La forma correcta de poner en servicio un horno

Los hornos pueden ser quisquillosos. Durante los meses más fríos, constantemente recibimos llamadas de personas cuyas calderas no mantienen sus casas calientes por algún motivo u otro.

A veces, hay un mal funcionamiento real de algún tipo. Tal vez una parte falló. Tal vez el motor del ventilador se estropeó.

Otras veces, nada está realmente roto. El problema es que el horno nunca se puso en servicio correctamente.

Eso significa que los técnicos de HVAC que instalaron el horno nunca configuraron las cosas correctamente después de que lo hicieron funcionar. Verá, es posible instalar un horno sin, y esto es muy común en Atlanta, asegurarse de que el horno pueda tener éxito en:

• Mantener calientes a los ocupantes en los días y noches más fríos
• Operando de manera segura para que todos los humos vayan a donde se supone que deben

Se necesitan algunos pasos finales para hacerlo bien. Y es simplemente increíble qué pocas compañías de HVAC se molestan en tomarlos después de instalar un nuevo sistema.

Así es como debe poner en marcha un horno

Es un proceso de cinco pasos que es a prueba de fallas si realmente lo sigue. Sí, requiere trabajo adicional para el técnico de HVAC, pero no se puede poner precio a la comodidad interior impecable y la seguridad de sus clientes. Así es como lo vemos, de todos modos.

Así es como nuestro equipo pone en marcha un horno después de la instalación:

1. Reloj el metro

Casi nadie (excepto nosotros) hace esto. Es fundamental cronometrar el medidor para establecer la cantidad adecuada de entrada de gas, expresada en BTU.

"Clocking" es básicamente una fórmula que le muestra la cantidad de gas que se entrega al aparato. Realice este paso para asegurarse de que la llama ingrese al horno correctamente y no sea demasiado grande o demasiado pequeña.

To understand how this works, imagine you just installed a 60K BTU furnace. If you're an HVAC technician, you want to assure the customer that the furnace really is getting 60K BTUs of gas so that it's operating according to the manufacturer's specifications. A tech should check the meter, plug the numbers into the formula, and adjust the gas valve according to the results. When everything checks out, per the formula, you can be sure that the furnace is getting 60K BTUs of gas.

Clocking the meter and making these adjustments can affect performance, efficiency, and furnace longevity. It's a small thing for your HVAC technician to do, but it can make a huge impact on your comfort and your wallet.

2. Perform a combustion analysis

This step ensures your furnace is burning gas properly. By "properly" we mean safely and efficiently.

When a furnace is burning properly, a certain amount of combustion gas will be produced and then vented safely to the outdoors. Proper venting is important because exhaust gases are being produced and do have to go somewhere. You don't want them venting into your home due to an installation mishap or wear &tear issue!

The right way to do this is to use a digital combustion analyzer. We take multiple readings around the combustion appliance (in this case, a furnace), inside the vent pipe, and within the living space. This step verifies that combustion gases aren't going where they could be unsafe.

Remember, furnace exhaust contains carbon monoxide. It's dangerous to breathe it.

Combustion analysis also shows whether the right amount of combustion gas is being produced. If the levels are off, there could be an issue with combustion that needs to be addressed before we can call it a day and say that the furnace is properly installed.

3. Check the venting and drafting

This kind of goes along with combustion analysis. It's important to ensure that the vent pipe is the right size and design.

Occasionally, there will be physical blockages in the vent pipe. Think:leaves, pine straw, dirt, and other debris. If that stuff is preventing combustion exhaust from escaping the home, it needs to be cleaned out.

In some older homes around Atlanta, furnaces were installed many years after the home was constructed and vented into an existing chimney. This might have been an okay option 60 years ago when someone first installed a furnace. However, over time, old chimneys with masonry liners can crack and combustion gases can enter the home. When your furnace or other gas appliance vents into an old chimney, it's very important to have an HVAC technician check that all the gases are venting properly!

At PV, we use the same combustion analyzer to verify proper venting. With this tool, we can use a fine measurement of pascals (the relevant unit of measurement for this application) to make sure the furnace is venting as it should.

4. Check temperature rise

This is where you check to see that the furnace isn't overheating your home. When we check temperature rise, we're also making sure that the airflow is set so that the furnace can heat within a range appropriate to its design.

Performing this step — and performing it correctly — extends the lifespan of your HVAC system and helps you avoid service calls down the line.

Keep in mind that checking temperature rise and performing combustion analysis should really be happening in tandem. Changes to temperature rise can impact the combustion process, so you have to be constantly analyzing combustion while making any adjustments.

5. Cover all the basics

There's a whole laundry list of little checks that most HVAC companies do manage to remember. You've got to do those, too. They include things like:

• Making sure the gas shutoff valve works and can be turned without a wrench
• Checking the the furnace itself is level and sealed with no gas leaks
• Verifying that an atmospheric combustion furnace isn't in a confined space and adding ventilation in the event that it is
• Verifying proper drip and ensuring there's a hard pipe gas line going to the furnace
• Ensuring that the venting is secure, properly sloped, and uses double-wall material all the way back to the furnace
• Checking that the thermostat is properly set up

Our team does all of those things, plus the super-important, but often neglected, tasks described above. We think all of these steps are essential to ensuring your new furnace keeps you warm for many winters to come!

If you have furnace problems…

There's a chance your furnace wasn't properly commissioned. Common symptoms of an improperly commissioned furnace include uneven temperatures among different rooms, hot spots and cold spots, and high gas bills.

When poor commissiong is the issue, there usually isn't anything wrong with your furnace. Some adjustments are likely in order, but after that there's a good chance the furnace will work fine.

If you're not satisfied with the performance of the furnace in your Atlanta area home, get in touch with us! We'll stop by at your convenience and figure out what's going on.