Healthy Home Tips
Looking for a few quick tips to improve the health of your home? Check out the following healthy home tips:
Tip 1: Preparing for a Visit
When preparing for a visit by an AtlasCare Healthy Home Technician, make sure your air conditioner or furnace is accessible. Many people have long-term storage items surrounding their furnace. If we need to inspect your attic mount air conditioner, check that the hatch to your attic is easily accessible.
Tip 2: Cleaning Your Gas Fireplace
Do not clean the glass of your gas fireplace with an ammonia-based glass cleaner. This fogs the glass and obscures the look of the fireplace. There is a specialized fireplace glass polish that will do the job nicely and avoid the fogging issue. Ask your AtlasCare Healthy Home Technician to clean the glass during your annual servicing.
Tip 3: Winter and High Efficiency Furnaces
One of the great benefits of high efficiency furnace equipment is the ability to vent through the wall. This eliminates the need for a chimney and helps the system to be as efficient as possible. During the winter months, however, snow can sometimes accumulate to a higher than normal level. If the snow builds up as high or higher than the vent tube, it can block the exhaust and can cause the system to work less efficiently or shut down.
Tip 4: Going on Vacation
Before going on vacation, chances are you asked a friend to check on your home. You likely asked them to do things like check the mail and water the plants. Don't forget to ask them to check the heating or air conditioning systems, too! They simply have to check to see if it's too cold in your home. Leave AtlasCare's contact information handy for them to call if your equipment has shut off. If you go away from Toronto for the summer, make sure you turn your air conditioner off before leaving and put your water heater on the vacation setting.
Quick Healthy Tips:
- Unplug unused chargers to reduce standby power consumption.
- Prevent heat loss around your windows by ensuring that the caulking around your windows isn't worn. If your windows are old, consider using plastic window coverings to keep the heat in.
- If you have too much humidity in your home, it will show up as condensation on windows, wet stains on walls or ceilings, a mouldy bathroom, musty smells, frost buildup, and allergy symptoms in family members.
- The optimum humidity level in the home is between 35% and 55%. Individual sensitivities will determine where within this range is best for you.
- In an ideal situation, your furnace will have a room of its own. Proper space is required for a technician to properly maintain your furnace. Having a little extra space is also important in case you want to add more equipment.
Request a Quote
Please use the convenient form below to tell us how we can help bring comfort to your home. All forms will receive a response within 2 hours during normal business operations.
(Forms submitted after hours will be responded to the morning of the next business day) For Emergency Service Call (905) 829-1296.