Let’s say that you’re the lead runner in a two-person relay race.
Your sole purpose is to run as fast and smartly as you can and, just as importantly, smoothly pass the baton to your teammate. Well, without belaboring the analogy, a heat exchanger functions in similar fashion.
A heat exchanger allows heat from a fluid (liquid or a gas) to pass to a second fluid (another liquid or gas) without the two fluids coming in direct contact. If they did come in contact, the gas flames inside your furnace could be extinguished by water…the result, of course, would be no heat.
Let’s say, for example, that you have a gas furnace. In that instance, gas is the heated substance that transfers heat to cool water in another set of pipes. There, water is heated to supply your home with the desired level of indoor comfort.
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The more efficient the exchange of heat, the more comfortable you’ll feel in your home, and the less you’ll pay to heat it. Which is precisely why your heat exchanger, along with the rest of your home heating system, should be thoroughly inspected once a year.
In addition to gradually losing energy efficiency, heat exchangers can crack and leak, and that can be downright dangerous if you heat your home with gas.
Other than the wear and tear a heat exchanger incurs on its own, its performance and stability also can be negatively impacted by dirty air filters, airflow problems within your ducts, and rust caused by condensation building up over time on the outside walls of the pipes.
To come full circle, your heat exchanger is a runner, too, and it runs all winter long in its pursuit of helping to keep you and your family warm, comfortable, and safe from harm. And all it asks in return is a little TLC.
So, if it’s been more than a year since the last time you had your heating system professionally inspected, contact Nero AC today for a job well done, every time.
203-248-8110
