates back more than a century, you can always trust Berico to treat you right. Take a moment to reach out today and schedule your first delivery to see what you have been missing!

A frozen pipe is one of the worst things that can happen to a plumbing system. When the pipe freezes, not only will that pipe no longer be able to take the water wherever it was supposed to be going, but the water will expand as it turns to ice and the pipe may rupture. This can quickly turn into a messy, expensive plumbing emergency.

Taking steps to avoid frozen pipes is important, and will be the subject of the discussion below. Should you need help from qualified Greensboro plumbers to keep your system on track during cold (or warm) weather, reach out to the team at Berico right away.

 

Insulation is the Key Starting Point

Without a doubt, the best way to keep your pipes from freezing is to add insulation to them wherever you can. There are pipe insulation products meant just for this purpose and the task of wrapping up your pipes is a simple one. Insulating your pipes is going to slow down the transfer of cold air into the pipe and will make it far less likely that one of the pipes will freeze and burst. Reviewing the condition of your pipes and checking out which ones might need to be insulated is a good task to put on your to-do list or if you would like to have Berico take care of this for you, that can be arranged.

 

Seal Up Cracks and Openings

You can also limit the chances of a frozen pipe by sealing up any cracks or openings that might be allowing cold outdoor air to get in and surround the pipes. Take a walk around your house and look for any small openings that shouldn’t be there – if you can see light coming through a crack, it’s a sure bet that cold air is streaming in, as well. Once you spot some of these openings, use caulk or weather stripping to seal them up, and your pipes will immediately stay warmer and be at less risk of freezing.

 

Open Cabinet Doors to Keep Pipes Warmer

This is an interesting strategy that just might be able to help you avoid problems with your pipes during cold weather. You are certainly using a furnace to keep the interior of your home warm, but there are no vents inside your cabinets where much of your plumbing can be found. That means those spaces – such as under the kitchen sink – won’t get nearly as warm as the rest of the house. Consider opening up those cabinets for a while so warmer air can circulate and keep the pipes at a higher temperature.

Whether you need to call in Berico for emergency plumbing services or just for a regular repair or installation job, you’ll be met with a friendly team that offers outstanding work for a fair price. There is no reason to keep putting off important plumbing work when Berico is ready to get everything in your home back to proper working order.

When you have any type of plumbing work done on your home – whether it is a repair or a new installation – you have a variety of choices to make. One choice, of course, is which of the many Greensboro plumbers you are going to call in for the job. On that point, simply pick Berico and know that you are in good hands.

You’ll also need to decide if you would like to improve your home’s eco-friendly performance while having this work done. Green plumbing is the concept of making small improvements to the way the water system works in your house in order to consume less and help the environment. This type of environmental plumbing is an excellent way to get the performance you need while doing your part for the world around you, as well. This page will take a closer look at this topic and why it’s so important.

 

An Introduction to Green Plumbing

If you stop and think about it, the way your home utilizes water is likely pretty inefficient. A significant amount of water is used up each time you flush the toilet, for example. Added up over the course of a month, or a year, countless gallons of water are wasted in the average residential plumbing system that could have been saved with a bit of careful planning and through upgrading a few key components.

This is the foundation of green plumbing. More and more people are looking to find ways that they can save water while still having a plumbing system that is able to get the job done. That goal is within reach when green plumbing is employed, and the rest of this page will explain why this is such a worthwhile project and how you can make it happen in your house.

 

A Number of Notable Advantages

The primary advantage of green plumbing is the way that reduced water consumption can benefit the environment. Modern life places a tremendous strain on the limited water resources we have available, so if every home was able to reduce how much water it went through on a daily basis, the difference would be enormous.

Cutting down on water consumption is far from the only advantage, however. Some green plumbing measures also help to reduce energy consumption – more on that later – so that’s another benefit to the earth that can be enjoyed. Between using less water and using less energy, it’s easy to see how green plumbing can lead your entire household toward having a smaller environmental footprint.

Finally, you might also enjoy a longer useful life out of some of your appliances when you reduce water consumption. When less water is moving through the system, less wear and tear will accumulate, and you should be able to get an extended life span out of some of your components as a result.

 

Help the Environment – And Save Money at the Same Time

You might be primarily motivated to explore green plumbing because of the environmental benefits, but that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate the financial savings that will come along with it. In fact, you can go a long way toward offsetting the cost of the plumbing upgrades when you start to see savings on your utility bills moving forward.

Using less water simply means you will spend less on that resource month after month. Cutting down on your water bill is a great start, and if you include upgrades that reduce energy consumption, you can reduce the size of that bill, as well. Even if these savings are modest at first, they just keep coming month after month, and the cumulative effect over the coming years will end up being significant.

You could also wind up saving some money by avoiding plumbing repairs after you upgrade your system. Once many of your fixtures have been replaced by new, green fixtures, you’ll be well-positioned for potentially many years of hassle-free plumbing performance.

 

Types of Green Plumbing Fixtures

So, what kinds of upgrades to your plumbing system will fall into the category of “green plumbing”? There are many to consider, including those listed below –

• Low-flow toilets. If you were to break down the water consumption in your home, you would likely find – perhaps to your surprise – that your toilets are the main water usage feature. An inefficient toilet can use several gallons of water in just one flush, so you can easily imagine how that will add up over time. Upgrading to low-flow toilets can save more than 10,000 gallons of water in your home in just one year!
• Low-flow showerheads. While your toilets might lead the way in terms of water consumption, your showers aren’t far behind. This is particularly true in a home with several family members. Adding low-flow showerheads will cut down on the volume of water that is used during showers, without any significant loss of performance. You’ll be able to get just as clean in a shower with a low-flow head, and you’ll be saving water – and money – at the same time.
• Tankless water heaters. While this is a bigger investment than a low-flow toilet or showerhead, making the switch to a tankless water heater is a great way to make your plumbing system far more green. The value here is found in the reduced energy consumption of the tankless system. Rather than continuously using energy to keep a big tank of water warm, tankless models only heat the water when you are going to use it, meaning significant energy savings are enjoyed. There is also a functional benefit to tankless water heaters that shouldn’t be ignored – since there is no tank and the water is heated on demand, you won’t run out of hot water during a long shower or an extended dishwashing session.

If you would like to have some green plumbing fixtures added to your home, or if you simply have some repairs that need to be made, Berico should be your first pick. Give the friendly Berico team a call today and get started on this important project.

Your furnace works tirelessly throughout the winter to keep your Greensboro home warm and comfortable. However, like any mechanical system, it has a lifespan. Over time, even the most well-maintained furnace will experience decreased efficiency and increased wear and tear. Recognizing the signs that it’s time for a replacement can save you from unexpected breakdowns, costly repairs, and higher energy bills. In this post, we’ll explore some key indicators that it might be time to invest in a new, more efficient furnace.

To work with a proven Greensboro HVAC contractor on the potential upgrade to a new furnace, take a moment now to reach out to the experienced Berico team. Everything from furnace repair to new furnace installation can be handled by the friendly, talented pros and Berico.

 

Use Age as a Guideline

While the age of your furnace isn’t an absolute answer to the question of whether or not you need to upgrade to a new unit, it is a starting point. Generally speaking, you can expect to get 10 to 20 years of service out of a furnace under normal conditions. So, if yours is reaching that point, it’s probably about time to make the switch. With that said, there are other factors that need to be considered, such as those discussed below.

 

Watch for Frequent Breakdowns

It’s not a big deal if you have one thing go wrong with your furnace and you have to have a repair completed by the Berico team. However, if those breakdowns keep happening – and they get more and more frequent – you should start thinking about just replacing the furnace instead. After all, every dollar that is spent repairing the old furnace is a dollar that could have gone toward purchasing the new one.

 

Track Your Energy Consumption

An aging furnace is going to get less and less efficient as time passes, and it will consume more energy as a result. So, a good way to see how your furnace is going is to keep track of your energy consumption on your utility bill from month to month. For example, find your bill from a month last winter and compare it to how much energy you used during a month this winter. Has consumption gone up significantly? When you upgrade to a new model, you’ll find that you use far less energy, meaning your utility costs will go down, and those savings will somewhat offset the cost of the furnace.

 

Listen As the Furnace Runs

One other way to determine if your furnace needs to be replaced is by listening to what it sounds like as it runs. A properly functioning furnace will be relatively quiet, and the noise it produces will be steady. On the other hand, when a furnace is nearing the end of its useful life, it’s likely that there will be some strange, loud noises produced from time to time. Consider those noises a sign that you should replace the unit soon.

Teaming up with the right heating and air contractors is fundamental to your comfort in and around the Greensboro area. Make sure your system is living up to its potential by connecting with Berico today and learning more about the many services that are available. You’ll be in good hands from the start!