Archive for February, 2015

The Importance of Maintenance for Your Boiler

Friday, February 27th, 2015

It’s been a long, cold winter here in New England, and it’s not over yet, which means you are continuing to count on your boiler to provide the heat you need. It’s not unusual for your boiler to start showing signs of wear and tear at this time of year, particularly when it’s been tremendously cold, as this year has been, but there’s a great solution that can perk your boiler right up: boiler maintenance for your system in New Hampshire. “Isn’t heater maintenance just for the fall or spring?” you may ask. The answer is no, and when we have harsh winters, it’s always a good idea to schedule a mid-winter maintenance appointment. The heating professionals at HB Energy Solutions are here to assist you with all your boiler needs, so if it’s been more than 12 months since your last boiler maintenance appointment, or your boiler seems sluggish, call our experts today!

Why Maintenance Is Important

There are several reasons why scheduling maintenance for your boiler is important. The first is energy efficiency. Have you noticed that your energy bills are slowly creeping up, or that you are going through fuel much faster than you should? When a heater is worn down from use, it needs more energy to work as expected. Maintenance helps restore energy efficiency because your boiler’s parts are cleaned, adjusted and lubricated, allowing the unit to work optimally. A second reason maintenance is important is that is helps prevent repair. During a maintenance appointment, your boiler goes through a thorough inspection that allows the technician to discover any existing or developing problems and head them off before they can become big issues. A third reason to schedule maintenance is to help extend the life of your system. When your boiler stays in good working order year after year, it has far less a chance of breaking down from premature aging and excessive wear and tear.

Call Us for Maintenance Today

A professional maintenance appointment is a full tune-up for your boiler in New Hampshire, so to gain the benefits maintenance has to offer, it’s always important to hire trained professionals for the job. The heating experts at HB Energy Solutions are ready to help you maintain your boiler, so call us today!

Can a Mid-Winter Maintenance Appointment Prevent The Need For Furnace Repair Down The Road?

Saturday, February 21st, 2015

It’s been a cold and extra-snowy winter here in Vermont so far, and your furnace may be feeling it. There’s no reason to wait until you need furnace repair for your southern Vermont home to find out; instead, schedule a mid-winter maintenance appointment with your HB Energy Solutions technician and get ahead of potential repairs.

How Maintenance Helps Reduce Repair

There are a few reasons why maintenance can help reduce the level of repair that your furnace may need. The first is that your technician will conduct a thorough inspection of your entire unit. This helps the technician detect any developing or existing problems with the system. If small things are found, like a loose fan belt in the blower or frayed wiring, the technician will repair these items before they can become bigger issues. Another way a mid-winter maintenance appointment can help you get ahead of repairs is the cleaning, lubrication and adjustment aspects of the appointment. Your technician will clean and remove dust and dirt build-up on components, including the burner, and lubricate all moving parts so that no issues of grinding develop. Some components can shift or loosen during regular operation, and maintenance allows the technician to see this kind of issue and re-adjust the component so that it is positioned correctly.

Other Benefits of Mid-Winter Maintenance

Not only does a maintenance appointment help prevent future repair, it also helps with the following:

  • Better energy efficiency – the cleaning, adjusting, lubrication and small repair your system receives during a maintenance appointment allows the system to work optimally, which can help increase its energy efficiency.
  • Better performance – when your system is in good working order, as it will be after a maintenance appointment, you will get better performance from it.
  • Extends life of the equipment – systems that are well-maintained are far less likely to work under stressful conditions, which helps eliminate premature aging.

If you have concerns that your furnace in southern Vermont may be heading for a repair appointment, call HB Energy Solutions today and schedule a maintenance appointment with one of our experts.

Some of the Unusual Movies Released for Valentine’s Day

Saturday, February 14th, 2015

Hollywood has always tried to match movies up to the seasons to draw droves of viewers to the theaters: October is packed with fright-offerings, while the winter holidays skew toward warm and pleasing family films (as well as Oscar hopefuls). Valentine’s Day falls in an odd spot when it comes to the movie release calendar, however, since February tends to be a slower time for the film industry. The studios are as likely to slot strange movies that don’t fit anywhere else in their annual schedules into the Valentine’s Day weekend as they are films with powerful romantic appeal.

So, while the second weekend of February has featured hugely successful romantic comedies like Hitch, The Wedding Singer, and (of course) Valentine’s Day, some truly weird choices have debuted in this weekend as well. And a few have even gone on to tremendous success despite the bizarre match with the holiday. Here are a couple of the odder Valentine’s Day movie releases:

  • Dracula (1931): Yes, this Halloween perennial and the start of Universal Studio’s Classic Monsters actually came out on Valentine’s Day! But perhaps this makes some sense, as the Dracula legend has often received a “doomed lover” approach in the many years since Bela Lugosi made the aristocratic vampire a screen icon.
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Does any film seem less appropriate for Valentine’s Day than this unnerving and sometimes very violent psychological thriller? What’s even more astonishing than the film’s release date is that The Silence of the Lambs eventually nabbed the Oscar for Best Picture, an almost unheard of occurrence for a movie released so early in the year.
  • Daredevil (2003): This Marvel comic adaptation featuring Ben Affleck as a blind superhero does contain a romantic subplot, but the stronger connection to Valentine’s Day may just be that Daredevil wears a bright red costume.
  • A Good Day to Die Hard (2013): The least successful of the Die Hard film franchise, this is an excellent example of a studio dropping a film into a weekend where it doesn’t fit in the hopes that it works as counter-programming. (It didn’t.)
  • Wayne’s World (1992): Now here is an example of counter-programming that clicked with audiences. This comedy based on a Saturday Night Live sketch turned into one of that year’s biggest hits and spawned a sequel.

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day with a trip to the movie theater, or you have your own special plans, everyone here at HB Energy Solutions hopes you and your loved ones have a wonderful weekend.

What Are My Ductless Heating Options?

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

Ductless systems have become a great option for many homeowners, whether seeking whole-home heating and cooling or heating and cooling for a new expansion or retrofit. We have some pretty big temperature swings in our part of New England, with summer temps reaching the low 90s and winter temps that run below zero. As such, we’ve chosen two ductless manufacturers whose products can handle our New England whether while also being durable and offering the comfort you need and want from your ductless heating in New Hampshire: Mitsubishi and Fujitsu. We’ll go into more detail about these products below, but know that the experts at HB Energy Solutions are here to help you with all your heating needs.

Mitsubishi Ductless Systems

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating has been manufacturing heating and cooling products for over 30 years. As one of the leaders in ductless systems, the Mitsubishi brand offers a number of benefits that are specific to their brand:

  • INVERTER-driven compressor system – this compressor starts with a great deal of power to heat or cool quickly, then adjusts its speed as needed, so it operates at variable speeds. This can be a tremendous energy saver for many households
  • i-see Sensor 3D technology – this sensor detects where people are in a room and directs the heating or cooling toward them
  • Can effectively heat to temperatures of -13F and above

Fujitsu Ductless Systems

Fujitsu General has been in the heating and cooling industry for over 35 years. There are many designs to choose from with a Fujitsu system, including wall mounted, Universal floor/ceiling, floor mounted, slim duct, compact cassette, cassette and multi-systems. Some features of the Fujitsu systems are:

  • INVERTER technology
  • Effective operation up to -15F and above
  • Base freeze prevention – certain models are equipped with a base heater that prevents the condensate from freezing

Which Is Best for You?

Each system offers great benefits of heat pumps, including great energy efficiency and long lifespan.

To determine which ductless heating system will work best for your New Hampshire home, call HB Energy Solutions today and schedule an appointment with one of our experts.