Month: February 2018

Babies and young children can’t control their body temperature as well as adults. They can get chilly fast, even with the mild winters in Overton, Texas. If your baby gets too cold, he or she could keep you awake all night by crying. Getting enough sleep and staying comfortable are both critical for kids and adults. You can keep your baby comfy in cold weather by using warm clothing, adding zoning, installing a humidifier and getting rid of drafts.

Use Warm Clothing

When you put your baby to sleep, dress him or her in one-piece pajamas with feet and a hood or a hat. You can also add an undershirt under the pajamas. Wearable blankets or sleep sacks are also available. Avoid bulky clothes or thick blankets to reduce the risk of suffocation or overheating.

If the rest of your home feels comfortable but your infant seems cold, add a space heater instead of using blankets that might harm your baby. Make sure it’s at least a few feet away from the crib, and keep flammable objects away. Even if you don’t hear crying, you should check on your baby every few hours to make sure that he or she isn’t too cold or overheated.

Add Zoning

Increasing the temperature on your thermostat is the easiest way to keep your baby comfortable. Unfortunately, using your heater more increases your your utility bills. You can make sure that your baby is warm enough without making other members of your family too hot and conserve energy with zoning.

With a zoned system, special dampers in your HVAC system’s ductwork direct warm air where you need it the most. Several thermostats monitor the temperatures in the different areas or zones of your home. These thermostats usually connect to a programmable thermostat so that you can control the temperature anywhere in your home from a central location.

You can control many thermostats with zoning through your computer or your smartphone, as well. Many ductless HVAC systems have more than one indoor unit, so you can use zoning by controlling the units separately instead of installing dampers in your ductwork.

Installing a Humidifier

Using your heater reduces your home’s humidity, and the air is naturally drier in winter than in summer. If you’re using your furnace often to keep your child comfortable, you and your entire family might deal with dry skin, dry eyes and irritated sinuses.

You can keep your baby and the rest of your family from having trouble sleeping and improve your indoor air quality by getting a whole-home humidifier installed by a professional. You can also use a smaller, less expensive portable humidifier for your baby’s room.

Higher humidity also prevents static electricity, protects wooden floors and furniture from cracking, and makes people feel warmer. A humidifier can help you keep your baby comfortable without turning up the heat.

Getting Rid of Drafts

Check for drafts in your baby’s room to save energy and make sure that he or she stays comfortable. Just turn off your HVAC system along with any ceiling fans. Then, hold a burning incense stick, a candle or a piece of string near the door, the walls and any windows in your baby’s room. If the smoke from the incense, the flame or the string move, there could be a draft nearby.

Look for gaps or thin places in your insulation. Use weatherstripping to eliminate spaces around doors and windows. You can take care of small leaks near light fixtures, baseboards and electrical outlets with caulk. Use thick curtains for windows, and make sure you close them at night. As long as you keep your baby out of direct sun, you can open them during the day to take advantage of heat from the sunlight.

JD’s A/C is a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer with more than 30 years of experience. We can help you maintain, repair, and install a variety of heating and cooling equipment to help you keep your child comfortable. Call us at (903) 759-7483 for outstanding service.

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Your HVAC system is a complicated machine. You’ll need a trained professional to diagnose and fix any issues with it. However, having some basic HVAC troubleshooting knowledge will help you understand the problem better and take care of simple HVAC issues in your Gilmer, Texas, home. Here are some of the most common issues homeowners face and some HVAC troubleshooting tips:

Uneven Heating or Cooling

If the temperature is different throughout your home, you most likely have an improper air duct balancing issue. Either the airflow in some rooms is high or the vents in some rooms are closed. 

Adjust the dampers to optimize the air flow, and open the closed vents. If the air filter is dirty, replace it. Sometimes, the problem is due to poor insulation, fan speed or duct obstruction.

Poor Airflow

If you’ve always experienced poor airflow, your home’s ductwork might not be sized correctly or installed properly. However, if the airflow has weakened recently, check the air vents. Make sure they are open and not blocked by furniture, curtains or other objects.

Next, check the dampers. If any of them are closed, open them by turning the handle so it’s in line with the duct. Other reasons for poor airflow include a dirty air filter, faulty blower motor and worn-out fan belt.

Weird Noises in the Outdoor Unit

If you hear a loud metal-on-metal noise, it might be due to fan blades hitting something. Open the unit, and remove ice formation or any other obstruction from the blades.

Sometimes, vibrating loose parts are to blame. A trained professional should tighten them. He or she can also address sounds caused by a bad motor, broken fan blades and a loud compressor.

If you need professional help fixing any of these issues, contact the experienced HVAC technician technicians at JD’s A/C at (903) 759-7483. We look forward to troubleshooting your HVAC issues and restoring your comfort.

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Cold air holds less moisture, making the air feel dry in winter. Generally, the humidity in your Hallsville, Texas, home should be between 40 and 60 percent. Anything less can be brutal to your health and comfort. Watch for visual signs, static current and health symptoms to know whether the air in your home is too dry.

Visual Signs

When you heat cold air in winter, its capacity to hold moisture increases. As a result, it starts to absorb moisture from walls, floors and furniture.

This causes wooden floors to creak and crack. Paint and wallpapers begin to peel, and doors and windows become more difficult to open. Wood furniture might bend, and musical instruments might go out of shape. Paper products such as books and paintings might become brittle and warped.

Static Current

Dry air can’t dissipate electricity, causing static electricity to build up. This is the reason behind those sparks and shocks when you touch something in winter. Clothes and blankets tend to stick together. You might also experience problems with some electronic devices.

Health Symptoms

Dry air pulls moisture from your body and affects your respiratory system. When your throat, nasal passages and lungs get dry, you start coughing and become vulnerable to cold, flu and infections. If your nose is too dry, you can get a nosebleed. Look for itchy skin and chapped lips among your family members. Those suffering from asthma and allergies are prone to having severe health issues, but it’s also common for people to suffer from sneezing, sinus congestion, and runny nose.

Adding an appropriate amount of moisture to the air helps you return comfort and hygiene to your home. Consider installing a humidifier. Use filtered water in it to prevent mineral buildup and microbial growth. Seal your home to prevent cold and dry outdoor air from seeping in.

If you need help dealing with dry air, don’t hesitate to consult the indoor air quality experts at JD’s A/C. Call (903) 759-7483 to learn more about proper humidification.

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