La bonne façon de mettre en service une fournaise

Les fours peuvent être capricieux. Pendant les mois les plus froids, nous recevons constamment des appels de personnes dont les fournaises ne gardent pas leur maison au chaud pour une raison ou une autre.

Parfois, il y a un dysfonctionnement réel quelconque. Peut-être qu'une partie a échoué. Peut-être que le moteur du ventilateur est tombé en panne.

D'autres fois, rien n'est vraiment cassé. Le problème est que le four n'a jamais été correctement mis en service.

Cela signifie que les techniciens CVC qui ont installé la fournaise n'ont jamais réglé les choses correctement après l'avoir fait fonctionner. Vous voyez, il est possible d'installer un four sans - et c'est très courant autour d'Atlanta - s'assurer que le four peut réussir :

• Garder les occupants au chaud les jours et les nuits les plus froids
• Fonctionner en toute sécurité afin que toutes les fumées aillent là où elles sont censées aller

Quelques étapes finales sont nécessaires pour bien faire les choses. Et c'est juste incroyable combien peu d'entreprises de CVC prennent la peine de les prendre après l'installation d'un nouveau système.

C'est ainsi que vous devez mettre en service un four

C'est un processus en cinq étapes qui est infaillible si vous le suivez réellement. Oui, cela demande un surcroît de travail pour le technicien CVC, mais il n'y a pas de prix pour un confort intérieur sans faille et la sécurité de vos clients. C'est comme ça que nous le voyons, en tout cas.

Voici comment notre équipe met en service une fournaise après l'installation :

1. Horloge le compteur

Presque personne (à part nous) ne le fait. Il est essentiel d'horloger le compteur afin de régler la quantité appropriée d'entrée de gaz, exprimée en BTU.

"Clocking" est essentiellement une formule qui vous indique la quantité de gaz fournie à l'appareil. Vous effectuez cette étape pour vous assurer que la flamme pénètre correctement dans le four et qu'elle n'est ni trop grande ni trop petite.

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.