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

Our Guide to a Refrigerant Leak

Monday, April 10th, 2023

Air conditioners use refrigerant in a closed-loop system. What this means is that by the time the system is fully installed, it’s been set up with all the refrigerant it will ever need for the rest of its lifespan.

Refrigerant in an air conditioner is not like gasoline in a car, it shouldn’t need to be refilled and it should have the same amount next year that it has this year.

However, as you can clearly tell by your system leaking refrigerant, and other people needing a refrigerant “recharge” for their systems, this isn’t how it works out in real life. Air conditioners can leak refrigerant. So, what do you do?

First of all, the problem needs to be diagnosed before we can recharge the refrigerant. AC repair in Cedar Rapids, IA is going to be necessary to have the issue diagnosed and fixed. Then we can worry about replacing the refrigerant and getting you back to normal.

Continue Reading

Tags: ,
Posted in AC Repair | Comments Off on Our Guide to a Refrigerant Leak

5 Signs You Need Central AC Repair

Monday, April 3rd, 2023

A central air conditioner is a great investment for your home, but it’s not going to run the full extent of its lifespan without a few hiccups.

Any appliance is going to have components break down due to wear and tear, so it’s only natural that you’ll need to invest in central air conditioning repair in Cedar Rapids, IA. But detecting those problems is a whole ordeal itself.

So, let’s cut right to the chase. We’ll help you locate and diagnose a problem if you call us to have it fixed. Do we have a deal? This ensures that you stay in total control of your air conditioning system and budget, and you get licensed professionals to handle the difficult part of the repair. Only a pro has the tools and expertise to fix these kinds of problems.

If any of these signs sound familiar, then you should get our team to fix them before the summer arrives.

Continue Reading

Tags: ,
Posted in AC Repair, Cedar Rapids Blog | Comments Off on 5 Signs You Need Central AC Repair

5 Signs You Need Expert AC Repairs

Monday, March 27th, 2023
air-conditioner-being-repaired

So, you’re frustrated with your air conditioner. We get it! Most of the time, when customers or other readers get to this blog, it’s after a long and complicated ordeal with their air conditioning systems.

Perhaps it’s not cooling certain rooms, it’s making noises, or worse, it’s shutting down completely. What gives?

Well, many things can give. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to diagnose an air conditioning system via blog post, or even on the phone. A professional HVAC technician will almost always need to take a closer look at the system and check under the hood.

With that in mind, there’s no problem with informing our customers about some of the potential problems that could be happening, and giving them a few strategies to help deal with them.

Here’s a hint though, the best strategy you could do right now is invest in repairs for your central air conditioning in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Continue Reading

Tags: , ,
Posted in AC Repair, Cedar Rapids Blog | Comments Off on 5 Signs You Need Expert AC Repairs

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: , ,
Posted in Cedar Rapids Blog, Water Heater Maintenance | Comments Off on The Importance of Regular Water Heater Maintenance

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: ,
Posted in Air Conditioning, Cedar Rapids Blog | Comments Off on Maximize Energy Efficiency With Ductless AC

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: ,
Posted in Cedar Rapids Blog, Heater Maintenance | Comments Off on Yes, Your Furnace Needs a Safety Inspection

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: ,
Posted in Cedar Rapids Blog, Plumbing | Comments Off on What Is Considered a Plumbing Emergency?

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: , ,
Posted in Cedar Rapids Blog, Electrical Services, Electricity | Comments Off on 3 Common Electrical Panel Problems

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: , ,
Posted in Cedar Rapids Blog, Heating | Comments Off on Is a Bigger Furnace Really Better?

What Should I Do If My Water Heater Is Leaking?

Monday, January 23rd, 2023
Modern boiler system with connected pipes and gauge, ready for or undergoing boiler repair.

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.

Continue Reading

Tags: ,
Posted in Cedar Rapids Blog, Water Heaters | Comments Off on What Should I Do If My Water Heater Is Leaking?