The Composition of Snowflakes: Are No Two Alike?

December 25th, 2014

“No two snowflakes are alike.”

This is a statement nearly every schoolchild has heard at least once, either while crafting unique snowflakes with a sheet of folded paper and some scissors or while learning a lesson on the science of snow. While even most scientists don’t quite understand what causes a snowflake to form such complex and beautiful columns and points and branches, one thing is for certain, the composition of snowflakes guarantees that no two will ever be identical.  However, it is possible for two snowflakes to appear to be nearly exactly alike.

A snowflake begins to form when a piece of dust catches water vapor out of the air. Water is created when two hydrogen molecules attach to an oxygen molecule. The two hydrogen molecules are angled from one another in such a way that they form a hexagonal shape when they come together during the freezing process; thus, a snowflake begins as a simple hexagonal shape or as layers of hexagons called diamond dust. The emergent properties that follow from the original hexagon are what differentiate one snowflake from another, as the humidity, the temperature in the air, and many other factors (some of which remain unclear to scientists) allow each snowflake to form in an entirely unique way with a seemingly endless variety of shapes.

However, in 1988, a scientist named Nancy Knight claimed to have located two that were the same while studying snowflakes as part of an atmospheric research project. And it appeared to be so; when put under a microscope, the emergent properties looked nearly identical. But while it is feasible that two snowflakes can appear to be exactly alike on the outside, they are never identical on an atomic level. Deuterium is an atom that appears attached to about one in every 3000 hydrogen molecules in the air. Because there are millions of atoms that make up a snowflake, the random assortment of deuterium in any two snowflakes—even in two that so very closely resemble one another—simply cannot be the same.

Here at Kool Breeze, we’d like to remind you to grab a cup of cocoa and relax with your family this holiday, perhaps by crafting some unique snowflake creations of your own. We wish you a very happy holiday season, from our family to yours!

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Signs You Need Repairs for Your Commercial Heating

December 17th, 2014

Commercial isn’t all that much different from home heating, really. Sure, there are minor details that might differ, some parts present in one system that may not be necessary in another. For the most part, though, there are only two differences: scale and consequence. By that, we mean that a commercial system is bigger, and creates bigger issues when it fails. You don’t want your customers being uncomfortable when they enter your place of business, which can certainly happen when the heat goes out. Read on to find out how you can avoid this particular disaster.

Strange Noises

Whenever you hear strange noises coming from your heating system, it’s a pretty good sign that you should call a professional. There are a couple of signs, however, that merit special attention. We’ll start with grinding. If you hear grinding coming from your heating system, it’s probably the bearings failing on your air handler motor. The bearings are designed to help the motor run smoothly by lessening friction, thereby lightening the workload on the motor. When the bearings fail, however, the motor begins to experience more and more resistance as it tries to rotate. Eventually, it comes up against so much friction that it burns out.

Another noise you should watch out for is a squealing sound when you first turn on the heating system. This is caused by the system’s fan belt failing. The fan belt is a rubber belt that connects the motor and the fan in the air handler. When the fan belt wears out, it begins to stretch and crack. This causes the squealing sound in the heater.

Short-Cycling

Short-cycling is when your heating system won’t stop turning on and off throughout the day. This is caused by the system overheating, causing the limit switch to shut it down to prevent any damage or fire risk. When the system has cooled off enough, it starts up and overheats again, trapping it in an endless on/off cycle. This severely shortens the life of the heating system, and can cost a lot of money in lost efficiency.

If you are having trouble with your heating system, call Kool Breeze. We provide quality commercial heating services in the Navarre area.

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The Reversing Valve: The Key Component of Heat Pumps

December 10th, 2014

Heat pumps combine two comfort functions into a single system: forced-air heating and cooling. During the long hot season in Florida, a heat pump can provide a level of indoor cooling that is equal to a comparably sized standalone air conditioner. During the shorter periods of cold weather, a heat pump can switch over to providing a sufficient level of warmth to keep a home pleasant without excessive energy waste. In Pensacola Beach, FL, heat pumps are one of the best ways to stay comfortable around the year.

In most of the important ways, a heat pump works like an air conditioner. The key difference between the two is a component called the reversing valve. Without this valve, a heat pump would remain in one mode or the other. If you have a heat pump that either won’t give you heating or won’t give you cooling, the fault probably lies in the reversing valve. Call Kool Breeze, any time of the day or night, for the repair work necessary to restore your heat pump to full operation.

The Reversing Valve

The job of the reversing valve in a heat pump is to change the route of refrigerant between the indoor and outdoor coils, which will cause the two the exchange their functions of condenser and evaporator. When the refrigerant moves first from the compressor to the indoor coils, the heat pump is in heating mode. When it moves first to the outdoor coils, the heat pump is in cooling mode.

A reversing valve operates by a pressure difference inside a metal tube, controlled by a solenoid. The pressure change moves a slider through the tube, and this slide straddles two of three tube openings. When at rest (de-energized), the slide creates a pressure difference on one side of the tube that allows the refrigerant from the compressor to move first toward the indoor coils and makes them act as the condenser, releasing heat to the inside of the home. When the slide shifts to the other side of the valve (energized) the pressure change now permits the refrigerant to move to the outdoor coils first, making them the condenser and releasing heat to the outdoors. An electrical connection from the thermostat controls whether the reversing valve is energized or de-energized.

A broken reversing valve will mean a heat pump that is trapped in one mode or the other. If this occurs, the reversing valve will need to be replaced (this is less expensive than trying to repair them), and this job requires professionals to handle. The thermostat can also lose its connection to the valve, which will usually trap the pump in heating mode because the valve will remain de-energized. If your heat pump starts to act as if it has a bad reversing valve, call for trained heating technicians right away.

At Kool Breeze, we want you to enjoy comfortable temperatures in your home no matter the weather outside. We install heat pumps in Pensacola Beach, FL and provide all the repair and maintenance work necessary to keep them working for many years. Give us a call the next time you need heat pump service.

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How Does a Heat Pump Work for Heating?

December 3rd, 2014

Heat pumps are a great alternative to more traditional systems when it comes to heating your home. More and more homeowners are taking advantage of heat pumps for their energy efficiency, versatility, and safety compared to furnaces and boilers. However, many people are still ignorant of how heat pumps actually work. To remedy that, let’s take a look at the inner workings of a heat pump.

Parts of a Heat Pump

A heat pump system consists mainly of two parts. These parts are the interior and exterior units. As the name suggests, these units are installed inside and outside the home, respectively. The function of these units changes, depending on whether the heat pump is in heating or cooling mode. Since we’re only talking about heating in this article, however, we’ll call the inside unit the condenser, and the outside unit the evaporator. These names refer to the coils that are present in each unit.

The other major part you should know about is the refrigerant line. This line runs between the two units, and is filled with one of several kinds of liquid responsible for transporting heat.

How it Works

When the heat pump is turned on, the refrigerant flows out to the exterior unit and into the evaporator coil. The coil then evaporates the refrigerant, turning itself into a heat sink for the surrounding air. Through this process, thermal energy is leeched from the air and into the coil, where it is stored in the refrigerant gas. The refrigerant then runs inside to the interior unit, where the condenser coil condenses it back into a liquid state. This releases the stored thermal energy, which the interior unit can then use to warm the air to be circulated. The now-cold liquid refrigerant is then moved back out to the exterior unit to continue the process.

This method of moving heat from one place to another, rather than relying on combustion to generate heat, is what makes heat pumps so energy efficient.

If you’d like to know more about how heat pumps work, call Kool Breeze today to speak with a qualified technician. We professionally install heat pumps in the Pensacola Beach area.

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10 Facts You Should Know about Thanksgiving

November 26th, 2014

Thanksgiving has been celebrated as an official holiday in the United States for over 150 years, so you may think you understand all there is to know about this family feast. Most of us have heard the story of the pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving in 1621 after arriving in North America on the Mayflower. But did you know that only about half of the people on this ship were actually pilgrims? This fact is one of ten things that may actually surprise you about the Thanksgiving tradition!

  1. Although we often consider Thanksgiving a holiday unique to the United States, many other countries and cultures celebrate their own set of harvest-time and thanksgiving traditions. In Korea, Chu-Sok (or “fall evening”) is put on in remembrance of forefathers on August 15th of every year. Brazil celebrates a contemporary version of the U.S. holiday. Chinese, Roman, and Jewish cultures all have a history of harvest celebrations as well.
  2. President Harry S. Truman began the tradition of a ceremony held before Thanksgiving during which the president receives a turkey. George H.W. Bush was the first to pardon the turkey instead of eating it.
  3. In Minnesota alone, farmers raise over 40 million turkeys a year. In fact, U.S. farmers produce about one turkey for every one person in the country.
  4. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the average American will gain about one to two pounds every year during the holiday season.
  5. On the other hand, turkey is naturally high in protein and has been known to support and boost immune systems to protect against illness and speed up healing. So feast on!
  6. Abraham Lincoln issued a “Thanksgiving Proclamation” in 1863, but a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale can be credited with the idea. While Thanksgiving had been celebrated at different times of year in many areas of the U.S. for years, it was Hale, prominent magazine editor and author of the rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” who urged Lincoln to finally establish the national event.
  7. President Franklin D Roosevelt once tried to change the date of Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday of the month in order to extend the holiday shopping season and boost the economy.
  8. Only about half of the people on the Mayflower were what we would consider today as “Pilgrims.” The other (approximately) 50 people were simply trying to find a way over to the New World.
  9. Gobble, gobble! Click, click? While male turkeys make a gobbling noise, females (hens) do not; it’s often described as a clicking.
  10. Even though we celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November, the month of June has been declared National Turkey Lovers’ Month by the National Turkey Federation so you can continue the celebration in the summer as well!

From our family here at Kool Breeze, we’d like to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Benefits from Regular Heating Maintenance

November 19th, 2014

Most homeowners ignore heating maintenance until something goes very wrong with their system. This is understandable, considering the perceived cost-benefit analysis. When you schedule heating maintenance without any particular problem, you’re paying money without any visible gain. The problem with that reasoning is that it doesn’t take into account the many benefits of regular heating maintenance. Let’s examine the real reasons you want to schedule regular maintenance for your heating system.

Wear and Tear

As your heater gets older, wear and tear from normal use will begin to degrade the various parts in the heater. This is not something that can be avoided, really. It’s simply a side effect of regular use. The problem you’ll begin to experience is that as this wear and tear progresses, there will be a slow decline in the ability of the various parts in your heater to function as well as they once did. We’re not talking about parts actually breaking, though that will happen if left untreated. This is simply the degradation of efficiency that comes with parts aging and being used regularly.

What does this mean for you? For starters, your heating bill is probably going to go up over time as your heater ages. You may notice it right away, you may not. Either way, as the parts in your heater decline, the heater will be forced to work harder to produce the same heat output. That means you’re burning more fuel for greater total cost.

The second consequence of letting this wear and tear go untreated is eventual breakdown. The parts will eventually reach a point where they wear down enough to break completely. This is where most homeowners notice a problem and call a technician. The issue is that by the time a part wears enough to actually break, it tends to be a lot more expensive to fix.

Regular heating maintenance monitors and fixes these issues before they progress far enough to cause problems. If you schedule heating maintenance even once a year, it is often enough to identify and repair or replace any part that is threatening to cause issues later on. You’ll save money on heating, and on repairs, and have much more peace of mind.

If you haven’t scheduled heating maintenance in a while, call Kool Breeze. We provide professional heating services in the Fort Walton Beach area.

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How Can I Make My Heating More Reliable?

November 5th, 2014

There is no way to ensure that your heating system will never breakdown, but there are some steps you can take to help make your system more reliable. To be clear, we aren’t talking about handling a heating repair for your Pensacola Beach home yourself. Instead, we have some suggestions on how you can make your heating system more reliable:

Schedule Regular Maintenance

It’s recommended that you schedule heating maintenance annually. Maintenance isn’t just a quick review of your system; it’s a full tune-up that also includes safety and performance testing. During a maintenance visit, the components in your system are inspected, cleaned and adjusted, and all moving parts are lubricated. With professional maintenance, your system can perform optimally, which helps prevent potential repairs from developing.

Make Needed Repairs

At some point your heating system will need repair. You may hear signs of problems, such as strange sounds, or see signs of problems, such as leaks or a decrease in heating. It can be very tempting to wait before making needed repairs, or even ignoring signs of problems, particularly if your heating system is still operational. This is never a good idea. Problems with your heater won’t fix themselves and typically become worse with time. Waiting for your heating system to completely breakdown can be a time-consuming and costly mistake. If you are seeing the signs that it’s time to schedule repair, make an appointment with your technician.

Is It Time for Replacement?

Do you have an aging system that has become unreliable? Are you making multiple repairs to your system just to keep it operational? It may be time to consider a heating replacement. One of the many benefits of a new heating system is that you’ll have a reliable heating system that you can count on.

Taking steps toward prevention can help reduce the amount of heating repair you may need in Pensacola Beach. Need more information? Call Kool Breeze today and schedule an appointment with one of our experts.

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What Kind of Home Heating Is Best for Fort Walton Beach?

October 29th, 2014

Even in Florida’s warm environment, winter can bring about some pretty cold days. As fall comes to a close, a lot of homeowners are thinking about upgrading their heating systems to make the following months more comfortable. So, what kind of home heating system is best for a discerning Floridian? Check out some of our recommendations below.

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are an excellent choice for areas like Fort Walton, with higher average winter temperatures than most other areas of the country. A heat pump is primarily comprised of two units, one indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor unit works by absorbing thermal energy from the air around it. It then sends that thermal energy inside to be distributed by the indoor unit. This is why it is called a heat pump, because it pumps heat from one place to another instead of generating it. This makes the heat pump very energy efficient, resulting in a decrease in the cost of heating for the homeowner. It doesn’t work as well in very cold environments, because there is less thermal energy in the air for it to siphon. This should not be a problem in Florida’s warmer climate, though.

Radiant Heating

Radiant heating systems are boiler-based, and use a series of pipes to distribute heat throughout the house. These pipes are commonly installed between the floor and subfloor of the rooms that are to be heated. The boiler then heats water and distributes it throughout the house. As the water runs through the pipes, heat radiates up through the floor and into the room. Water is a much better conductor of heat than air is, making radiant heating more efficient at delivering heat than forced air systems. By not utilizing ductwork, radiant heating also avoids the 20-30% heat loss to duct leaks that forced air systems experience. Radiant heating does require a bit more of an investment than other systems, but it is one of the best options available when it comes to efficient heating.

If you are interested in upgrading to a new heating system in Fort Walton Beach, give Kool Breeze a call to set up a service appointment today.

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The Advantages of Electric Furnaces

October 22nd, 2014

Electric furnaces tend to get overshadowed by the more common gas-fueled furnaces. There are a number of reasons for this. Natural gas tends to be a cheaper fuel source than electricity. Despite this, an electric furnace can actually offer a number of great benefits. Have a look at the advantages below of owning an electric furnace.

Efficiency

It’s true that natural gas is a cheaper fuel source for furnaces on average. However, electric furnaces are virtually 100% efficient at converting electricity to thermal energy. Combustion heat systems tend to hover between 75-95%. This means that, while you will be paying more for the fuel, you will be paying less overall for your heating.

Safety

Though gas-powered heating systems are still very safe, they cannot avoid producing toxic combustion byproducts like carbon monoxide. Normally, the heating system will vent the toxic gases outside the home. There is always a change, however, of something going wrong and flooding your house with potentially deadly fumes. There is also a risk of fire associated with combustion systems, commonly caused by a gas leak or overheating. An electric furnace does not utilize combustion, and so produces no toxic byproducts. This way, you never have to worry about being in danger from your heating system.

Accessibility

Though natural gas lines are widely available, there are still some places where you will be unable to access one. Even if the city has the infrastructure for them, you will have to pay to install a new line if your house is not already equipped with one. None of this is necessary with an electric furnace. Electricity is available in practically every populated area in the country, and doesn’t require any extra groundwork to be installed in your home.

Solar Interfacing

Electric furnaces can easily interface with solar heating systems to provide even more efficient heating. This is also possible with more traditional combustion-based systems, but tends to require expensive retro-fitting to make the systems mesh properly.

If you are thinking about installing an electric furnace, call Kool Breeze today. We install electric furnaces throughout the Navarre area. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

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The Advantages of an Electric Furnace

October 15th, 2014

Homeowners have many choices when it comes to heating their homes, but sometimes geography or other circumstances can limit your heating system choices. When it comes to heating with a furnace, the most commonly-used fuel is natural gas, but there are certain areas that do not have access to a natural gas line. As such, you may want to consider the installation of an electric furnace. An electric furnace can provide quality heating for your home in Fort Walton Beach, FL and with today’s models, you can also achieve excellent energy efficiency. But no matter what your heating needs may be, Kool Breeze certified technicians are ready and available to help.

How Do Electric Furnaces Work?

Electric furnaces are quite simple. The heating element consists of tightly-wound coils that, when electrified, get red-hot. A large fan at the bottom of the cabinet draws air into the cabinet and over the coils. This newly-warmed air is then blown into your home via ductwork.

Some Advantages of Electric Furnaces

Here are some advantages of electric furnaces:

  • Long lifespan – the average electric furnace has a lifespan of 20 to 30 years; a gas furnace has a typical lifespan of 15 to 20 years. This can give you some extra time before needing replacement.
  • Better humidity balance – certain electric furnace models have a combustion style that doesn’t dry the air as much as a gas furnace can so your indoor moisture levels can stay even and more comfortable.
  • Very energy efficient – electric furnaces can be up to 100% efficient because they do not use fossil fuels.
  • Safety – while no heating system is without potential safety hazards, you won’t have to worry about harmful fumes like carbon monoxide with an electric furnace.
  • Clean – because there is no combustion with an electric furnace, there is no soot or ash to worry about, which makes annual maintenance easier.

Not every area has easy access to fossil fuels, but just about every area does have access to electricity. If you think an electric furnace is a good fit for your home and needs, call Kool Breeze today and schedule an appointment for your heating in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

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