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Some Flame Helpful Holiday Hints:

• With Thanksgiving just passed and Christmas coming up, you may be having lots of family over for these holidays.  Well what if your furnace breaks and you have no heat and 40 members of your family are coming over Christmas dinner?  Don’t worry.  Flame Furnace will help you out with an emergency like this.  You simply just call Flame Furnace and somebody will be able to help you out as soon as possible!  We do not want you to spend your Christmas freezing!
• If you are worried about your furnace breaking down, not necessarily on a Holiday, consider signing up for the Gold Plan.  It gives your priority over non Gold Plan members along with waiving your diagnostic fee with emergencies.  it also entails you to a free annual inspection for your furnace (or air conditioner if you also sign it up for the plan) along with numerous other discounts.  As you can see, the Gold Plan will help to keep you warm during the Holiday season with its annual inspection and will also help you to get the help you need and fast for a broken furnace.

There is no need to fret over the next couple of weeks about your furnace breaking when you have all your family crammed into your home.  Flame has got you covered.  We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!

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Electricity is very important in everyday lives.  When building a new home it is important to have it wired well and if the power goes out anywhere in your home or office it can sometimes seem like a big deal.  Here is an idea if your power does go out and also some other tips:

•   Check the circuit breaker.  You can tell if it isn’t working by looking or testing for a wiggly breaker.  It shouldn’t be all the way to the on or off positions.  If you find one of those, flip it all the way to the off position and then back to on.  If it is having problems staying on, flip it back to the off position (tape it if necessary) and wait to find out what the problem is.
• If all the power in your home goes out it could be because of a storm or problem with the electrical company.  This can last from a couple minutes to days and sometimes you cannot go for days with your power out.  Consider investing in a back-up home generator that will restore power to your home while electrical lines are being fixed.
• Flame has certified technicians that are able to help you with most if not all electrical needs.  Flame can wire your home for you and help with other problems you may be having.  Electricity can be dangerous to deal with and if you aren’t exactly sure what you are doing, sometimes it is best to call someone who does.

Christmas lights are going up, and that can often mean power trouble!  So here are some ideas that can maybe help you out and also feel free to call Flame about any electrical needs.  For more information on generators you can call Flame or look through the blogs for articles dealing with generators such as “Stand-by Generators vs. Portable Generators.”  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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It is winter, it is snowing-now what do I do with my air conditioner?  That’s a good question, because even though it is so cold that you may not even remember you have an air conditioner, you should remember to follow these couple of steps for you air conditioner:

•  If it is still warm enough out, rinse out your unit with a hose of any debris or dirt that is already there from the summer.  That way it will not be sitting there all winter.
• Cover your unit!  However, do not cover it all the way.  Keep about 5 or 6 inches uncovered at the bottom.  This allows air to come in and keep the unit dry, otherwise condensation can build up underneath the cover.
• Make sure to cover the top-Even if you do not cover anything else, cover the top so that leaves and debris do not get into your unit and block drain holes and also so that snow is not sitting on the blades all winter long
• Shut the power off to your air conditioner.  You can switch the breaker off on your circuit board in the basement, or pull the disconnect switch.  The disconnect switch should be located outside on the wall of your home near your unit.  It can often just be turned around and plugged back in.
• Throughout the winter, check your air conditioner to make sure that there is not too much of a snow or ice build up on top of the cover.  Clear off the snow, so that it won’t weigh down the unit and strain it.

Flame Furnace is happy to help you with any of these steps, whether over the phone or by coming out to help.  Flame also offers custom made air conditioner covers and can help you with your disconnect switch or finding the air conditioner breaker in your basement.  Even if the last thing on your mind is your air conditioner when it is freezing out, try to remember to take care of it during the winter months.  It takes care of your during the summer ones!

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It’s possible that where your furnace is, may be where you are trying to hide Christmas presents or where your Christmas decorations are waiting to be pulled out.  However, you may want to to find a new hiding space.  Keeping items close to your furnace, especially flammable items can bring about a potentially dangerous situation.  Here are some furnace safety ideas that will help to make sure that your Christmas decorations and presents remain decorations and presentations:

•  The furnace area should be kept clear.  Keep about 1 ft in the sides and the back clear and about 2 to 3 ft. in the front
• If you have a furnace that exhausts in a metal pipe, make sure that nothing is touching that pipe from the furnace to the chimney where it exhausts.  This occurs on 80% furnaces
•  Keep top of water heater dust free
• Do not block a furnace that uses indoor air for combustion, otherwise it could create large amounts of carbon monoxide which is very dangerous
• Remember to clean or replace your furnace filter every 1 to 2 months
• Make sure that the pilot light for your furnace is blue.  If it is yellow, it may not be working properly and you should call a certified technician to help you remedy the situation

Schedule a furnace inspection, where a certified technician can make sure that everything is running properly and also where you can ask him any questions if you have any. With the holidays quickly approaching, the last thing you want is furnace problems!   Also check out these helpful videos, about keeping your furnace clear of items and more:  http://www.flamefurnace.com/ask-the-furnace-doctor.php

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Years ago a whole family would gather in the main area of the house to stay warm around the fireplace or stove.  However, nowadays with the heating systems available, your family shouldn’t have to do that, unless they want to spend time together!  Do you have rooms in your home that just are not getting heated enough?  Read the rest of this entry »

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Brr!  You freeze in your basement, but wake up sweating at night upstairs in bed!  Does this problem sound familiar to you?  Your cold air isn’t circulating as well as it should be! This is a fairly common problem because hot air rises which can make your home seem to be unevenly cooled.  Often this occurs in homes with only one furnace or air conditioner.  Here are some ideas from Flame to help make your home more comfortable. Read the rest of this entry »

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Halloween is over and the Holiday season continues on!  Soon there will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas!  Both of these holidays can include lots of people and family in a home and Christmas of course has some presents underneath the tree!  Here is a small list of “holiday season” or winter ideas for your heating/cooling system or other products and services that Flame can offer you!

1.  Furnace Inspection-This is very important, your furnace/air conditioner should be checked about once a year.  Why not check your furnace before the really cold weather starts to kick in?  If you are interested, check out the “Gold Plan.”  When signing up either a furnace or air conditioning unit for this special plan you will receive a free inspection on that unit along with being a priority when you have actual problems with your system!  You can find information on an other blog about the “Gold Plan,” by looking at the Flame Furnace website (www.flamefurnace.com), or by simply calling and asking!
2. Humidifier-Winter air can be very dry, especially when you add a furnace to the mix!  All your holiday guests may not appreciate always leaving your home with chapped lips.  You can purchase portable humidifiers or a more permanent one that goes right into your heating and cooling system and you can even get a humidistat to control the humidity.
3. Carbon monoxide detector-This is for safety reasons.  You never want this alarm to go off, but especially not if many of your friends and family are there! This alarm can help keep you and your family safe during the holiday season.
4. Programmable thermostat-Programmable thermostats can help to save you money by making sure that the heat is turned down when it is least needed.  You can program your own schedule.  This extra money may be needed for all the gifts and food you may be purchasing throughout November and December!

Though these “gifts” or ideas may not be as fun as books, movies or clothes, they can still be handy and helpful as the season approaches.  ”It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” and with the help of Flame Furnace you can be prepared for almost anything to happen!

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As you may know the Flame Furnace website offers your information about services and the company, monthly deals and sales on products and services as well as the blogs.  It can sometimes be difficult to remember to always check the Flame website.  Especially if you are not actually in the market for a new furnace or air conditioner. 

Consider subscribing to the Flame Newsletter.  It comes in e-mail form and often contains a letter from the president, some tips from the blog, and new or monthly sales and deals.  For example this newsletter contained a notice for a furnace inspection for $99.50.  That is only about $100 to make sure that your furnace is working properly and to help it not break while you really need it in the dead of winter.  

If you got the newsletter-you may have known about this deal! Also, the blogs can give you interesting tips on different products, services and how to save energy and money.  The Newsletter will showcase a recent blog that may be of use to you.  To subscribe to the Flame Newsletter simply e-mail newsletter@flamefurnace.com.  Or, at www.flamefurnace.com you will see a place to sign up for the newsletter at the top of the website.  It is in small print so be on the look out!

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