Sometimes listening to a heating service technician can be like attempting to understand a foreign language. But at Essig, we love an informed customer so here are a few helpful terms to help you hold your own next time you find yourself talking shop with a heating professional:
Flue: This is your furnace’s exhaust pipe. Your flue is connected to the heat exchanger component and needs to be kept clean and in good condition in order to keep your home fume-free.
Ignition Control: The component of your furnace that actually kicks on the ignition mechanism within the heat exchanger (or fire box if you have an oil furnace).
Inducer Blower Assembly: A small motorized small blower wheel rig that moves conditioned air and exhaust gases in their proper direction.
Heat Exchanger: This component consists of a metal enclosure and is where the gas or oil that fuels your furnace is burned. Air from inside your home is circulated around the heat exchanger and picks up heat to be delivered to your living areas, typically through ductwork.
Heat Pump: A highly versatile piece of equipment that can both heat and cool your home. Heat pumps are capable of reversing the flow of your HVAC system’s refrigerant, and then extracting heat from the outdoors which is distributed throughout your home via ductwork.
Pilot: A gas furnace component that has a small opening and burns a small amount of gas to ignite the burners and begin generating heat.
Sequencer: The relay unit in an electric furnace, indoor blower and heat pump air handler that starts and stops them in a “sequence.” This prevents your HVAC system from becoming overloaded which can happen when they all came on at the same time.
Set Back Thermostat: A device used to monitor and adjust your home’s temperature. Most models have set points which can be programmed by the homeowner to lower or raise temperature at any given time. These babies are a great energy saver.
Winter is coming… So call today and let the seasoned experts at Essig take care of all your winter needs!
