Most AC systems are built to last 10 – 15 years. The better and more faithfully you have yours maintained, the more productive years you can expect from it. But even well-maintained systems eventually require professional attention beyond simple annual maintenance. When that time comes, here are a few of the more common warning signs…
Heating and Cooling a Home with High Ceilings
Vaulted, cathedral, or otherwise high ceilings can make a home feel spacious, airy, and grand, allowing beams and other architectural details to shine. However, they can also have an effect on your HVAC system and, in turn, heating and cooling costs. Read on as we explore how high ceilings impact an HVAC system’s ability to…
Home Maintenance Tasks to Tackle this Spring
The increasingly longer days and warmer temps make early spring a great time to tackle some projects and prep your home and garden for the summer months ahead. And to help you figure out just where to start, we’ve come up a list of 10 tasks to check off your to-do list now so that…
How to Identify Mold vs. Mildew
Mold and mildew are often used interchangeably, almost as if they were the same substance. They both thrive in damp, dark, poorly ventilated areas and can wreak havoc in your home and with your health. Simply put, neither mold nor mildew is welcomed in the home, especially if you suffer from allergies, asthma, or other respiratory…
Your Guide to Decoding Product Labels
Reading household and personal care product labels can often feel like reading a foreign language. We’re bombarded with fancy-sounding words that claim to be free of certain potentially harmful ingredients and deliver miracle-like benefits. But how can we be certain whether those claims are fact or fiction? Especially considering that as long as a product…
Get More Out of Your Appliances
Imagine starting the day without the sound of your coffee pot’s drip-drip-drip of freshly brewed coffee, keeping your home warm without your trusty heating system, washing clothes and linens without a washing machine, or cooking meals without a stove, oven, or microwave. Sure, generations before us managed to survive without such luxuries, but today these…
Are New Carpet Odors Making You Sick?
The smell of something “new” can be wonderful. The perfect scent of a newborn baby, a shiny new car, or the smell of a new perfume. But “new” can also make you sick. New coats of paint and stain can leave you gasping for air. As can new carpeting. Whether you like the smell of…
How to Enjoy Fall in a Warm Climate
The changing leaves, the seasonal designer beverages, the warm, oversized sweaters – it’s all pretty great. Unless you live in a warm climate such as the Fort Worth area. With temps still hovering around the 70s and 80s, fall doesn’t exactly look like a Hallmark movie. So how can you savor the season while still…
6 Ways to Cool Down a Hot Room
Every home seems to have one – that one room or area that’s noticeably hotter than the rest of the house, sometimes unbearably so. Sure, you can try an oscillating fan, noisy window air conditioner, or simply ignore the room until cooler temps roll around. But wouldn’t you prefer a better, more permanent solution? Whether…
Why is a Musty Odor Coming from My AC?
Under normal circumstances, your air conditioning system should be out of sight and out of mind. And while you should expect to hear a low steady hum and feel cool air coming from the vents and returns, you should not be smelling anything unusual. And yet, if you notice a mildewy or musty odor emanating…