Is It Time to Replace My Heat Pump?

January 14th, 2015

If a heat pump receives regular maintenance from professionals, as well as skilled repairs when necessary, it should continue to keep a home warm during the winter and cool during the summer for many years. But no mechanical appliance can operate forever, and with the amount of work that a heat pump does around the year in California, it will eventually wear down to the point that it should be replaced.

If you suspect that you need to retire your home’s heat pump in Madera, CA, call up Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning. We provide excellent service for heat pumps, including repairs, maintenance, and new installation.

Below are some of the ways to tell that you should call us regarding heat pump replacement:

  • Rising energy costs: A sudden increase in electrical bills during periods when a heat pump is running is usually a warning that the system has a fault somewhere in it that is causing it to drain additional power. Targeted repairs will usually fix such problems. But if the rise in the bills is more gradual and it does not decrease due to repairs or maintenance, it often means the system is too old to work efficiently any more. Heating technicians can look into the unit and determine if replacing it is the best route or not.
  • An increase in repair jobs: Approximately 85% of the repairs that a heat pump or other heating system may need occur during the last two years of its service life. When you find yourself calling for repairs more than once or twice during a year, it’s time to think about retiring the heat pump. As a good rule of thumb, if a repair would cost half or more of the price to replace the heat pump, it is more economical to have a new unit put in rather than to continue with repairs.
  • Continual noisy operation: Loud noises from a heat pump are a strong sign that the mechanical components have worn down to the point that the system is no longer worth keeping. Heating technicians can investigate the heat pump to see if replacing some of the components will help, or if the heat pump is simply too old for further repairs to do much good.

Call the heating professionals at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning.  We will send one of our service technicians to your home to diagnosis the heat pump to find any possible problems.   We can give you an estimate for repairs or replacing the unit. Whether you need repairs or new installation for your heat pump in Madera, CA, you can count on our decades of experience to deliver the highest quality work.

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How Does a Ductless System Heat?

January 7th, 2015

When people think of keeping a home warm with a central heating system, they often think first of a furnace. A furnace is a type of “forced-air” heater that spreads warmth throughout a building by first raising the temperature of the air, then using a blower fan to send the air out into rooms. In order for a furnace to distribute its heated air, it must have ductwork leading from the cabinet and to the vents into the room.

However, not all forced-air heating systems require ducts like a furnace does. A popular option for home comfort today—ductless mini split systems—allows for central heating without needing any lengths of space-consuming ductwork. Ductless mini splits are an excellent idea for new home construction, home expansion, remodeling, and older houses that lack room for duct installation.

Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning offers installation of ductless mini split systems, as well as other systems for central heating in Fresno, CA. Call our technicians today to find out more about how we can keep your home warm no matter how cold it gets outside.

The Basics of Ductless Mini Split Systems

A ductless mini split system is a type of heat pump, which means that instead of creating heat by burning fuel or through electrical resistance the way a furnace does, it moves heat from one place to another. In operation, ductless mini splits are similar to air conditioners, except they can shift heat in both directions: from inside a home to the outside (cooling) and from outside a home to the inside (heating).

How does a ductless mini split send heat around a home without ducts? Instead of using a single indoor cabinet where heat is released and then sent into a duct network via a blower, a ductless mini split has multiple air handlers mounted in rooms around the home. The outdoor cabinet connects to the individual air handlers through power and refrigerant lines. Each air handler contains a blower and a coil; the coil releases heat, and the blower sends it directly into the room.

Aside from the advantage of not needing any ductwork, ductless mini split systems offer zone heating for a home: each air handler can be controlled separately from the others, so a home only needs to receive heating in rooms that require it. This makes ductless mini splits great energy savers.

A ductless mini split heat pump is not ideal for every house, so make sure you call Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning and speak to our Fresno, CA heating professionals before making a choice for home comfort. We install, repair, and maintain a variety of heating systems, and we will help you find the best way to keep your house warm.

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When New Year’s Day Was Not on January 1st

January 1st, 2015

Some holidays fall on shifting calendar days for every year, such as Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November) and Easter (the first Sunday after the first full moon to occur on or after March 21). Other holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween, are fixed. No holiday has a more solid calendar date attached to it than New Year’s Day. It has to fall on January 1st because it celebrates the first day of a new year. That only makes sense…

…except that, like most things that at first appear obvious, there is a bit more to the story. The beginning of the year was not always on the first of January. As with an enormous numbers of traditions in the Western World, the establishment of January 1st as the inaugural day of a new year goes back to the ancient Romans.

The modern solar calendar is derived from the Roman model, but the earliest Roman calendars did not have 365 days in a year spread over 12 months. Instead, there were 304 days spread over 10 months. The Romans believed this calendar originated with the mythical founder of the city, Romulus. If Romulus were a real person, we can credit him with a poor understanding of the seasons, as this abbreviated calendar soon got out of sync with Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Numa, one of the Kings of Rome (probably also fictional) receives credit for creating a longer year with two added months, Ianuarius and Februarius, bringing the number of days in the year to 355. The new month of Ianuarius, named after Ianus (Janus in contemporary spelling), the god of beginnings, would eventually be known in English as January. But when this new calendar was instituted, January was not the first month. March, named after the god of war, remained the first month, and March 1st was New Year’s Day.

This extended calendar still did not keep in synch with the seasons. In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar instituted reforms to align the calendar correctly according to calculations of astronomers, with an additional 10 days distributed across the year. January also became set as the first month, and offerings to the god Janus on this day started the tradition we now know as New Year’s. The date still fluctuated during the ensuing centuries, with a number of Western European holy days treated as the beginning of the year instead. It wasn’t until the next calendar reform in 1582, the Gregorian Calendar, that the date of the New Year was fixed at January 1st.

However you choose to celebrate the beginning of the current calendar, everyone here at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning  you have a wonderful 2015!

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Employee Spotlight Bob Martin

December 24th, 2014


Bob Martin
joined Purl’s Sheet Metal in December of 2003. Bob is in our Service Department and leads our dispatch team. Bob enjoys coming to work every day and the fact that you never know what the day may bring! He said he really likes the relationships he has developed with our customers over the years. When you listen to Bob work with our customers, it is easy to see why he is so good at his job.

Bob has seen many changes at Purl’s Sheet Metal. One of the biggest changes he mentioned was the move to our newest location in 2010. We went from very tight quarters to having enough room for everyone and some room to grow. In terms of technology he feels the best change has been the addition of computer tablets in the field. This allows our service technicians to take payments on site and communicate to Bob and the office directly through the tablet. Bob said he is proud of the fact it has made a big difference in the overall efficiency of our service team and increased our ability to get to customers faster for break downs.

Bob is the proud father of 6 children, and 15 grandchildren. The oldest granddaughter is 2nd year at UCLA and the oldest grandson just finished basic training for the Air Force. Just talking with him about all of his children or grandchildren you know instantly how proud he is of each and every one! He has been a very active volunteer for Special Olympics for over 12 years. He loves working with the kids and getting involved with the program. Bob enjoys spending time with his wife and the whole family. He loves to camp and spend time at Lake Tahoe.

Anyone IMG_5944who knows Bob also knows he is an avid sports fan and a huge baseball fan. When asked how he became a Giant’s fan, he said “I was born into it!” His mother used to listen to baseball games on the radio when he was young and he has fond memories of her shouting at the radio about Willie Mays… “Hit that ball Willie”. He has shared his love of sports with his children and grandchildren.

Bob said that leadership and teamwork are key at Purl’s Sheet Metal. He remembers the summer of 2009 when there were over 30 consecutive days of record heat above 100 degrees. Calls were flooding the office. Right in the middle of this heat wave, the computers went down for a couple of days. Bob, Melissa and our whole office were taking calls and hand writing tags as fast as possible. Our service technicians were working into the nighttime to try to get to every call. Bob said he was so proud of our whole team and the fact that we were able to take care of all of our customers in this crisis. He said he learned from this the importance of the entire team. He said he enjoys his job and appreciates the team environment and the big community involvement. He said Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning just feels like one big family.

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Why Do We Hang Up Mistletoe?

December 24th, 2014

IMG_6332_1_Purls_xmas_cardOf course, you probably know part of the answer to this question already. You hang up mistletoe so that the people standing underneath can share a romantic holiday kiss! But what you may not realize is that the origin of this longstanding ritual predates many of the other holiday traditions we celebrate today. Why would a plant that has many poisonous varieties (most types sold for use in the home have few negative effects, but you can wrap it in netting to prevent children from consuming any fallen berries or leaves) be used as a symbol of holiday affection?

There are a couple of ways to explain the positive associations of (potentially hazardous) mistletoe. For one, this semi-parasitic plant has long been hailed as a treatment for illnesses and pain. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it to cure cramps, epilepsy, and more. Even today, mistletoe extracts are one of the leading alternative medicines studied for their effectiveness in killing cancer cells. And because the early Celtic Druids saw it as a sign of healing and life, they may be the first to bestow upon the plant its romantic associations, deeming it worthy of treating the infertile.

But it is Norse mythology that is likely responsible for a majority of the modern traditions associated with this small hanging bunch. One of the powerful Norse god Odin’s sons, named Baldur, was said to be invincible due to an oath his mother took to protect him from harm. But Loki, a god who often set out to make trouble for the gods, set out to find the one thing that could do some damage, and eventually discovered that Baldur’s mother Frigg had never included mistletoe in her invincibility oath. When mistletoe was finally responsible for her son’s demise, the grieving Frigg vowed that the plant would never again be used to hurt another living thing, and that she would plant a peaceful kiss upon anyone who walked underneath it.

And that is one of the reasons that, today, kissing under the mistletoe is viewed as a source of good luck. From our family to yours, we wish you a safe holiday season, and we hope that you and your family are full of joy and good fortune—mistletoe or not! Happy holidays from Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning!

 

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2014 Coats for Kids Drive ~ Thank You Parties!

December 23rd, 2014

IMG_6457_1_2This week Purl’s Sheet Metal wrapped up our 2014 Coats for Kids drive with pizza parties at St. Joachim and Lincoln Elementary schools in Madera. The pizza parties gave us the opportunity to celebrate with the classes who collected the most amounts of coats for The 2014 Coats for Kids drive.

We had a great time at the schools and had a chance to take a class photo to send home with each of the kids. Brian Driggs and Kurt Davidson of Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning took a moment to thank for the kids for their part in bringing in 435 coats. All of the coats collected stayed in Madera County and were distributed by our local Salvation Army Office. Mr. Driggs also talked about the importance of helping others in our community and how we can all make a difference. During the party he also announced that most of the coats collected had already been given to kids in need.

What a great way to celebrate successful Coats for Kids drive in Madera and we look forward to another great year in 2015.

Merry Christmas!

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Coats for Kids 2014 – We THANK YOU for your contributions!

December 17th, 2014

This week Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning wrapped up our 2014 Coats for Kids drive. We had a great time working with our community and collecting coats. We are proud to announce we collected 435 coats! All of the coats collected will stay in Madera County and will be distributed by our local Salvation Army Office.

We want to thank our customerthank-yous and friends who brought in both new and slightly used coats for this drive. Thank you to the teachers, parents and students at Lincoln and St. Joachim Schools! We were overwhelmed by the donations and generosity. Huge thank you to our local Salvation Army for all the great work they do! All of the coats collected will be given to children who need them most.

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Russell Sigler Award for Sales Excellence 2014

December 16th, 2014

Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning received the Russell Sigler Award for Sales Excellence for 2014. Co-Owners Brian Driggs and Kurt Davidson were honored to accept this special award. This award is given to a few select dealers to recognize sales excellence. It recognizes companies that embody the same commitment to hard work, dedication to success and high integrity as Russell Sigler. This is a distinct honor to receive this award. Since 1952, Purl’s Sheet Metal has conducted business with the same high standards and commitRussell Sigler Award 2014ment to excellence as Russell Sigler.
Russell Sigler started his company in 1950 after being inspired by Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill. Russell was called into service in 1941 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1946 and then worked as an engineer. He attended classes from Willis Carrier, who is the founder/inventor or modern air conditioning. His startup capital was provided by a savings bond and war bonds he had sent to his parents to help out at home during the war. His parents put those bonds in a savings deposit box to save for him.
Always a believer in positive thinking, Russell wrote himself a letter in 1949, stating that he expected to “earn 1 million dollars by 1980 by establishing air conditioning contracting business to install and service the best air conditioning systems at competitive prices.” Not only did he meet that goal, but by 1970 the company was already recording sales of $8 million dollars. His next goal is to reach $1 billion dollars in sales in 2017 when he will also reach 100 years of age. Russell Sigler Inc. is currently comprised of 29 locations in 6 states.

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Christmas Light Parade 2014

December 9th, 2014

Purls Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning employees and their families had a fantastic time at the 2014 Parade of Lights in Madera, CA. The 21st Annual Madera Light Parade was held on Thursday December 4, 2014. The annual light parade is a tradition in Madera that begins Christmas Light Parade 2014the Holiday Season with a spectacular Christmas celebration of lights. Each year the event is coordinated and hosted by the Madera Kiwanis Club and the Downtown Association.
The light parade began 21 years ago as a procession of farm equipment and tractors down historic Yosemite Avenue in Madera, CA. Today, the parade route continues down Yosemite Avenue and still includes tractors and harvesters as well as fire trucks, cars, semi-trucks, flatbed trailers and just about anything else you can put lights on. There is only one qualification to enter … each vehicle must have a minimum of 100 lighted Christmas lights. Madera residents lined the streets of Yosemite Avenue and cheered for their favorite entries.
Purl’s Sheet Metal entered the parade again with their fleet of antique fire apparatus decorated and loaded with Purl’s Sheet Metal employees and families. It was a great evening for us to bundle up and barbeque hot dogs, drink hot cocoa and sing some Christmas carols. The Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning fleet includes, 1979 Crown Fire Coach Pumper, 1951 American LaFrance Pumper and 1948 American LaFrance Aerial Ladder Truck.

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Will Thanksgiving Turkey Really Make You Sleepy?

November 26th, 2014

We’ve all heard it before: you feel so sleepy after a Thanksgiving meal because of the main event: the turkey. For years, people have credited extraordinary levels of tryptophan in turkey as the reason we all feel the need to nap after the annual feast. But contrary to this popular mythology, tryptophan is probably not he largest responsible party for your post-meal exhaustion.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which means it’s something that our bodies need but do not produce naturally. Your body uses tryptophan to help make vitamin B3 and serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that sends chemicals to the brain to aid in sleep. But in order to get this essential amino acid, we have to eat foods that contain it.

Turkey has somewhat high levels of tryptophan, but so do many other foods, including eggs, peanuts, chocolate, nuts, bananas, and most other meats and dairy products. In fact, ounce-for-ounce cheddar cheese contains a greater amount of tryptophan than turkey. In order for tryptophan to make you feel sleepy, you would have to consume it in excessive amounts, and serotonin is usually only produced by tryptophan on an empty stomach.

The truth is, overeating is largely responsible for the “food coma” many people describe post-Thanksgiving. It takes a lot of energy for your body to process a large meal, and the average Thanksgiving plate contains about twice as many calories as is recommended for daily consumption. If anything, high levels of fat in the turkey cause sleepiness, as they require a lot of energy for your body to digest. Lots of carbohydrates, alcohol, and probably a bit of stress may also be some of the reasons it feels so satisfying to lay down on the couch after the meal and finally get a little bit of shut-eye.

If you feel the need to indulge in a heaping dose of tryptophan this year, go ahead! Turkey also contains healthy proteins and may even provide a boost for your immune system. Here at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning, we hope your Thanksgiving is full of joy and contentment this year. Happy feasting!

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