Dalton Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, Electric and Fireplaces, Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Cedar Rapids’

The Importance of Regular Water Heater Maintenance

Monday, March 13th, 2023

A water heater requires maintenance. If you’d like your storage tank water heater to reach the full amount of its 8-12 year lifespan, then you’ll be better off scheduling it yearly. These systems go through a lot of stress every year in order to provide us with comfortable water temperatures, so it kind of makes sense that we need to tune them up every once in a while.

Even problems like corrosion can get exceptionally bad when there’s nobody to take a look at the system, flush it, and replace the anode rod. And, for anyone who has a tankless water heater out there, these systems still require maintenance as well. Basically, if you have hot water in your home that you use for cooking, cleaning, and bathing, then you need water heater maintenance in Cedar Rapids, IA. And today, we’d like to explain why in some better detail.

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Maximize Energy Efficiency With Ductless AC

Monday, March 6th, 2023

You’ve probably heard that ductless air conditioning in Cedar Rapids, IA is more energy efficient than some other methods of cooling, but how? Even homeowners who are broadly familiar with AC technology might get a little confused by the idea that these little mini split systems can compete with the big, centralized air conditioning units of just 5-10 years ago.

We’re going to take a deep dive into the technological advancements that these systems espouse. Due to some really nifty changes in how we approach cooling, a ductless mini split system is going to be more energy efficient than other cooling systems, but only in specific situations.

After this blog post, you should be able to determine whether a ductless air conditioning system is right for your home. Or, perhaps you’ll feel confident knowing that your central AC unit was the right call for your house.

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Yes, Your Furnace Needs a Safety Inspection

Monday, February 20th, 2023

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this blog, we need to be clear that gas furnaces are safe. We would never, under any circumstances, install a system that was unsafe in your home, so you can rest assured that this is the case.

Sometimes a furnace can become unsafe through years of wear and tear, neglect, and sheer bad luck. And one of the best ways to deter this problem is with professional furnace maintenance in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Maintenance isn’t just a tune-up. It’s a safety inspection and it’s going to be the difference between a winter when you’re constantly nervous about the gas and fumes that are inside of your system, and one where you sleep soundly every night. We want to talk today about the benefits of a heating system safety inspection, and why you’ll always want to trust a licensed professional to get this done for you.

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What Is Considered a Plumbing Emergency?

Monday, February 13th, 2023

No matter what age you are, whether you’re celebrating the golden anniversary this year or you just graduated high school, you probably watched cartoons at some point. They’ve always been fun and entertaining for kids, even in the Steamboat Willy era. But cartoons also have a habit of showing us less-than-realistic depictions of some real-life things, especially plumbing events.

A gushing water leak or a cartoonishly large wrench are usually the things people think about when they imagine an emergency plumbing situation. These aren’t realistic depictions of what your plumbing emergency might actually look like. Frozen pipes or a sewer clog could be a plumbing emergency, but you’ve likely never seen that on TV or in the movies!

Let’s talk about how you can better tell if you need emergency plumbing in Cedar Rapids, IA, or if you can wait a few days to schedule a normal appointment.

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3 Common Electrical Panel Problems

Monday, February 6th, 2023

For a time, electrical panels were the new and improved version of a fuse box. Those old systems aren’t really used anymore and you should first make sure that your home has an electrical panel before looking into repairs. But for most of us, that’s already a reality.

Your electrical panel is the box that has all of the labeled circuits of your home in one location. It serves as a centralized hub, a place where you can always check to see if a certain electrical circuit is on or off, or you can even see how many circuits there are in terms of your power load. If all of the power of your house is going to one outlet, then you can identify which labeled part that is in your electrical panel for an upgrade.

But sometimes you’ll notice bad things, like corrosion or a broken switch, and those are signs that your electrical panel in Cedar Rapids, IA needs repairs.

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Is a Bigger Furnace Really Better?

Monday, January 30th, 2023

Furnaces come in all shapes and sizes, but that’s for a very good reason. A furnace that is too large or too small will obviously cause problems, but many homeowners are in the dark as to what those problems might be. For instance, there’s a classic misconception that having a larger furnace is always better since you can’t go wrong with more heat in your home, right?

Well, you can, but not for the reason you would expect. No, your home won’t get swelteringly hot, and it’s not particularly unsafe, but it will lead to tremendously higher heating bills and a system that breaks down early on in its lifespan. This is what we call “short cycling” and it’s something that your furnace can be the victim of if you’re not careful.

So, let’s talk about why a furnace installation in Cedar Rapids, IA should be a specific size that fits your home.

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What Should I Do If My Water Heater Is Leaking?

Monday, January 23rd, 2023

Uh oh… you’ve got another water heater leak. You went down to the basement to check on something, or perhaps to grab some old storage containers that you’ve kept down there and you notice the constant dripping next to the water heater tank. Well, at least you’ve detected the problem, now we need to figure out what to do!

Water heater leaks aren’t all that uncommon. For a system that cycles through hundreds of gallons of water, they’re likely to encounter leaks at some point. Basically, we want to reassure you that there’s no panic needed at this moment. With a trained professional on hand, you can get your water heater fixed, or even a water heater installation in Cedar Rapids, IA. Just make sure you learn from this experience and make the right call depending on what your home requires.

Here’s what you should do if you encounter a bad water heater leak.

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Superior Heating and Cooling With Geothermal Technology

Monday, January 16th, 2023

Geothermal systems are some of the best and most efficient heating and cooling systems on the market today. There’s really no comparison when you try to look at other heating or cooling systems in those categories. The only thing that prevents them from being the prime choice for most homeowners is the fact that they’re much more expensive than other heating and cooling units. A gas furnace is just always going to cost less to install than geothermal heating in Cedar Rapids, IA, but for customers that might have the disposable income now, we’d recommend a geothermal system.

This blog is going to focus on some of the unique aspects of this technology. We first want to talk a bit about how geothermal HVAC systems work. Then, we’ll move on to discuss why they’re so efficient and long-lasting when compared to other HVAC technology.

Don’t just take our word for it. Let the science speak for itself!

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Poor Air Quality Can Be a Health Emergency

Monday, January 9th, 2023

We talk a lot on this website about the importance of proper temperature control and professional HVAC work like maintenance and repairs. One huge aspect of HVAC that we don’t talk about as much as we should is indoor air quality. The quality of your air matters just as much as the temperature, and it can have some huge implications for your home and health.

This blog post is going to highlight a few reasons why your air quality is important, and why certain members of your family, friends, and guests might have trouble being in your home for long periods of time if the air quality isn’t dealt with.

Our team has the resources to help you. With an air filtration system in Cedar Rapids, IA, you can siphon out all of the contaminating particles that might cause someone with asthma, COPD, or other illnesses to undergo severe respiratory distress.

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New Year, New Heating System

Monday, January 2nd, 2023

With the new year, it’s important to take a step back and look at how we got to where we are. There are many good reasons to choose a new heating system, whether you’re just unsatisfied with your current one or in desperate need of a new system to keep your home warm. Regardless, we understand why you might want a heating replacement in Cedar Rapids, IA, but getting rid of your old heating system can be a tough ordeal.

A lot of people decide to keep running their heating systems way past their expiration date because that sounds like the easiest way to save money. But that can lead to quite an amount of problems, from high heating bills to constant repairs that get in the way of your peace of mind.

Let’s talk about a few ways you can be a more proactive heating system owner by figuring out when the best time to invest in a replacement might be.

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