Cedar Falls, IA Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning Blog | Dalton Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, Inc.

The Importance of Regular Water Heater Maintenance

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.

Time to Listen to Your Heater

March 13th, 2023

What would happen if your appliances suddenly woke up and could speak? It would make for some pretty good entertainment, and if you’re a screenwriter who happened upon this blog, then take the idea and run with it! But for everyone else, it’s fun to imagine for a second that our heating systems might strike up a conversation with us. What would they talk about? How would they sound?

Well, we’re not just bringing this topic up for giggles. There’s a real truth behind the fact that we pay less attention to the parts of our lives that don’t directly talk to us. Our heating systems can take a beating, and because they don’t have eyes or mouths to voice their frustrations, nothing gets done until they break down. Today we’d like to talk about how your heating system might beg you for heating service in Waverly, IN, and why that could be a big problem.

Maximize Energy Efficiency With Ductless AC

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.

Electrical Fire Safety Tips for Homeowners

February 27th, 2023

Every home in the 21st century needs electricity. Even those tiny, off-the-grid homes, usually have some kind of generator that gives them the power to charge a phone or keep the lights on. Electricity is what makes our homes modern, they give us access to appliances and heating, automatic dishwashing and laundry, and much more.

However, an electrical system can be dangerous when it’s not installed or maintained properly. You’ve all seen these kinds of disasters in movies and television shows, where an exposed wire meets water or another exposed wire. There’s a reason why surge protectors and grounded outlets are so important, and we’re going to cover that topic today. It’s possible to keep your home safe from electrical fires and hazards, it just takes professional help. So, let’s discuss how an electrician in Marion, IA can help you with keeping your home safe.

3 Tips for Better Heating

February 27th, 2023

We’re almost at the end of winter, which means we’re trying our hardest to give our heating systems one final push before they can hibernate for the warmer months. This means that anything you can do to improve your heating is going to be a good idea. Go ahead and change the air filter, set your thermostat to a mild temperature, and ride out the rest of the winter in good shape.

But what if we told you there were some methods that could improve your heating next year and the year after that? These tips are not just for the immediate future, but they could heavily impact your heating in the next few years. Let’s focus on some great tips that homeowners might not be aware of so they can help avoid heating repair in Waterloo, IA unless it’s absolutely necessary. And in some cases, it will be!

Yes, Your Furnace Needs a Safety Inspection

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.

What Is Considered a Plumbing Emergency?

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.

A Booming Furnace Is a Bad Sign

February 13th, 2023

Furnaces can make a lot of different noises. Some of it, like the gentle whooshing of air coming from your air vents, are good noises. These noises help signal to you that the system is working properly and it’s not going to leave you in the cold. However, there are plenty of sounds that signal that the system is in dire need of support, from maintenance to vital repairs.

This blog has two purposes. One is to help answer some of the questions you might have about your booming furnace and to alleviate the stressful situation you’re in. The second purpose is to inform any of our readers on the potential hazards that come with a booming furnace, and why this sound should never be ignored. Once you’ve been clearly informed on this kind of problem, we urge you to contact our team for furnace repair in Waterloo, IA so that your home’s heating can go back to normal.

3 Common Electrical Panel Problems

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.

Is a Bigger Furnace Really Better?

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.