For some of you, this month may have been the first time you’ve used your heater since early last year. The strong winter blast has made a relatively warmer winter into the winter most people expect to see – and feel.

With the chillier temperatures, however, may have also included an unwelcome visitor. In turning on your home heating system, you may also have detected a foul stench coming from the duct work. This odor is common, but it also can be a nuisance.

Growing fungus either within your ducts or actually on the heater is the most common cause of an odor. Fungus, which can grow because of the moisture around a furnace, has an unpleasant aroma when heated. Fungus on the furnace can be an easy clean. Fungus in the ducts, however, is more of an issue.

This is when our Birmingham AL heating experts can be of service to you. Our technicians can properly clean your ducts, in addition to your furnace humidifier, to provide you clean and warm air during the winter months. In addition, the cleaner air will be a major complement for those with allergies.

Contact our Birmingham HVAC company for more information about air duct cleaning and the detection and maintenance for odors within your heating system. Call us, or contact us online today.

In shopping for a new furnace, don’t let the biggest question you may face rattle your brain.

Gas furnace or electric furnace?

The truth is, both devices have their advantages. The final decision really depends on your personal preference. Our Birmingham AL heating experts are more than willing to offer their advice if you need assistance with narrowing your decision.

In regards to energy efficiency, gas furnaces are your best bet. When discussing life span, go with an electric furnace, as some experts say they can last twice as long as gas furnaces. From a maintenance perspective, electric furnaces require less professional service than gas furnaces, which should be inspected annually.

Both gas and electric furnaces are relatively safe to operate. With electric furnaces, they’re about as safe as the average appliance. Gas furnaces have a low risk of the spread of carbon monoxide poisoning, but it shouldn’t be anything to scare you away from purchasing.

If money is your ultimate factor – and often times for consumers, it is – your answer is to go with the gas furnaces. Historically, electric furnaces are more expensive. If money isn’t going to make or break your decision, do your research with both furnaces. Both have their advantages, and you really can’t go wrong with either one. If you need further assistance, feel free to call our Birmingham heating company, or contact us online today.

The celebration of 2011 can kick off a couple of days early if you act quickly.

This week is the last week for consumers to potentially earn a tax credit for purchasing energy-efficient appliances. If you ever were considering purchasing a new heat pump, now just might be the time to do so.

Air source heat pumps are becoming more and more commonplace in residential and commercial properties. provide an environmentally conscious alternative to air conditioners and furnaces. Heat pumps, according to the Energy Star website, use electricity to move heat from a chilly space into a warm space. A heat pump, in turn, can make a cooler location chillier and a warm location even warmer.

According to the website, heat pumps, during the heating season, “move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house; during the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors.”

All consumers looking to take advantage of the tax credit must do so before Friday, Dec. 31. The credit is expected to cover 30 percent of the cost of improvements, and taxpayers can receive a credit of up to $1,500 for all improvements that qualify under the stipulations. All information about the tax credit or heat pumps can be answered by our Birmingham AL heating experts. Call us today, or contact us online for more information.

Your Birmingham heating & air specialists would like to announce the One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning Comfort Club^TM. The Comfort Club^TM is a maintenance plan available to all customers. With your membership you will receive two visits a year from our HVAC specialists. Comfort Club^TM membership insures that your heating & air systems perform at optimal levels and so increase the life of your furnace and air conditioner.

Upon visiting, our highly skilled HVAC contractor will inspect every element of your heating and air system. From the thermostat, to the temperature of the ducts; no portion of your heating & cooling system is over-looked. Every part of the maintenance plan is designed to increase the life of your furnace and AC. Regular maintenance provided by the Comfort Club^TM may double the service life of your HVAC systems.

Utility life aside, the care and maintenance provided by your One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning HVAC technician is designed to reduce utility costs. Your AC will be completely cleaned from the inside out. The inside cleaning work ensures that air flows properly and reduces the strain on your air conditioning system. Less strain on the system translates directly to lower utility bills.

The same can be said for your furnace as well. Your furnace filter will be changed and the furnace housing will be cleaned from the inside out. When your furnace filter is clean; the operating efficiency increases. This lowers your utility bills and increases the life of your furnace.

If you would like to enroll in the Comfort Club^TM and start saving today; contact us online or call your Birmingham heating & air contractors at: (205) 352-4195

Advances in technology and construction have led to homes and buildings being built in a manner that helps to seal in heat and air during the changing seasons, making your air conditioning and heating systems more efficient during the summer and winter, respectively. However, there are negative effects of such increases in quality building materials.

The tightly closed space locks in more than just the energy efficiency. It also seals in sickness and stale, dirty air that compromises the indoor air quality (IAQ) of your space. The term for this new indoor air pollution problem is Tight Home Syndrome and traps particles, germs, and gases containing contaminants that can be hazardous to your health. Mold, bacteria, and gases like radon and carbon monoxide are just a few of the toxins found in this compromised air.

The best way to avoid contamination of your home and compromising the integrity of the air you breathe is to treat the air, or filter it. These pollutants can be extremely injurious to your health, and removing them from your environment is essential to maintaining a happy, healthy lifestyle.

One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning Birmingham can help to turn your entire heating and cooling system into an air treatment system, thereby ridding your house of the pollution that threatens toxicity. Clean, disinfect, and deodorize your air all at once so it smells and feels better to breathe. Trust your indoor air quality experts in Birmingham to assist in making your home a safer, healthier environment.

Mold is a part of every day life. Believe it or not, we actually need a certain level of mold spores to reduce organisms found in your air. But with all things, there must be a balance. Too much humidity results in too much mold; and then mycotixin, a mold byproduct, can cause rashes and aggravate your allergies.

Our Birmingham HVAC specialists would like to take a moment to inform you about some of your options, should you face such a problem.

Black Mold

Black mold is generally the result of high humidity mixed with low ventilation. Black mold can crop up anywhere in your home, whether it is the drywall, insulation, ductwork, or your floor joists. Black mold can wreak havoc on your property and your health.

Symptoms of Black Mold

The fist sign of black mold may be a decrease in your health. Perhaps you have an unexplained rash, or your allergies constantly bother you. A sure sign of a black mold infestation is a patch of black speckles in a moist area.

Black Mold Locations

Black mold can be found anywhere in your home. Whether it is the duct work, ceiling, walls, or joists; black mold thrives where it is dark and moist.

Black Mold Remedy

Black mold removal requires a trained HVAC professional. You might tear out the affected portion of your home, however, the microscopic spores still exist. You will find yourself locked in a vicious cycle of sickness and repair.

Black Mold Prevention

The first step you can take to prevent black mold is installing a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier will reduce the moisture level in your home. Black mold thrives in a humid environment. Also you can schedule regular air duct services with One Hour Air Conditioning. Last but not least, you can have a HEPA filtration system installed.

If you have, or think you may have a problem with black mold; call your Birmingham HVAC specialists today! (205) 352-4195

HEPA filters are an integral part of many heating and cooling systems that demand high air purity. They are commonplace in residential homes and commercial buildings. But have you ever stopped to think about how they work, or how they came into ubiquity? Our Birmingham heating and air company has some answers for you!

Origin of HEPA Filters

First generation HEPA filters were developed by the the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1940′s. The Manhattan Project required a filter capable of preventing the spread of radioactive particles. In the 1950′s, the civilian market began incorporating HEPA filtration into just about every major industry that requires high air quality. HEPA filters continue to meet the increasingly high demands of pharmaceutical processing as well as microchip manufacturing.

Anatomy of a Filter

HEPA filters are comprised of a mat of random, typically, fiberglass fibers. The fibers range from 0.5 to 2.0 micrometers in diameter. A HEPA filter must remove 99.97% of all airborne particles as small as 0.3 micrometers in diameter.

If you see a filter branded as “HEPA-type”, “99% HEPA”, and/or “HEPA-like”; it does not meet Department of Energy standards. While these filters may be fine for some applications, they do not live up to the HEPA standard of Indoor Air Quality.

How HEPA Works

HEPA filters are a random mesh of fibers varying in diameters from 0.5 to 2.0 micrometers. The filter employs a 3 fold mechanism to trap particles below 0.1 micrometers in diameter. The mechanisms are as follows:

1. Interception, where a particle moves with the air stream, comes within close proximity and sticks to the fiber.

2. Impaction, where large particles simply can not avoid fibers as they are pushed through by the air flow.

3. Diffusion, where the smallest particles are blown around like a feather in the wind; thus diverting and delaying their trip through the filter. This increases the likelihood that one of the two previous mechanisms will trap the particle.

There is much more to learn about HEPA air filters, and our Birmingham HVAC technicians are pleased to help. Call us today, and find out how HEPA filters can increase your indoor air quality! (205) 352-4195

The weather is changing. Summer has said its goodbyes, and the winter season is slowly creeping up around the country. Also gone, at least temporarily, are the days of letting the thermostat run to stay cool.

If there ever was a time to install a programmable thermostat in your home, it would be now. This particular thermostat allows reduction of a building’s healing and cooling losses by adjusting temperatures via programmed settings during specific times of the day. As beneficial as a programmable thermostat can be in the summer, it can be just as helpful during the chillier months.

How does it work? Programmable thermostats control the flow of heat and cool in and out of your system. The thermostat makes adjustments as needed to maintain the desired temperature. During the winter and fall seasons, it may be set to permit building temperatures to rise when no one is at home during regular workdays.

The experts at One Hour Heating & Air Condition of Birmingham AL recommend a talking thermostat in your household. Talking thermostats not only offer voice instruction for comfort in the home but also reminders for when air filters need to be changed, as well as other maintenance issues.

Contact the professionals at One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning of Birmingham for programmable thermostat installation or for additional information.

All air conditioning units and systems have air handlers. But not all air handlers are air conditioners. The air handler is the crucial component that circulates conditioned cool air through the ventilation system during summer months and warm air during the cooler winter months.  It is usually contained within a box as a unit and is connected to other components including a blower, heating and cooling elements, filter racks,  and other items that assist with the distribution and flow of air and noise reduction. The diagram below illustrates how the flow of cooled and heated air works and is, ultimately, generated throughout your home or office building.

Image courtesy of Drake Landing Solar Community

There are various sizes and efficiency ratings for air handlers to accommodate the different air conditioning system configurations. The air handler must be paired with an air conditioning system appropriate for the size of the home or office building. Whenever the air conditioning unit requires replacement, the air handler will have to be replaced as well.

When the air handler is not working properly, you know it. Or rather, you feel it. That’s where we come in with the prompt one hour service you’ve come to expect. Call us at 205-352-4195 to find out how we can help to make sure your air handler and conditioning systems are properly maintenanced and operating efficiently.

A heat pump makes use of external heat sources, such as ground, water and air, to heat the interior of your home or office. Because heat pumps extract heat from external sources instead of generating heat, they use less electricity than electric heat furnaces – as much as 30%-40% less, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Air-source heat pumps are the most common type of heat pump you’ll find. They are well-suited to moderate climates. When temperatures begin to hover around 40 degrees or below for an extended period of time, efficiency is drastically reduced and backup heat generation is necessary. A qualified Birmingham HVAC provider is able to determine if a heat pump is appropriate for your situation.

Similar to conventional air conditioners, air-source heat pumps use refrigerant to provide comfort to your home or office. Two coils – one outdoor and one indoor – comprise most heat pump systems. During the cold winter months, liquid refrigerant in the outside coil gathers heat from the air and changes to gas form. The indoor coil delivers this heat as the refrigerant changes back into liquid form. During the hot summer months, an air-source heat pump systems works in reverse, much like a traditional air conditioning system.

For more information about heat pumps and heat pump installation, contact One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning of Birmingham AL.