Most of us flip on our central heat and air units regardless of the season, expecting the usual flow of either warm or cool air. When the cycle is interrupted, we know it—and feel it—instantly. Knowing a little about how your heat & air system works is important—if nothing else to calm you down while waiting for a qualified repair service, like Beaver Brothers, Inc., to arrive! All climate-control devices or systems have three basic components: 1) a source for warmed or cooled air, 2) a means to distribute that air, and 3) a control to regulate the system, meaning a thermostat.
When the furnace is turned on, it consumes the fuel that powers it, whether it be gas, oil, or electricity. As fuel is burned, heat is produced and channeled to the living areas of your home through ducts, pipes, or wires and then is blown out of registers, radiators, or heating panels. When an air conditioner is turned on, electrical power is used to cool a gas in a coil to its liquid state. Warm air in your home is cooled by contact with the cooling coil, and this cooled air is channeled to rooms directly from the unit itself.
While radiant and gravity systems are also in use in many homes, particularly older houses, for our purposes we’ll restrict our content to the forced-air system, which distributes heat produced by the furnace?or the coolness produced by a central air conditioner?through an electrically powered fan, which forces air through a system of metal ducts to the rooms in your home.
The thermostat, which regulates the temperature of your home, responds to changes in the temperature of the air where it is located and turns the furnace or air conditioner on or off as needed. The thermostat’s key component is a bimetallic element that expands or contracts as the temperature increases or decreases in a house. The latest heat and air-conditioning controls use solid-state electronics. Typically, they’re more accurate and more responsive than older systems. But repair to solid-state controls usually means replacement.
At Beaver Brothers, we’ve supplied our customers with trusted heating and air conditioning service for more than 94 years. Our friendly experienced staff stands ready to help you with all your indoor climate needs. But don’t wait for your heat or AC to give out! Give us a call at (704) 637-9595 today and let our experts check out the condition of your heat and cooling system, or visit us on line at www.beaverbrosinc.com.
Beaver Brothers Inc. 807 Corporate Circle Salisbury, NC 28147