Midwest Is Featured on WPR’s “Ask A Contractor”

Recently, Midwest Heating and Cooling‘s own Service Manager, Alex, was featured on Wisconsin Public Radio about how to prepare for the winter. You can listen to the live interview below (opens in a new window) and follow along with the transcript below!

ask a contractor
Click above to listen to the live interview and follow along with the transcript below!

Kate Archer Kent: 

We’re weatherizing ceiling cracks and getting ready for winter. It is time to ask the HVAC expert as part of our home improvement series on the morning show. I’m Kate Archer Kent. So when we’re experiencing a summer-like-fall like this, I really find it hard to stay on task on the weekend and prepare for the fact that the cold air, the snow, the freezing temps, will eventually arrive. Should we clean the gutters or do that long bike ride? The weather is gorgeous! Gutters you lose! But there’s another lingering question – is the furnace and fireplace ready to go when temps go into that eventual Wisconsin freefall? Bring your winterizing questions 800-642-1234 Alex Steinberger is the Service Manager for Midwest Heating & Cooling based in Mukwonago. Specializing in HVAC for homes and businesses; Alex welcome to the Ideas Network! 

Service Manager Alex:

Thank you for having me. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Well, good morning! Let’s first acknowledge that it feels strange to winterize and do these projects when we’re having such a warm balmy fall. What is the advantage to doing these projects when the weather is still warm?

Service Manager Alex:

Yeah, it definitely doesn’t feel like winter is coming when you go outside today. But the advantage to doing it now is that you don’t have to do it in the cold! So getting ahead of any winter prep is always great. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, you know it’s been so difficult to find contractors in the pandemic and get service people out when you talk with other HVAC companies. And then you look at your own schedule. Are you booked out for months? What’s the situation like?

Service Manager Alex:

So a great thing about us, and the industry, is we try and talk about maintenance a lot. So maintenance definitely keeps us busy this time of year. Without it, to be fair, we would be pretty slow. But, luckily, we’re able to keep the books full and keep rolling. 

Kate Archer Kent:

So if there is a maintenance job that people can’t do on their own, can they still get it checked out before winter really sets in? 

Service Manager Alex:

Oh yeah. Now’s the time to definitely get your furnace started up and you’re AC closed down for the winter.

Kate Archer Kent:

You just mentioned that word “furnace” , so we’re going to go there first because it really is essential to keeping our houses cozy during the winter months. What should we do to inspect our furnace to make sure it’s in working order?

Service Manager Alex:

The biggest thing is to turn the thermostat on and make sure that it runs. You’ll probably smell a little smell coming out, obviously since it has not been running for six months or so. But you’ll smell a little smell and then you’ll want to check the furnace filter. Pretty much anything after that, for any other questions, you should probably ask an expert for safety reasons. 

Kate Archer Kent:

What’s that little smell we might be smelling in those first few moments that we turn the furnace back on?

Service Manager Alex:

To be fair, it’s probably your filter. Your filter being dirty from the summer months, and things like that, that’s probably what you’re going to smell. Your filter being colder will smell a certain way and then heating it up you’re gonna smell that little bit of dust and debris in there. 

Kate Archer Kent:

When should we change our filters, what would you suggest?

Service Manager Alex:

Every filter is a little bit different, just like everybody’s home. Depending on how many pets, children, things like that, it could be [changed after] one month or it could be a year. 

Kate Archer Kent:

What are the different types of furnace filters that people can buy? What’s out there on the market?

Service Manager Alex:

You really want to look for, especially if you have heavy allergies–spring allergies especially, and want to make a change right now, you would look for a bigger media filter. So, four inch filter things like that or an electronic air filter will really help get rid of most of those pollutants that cause allergies. 

Kate Archer Kent:

What is an electronic air filter?

Service Manager Alex:

That’s a great question! It pretty much kills all of the extra pollutants and stuff that comes through a small screen. Anything big before that will pretty much get zapped by static electricity. So that way it doesn’t go into the air. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah air filtration and circulation has been such a focus in the pandemic and you know I’m looking at an air filter right now in the studio! What should we do in terms of those air filters and making sure that they are in working order?

Service Manager Alex:

The biggest thing you can do is have a maintenance guy or if you feel comfortable enough to take that filter out and hold it up to a light, is to make sure you can see through it. If you can’t see through it, it’s better to be safe than sorry and it’s better for you to breathe clean air rather than dirty air. Just change it out. It’s only a few bucks. Just get rid of it. 

Kate Archer Kent:

So let’s say you have an older home – the furnace is, you know, it has been kind of hobbling along for years. What should we consider if the furnace isn’t working, when might be time to replace it?

Service Manager Alex:

It’s a very fair question. We can fix the furnace pretty much forever. It really depends on the homeowner and where they’re at and if they feel comfortable with it. We can keep a furnace going… I mean honestly parts can be a little hard for us to get nowadays, so that’s kind of a force of hand thing, but other than that, we can fix any furnace of any age and keep them going. 

Kate Archer Kent:

But in terms like if a customer says “hey if I buy a new furnace, what is the return on investment, will my energy bills go down, will I eventually be able to recoup its investment?

Service Manager Alex:

Of course. Yes. Once you get past the 80% efficiency, and start looking at 90+ efficient furnaces, you recoup your cost. I’d say within a year or two. It’s pretty quick. So, it’s pretty amazing. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Wow, that is very quick to recoup those costs because furnaces are very expensive. What do they run?

Service Manager Alex:

That’s a great question; it really depends on what kind of system you’re looking at. If you’re looking at a high efficient, mid efficient, the price really can range. It kind of depends on how big the house is and what you guys are looking for. It’s all about what specifically the customer wants. 

Kate Archer Kent:

I would imagine that with a furnace, you have to also ask about the duct-work around that furnace? 

Service Manager Alex:

Yeah that is definitely a big factor on what we’re doing. The older style furnaces are, they use some pretty big duct-work. The newer furnaces are a lot smaller and compact. Obviously, if things progress, we try to make things more efficient so they tend to get smaller. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Let’s take a call now. Bill is joining us from River Falls. Hi Bill go-ahead…

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Hi, good morning. Yes, thanks for taking my call. I’ve got a practical question about insulating the roof. We did our roof several years ago and it was exactly like putting onanother blanket; instantly you felt the improvement in the heating and air in the evenness of the house. But it was a portion of the roof [that was insulated]. Because of the design that goes out over our dining room, they couldn’t access and couldn’t insulate [it]. And so, my question is, how would you reinsulate a portion of the roof that you can’t access through your roof access or your ceiling access? Do they cut a hole in the ceiling, do they cut a hole in the roof and reinsulate it?… It’s a relatively small portion, but it definitely needs to be reinsulated because it gets very cold when we isolate it and shut the doors to that room. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, you could even feel that cold zone I would imagine there, Bill, that you’re experiencing. Alex what would you suggest?

Service Manager Alex:

That’s a great question. Winterizing your home that way, we don’t have much experience with unfortunately. But if I had to take a stab at it, I would have a company probably put a hole right there in the drywall above the dining room. They can probably spray some insulation in that way. The drywall, obviously, is going to cost a little bit to fix afterwards, but I think that would be the best course of action. But to be fair, I’m just kind of guessing at that because we don’t have  much to do with the insulating part.  

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, inject it right in the drywall up through there! We have heating and cooling expert, Alex Steinberger. He’s a service manager for a Wisconsin HVAC company and is part of our “Ask a Contractor” series. Have you had an issue with pipes freezing over the years? Have you ever cleaned your ducts or hired a professional? What was that process like? Did you notice the indoor air quality change in your home? What ways do you seal your home during colder months? 800-642-1234 join in! We’ll pick this up with Alex Steinberger in a minute here in the ideas Network.

~small break/music~

Kate Archer Kent:

We’re discussing HVAC and how to winterize the home as part of our “Ask a Contractor” series here on the Morning Show. I’m Kate Archer Kent. Air leaks can waste a lot of energy and drive up our heating bill. Windows are a major source of air leakage; other culprits are door openings, ceiling fixtures, vents and access panels. What questions do you have about weatherstripping or winterizing pipes? How do you make your space comfortable and cozy in the winter months? Join in, 800-642-1234. Alex Steinberger is with a Wisconsin company that offers HVAC services for homes and businesses and is with us for the hour. Let’s talk about the air conditioner for a moment. Air conditioning units work hard in the summer and these units also live outside. But how do you turn off an air conditioner and get it ready for the winter months? 

Service Manager Alex:

That’s probably one of the biggest questions we get this time of year. A big thing that people deal with is mice. Mice get inside that air conditioner and it’s kind of a problem when spring comes again. The thing you can do is make sure that you turn off the breaker. We supply a cover for our maintenance plan customers.  So we always recommend that homeowners put some kind of mesh cover over the top of the air condenser. We also want to make sure that we turn off all the power to the unit so that those wires aren’t warm for mice to get into and make a cozy home. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, I know we had our units repaired and then eventually replaced after mice bit through the cords. Tell me about Freon. Is it something that’s on really old units? Has Freon been phased out, is that right? 

Service Manager Alex:

Yes and no. There’s still refrigerant, some people call refrigerant, Freon, it’s almost the same thing. It’s kind of like a different version of Freon is used today and phasing out the old stuff. They’re trying to make it more efficient and better for the environment. So it’s always changing; there’s always a new product being released, so that it just kind of comes with the AC territory. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Have you had customers who have had to replace the air conditioner because it is old and it is very inefficient in that it uses way too much of these refrigerants? 

Service Manager Alex:

Unfortunately, yes. When you come across some systems, we can’t get specific refrigerants because of that reason. Sometimes the air condenser is only compatible with a specific refrigerant or the previous refrigerant is no longer sold. So yeah unfortunately if there’s even something like a leak and we can’t get the refrigerant, we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place and replacement is the only option, but we are always happy to help the best we can. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Have you had supply chain issues when getting replacement parts or getting the chemicals that you put into the air conditioners and furnaces and so on?

Service Manager Alex:

I’d say the refrigerant would probably be the thing that we’ve had a hard time getting a hold of.  Otherwise, we here at Midwest try to be different. We tried to order things in bulk a little bit beforehand because we felt this change coming. So we are still able to provide all our customers with everything they need because we have it all in the back of the shop. 

Kate Archer Kent:

So you really tried to beef up your inventory in order to kind of stave off the fact that a lot of these parts are taking longer to get, is that right? 

Service Manager Alex:

Yes, 100%. We bought pretty much the vast majority of parts that break down in the winter and summer months, furnace or air conditioner. And we sectioned off a part of the shop for that. That way we can continue to help people when unfortunately other people aren’t able to. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Are these parts costing more since they’re harder to get? 

Service Manager Alex:

Yeah, yeah. They’re obviously shipments and things like that that do cost a little bit more. But that just comes with it if we want to be a service-providing company. We have to have it on hand! We want to make sure we can help as many people as possible. 

Kate Archer Kent:

If you’re just joining us for talking with HVAC expert Alex Steinberger. He’s helping us winterize our home before cold temperatures set in. He works as a service manager with an HVAC company in Wisconsin. What questions do you have about winterizing your home or winter heating? What temp do you set your thermostat on during winter time? Do you have humidifiers going in your home? Join in at 800-642-1234. You can email ideas at wpr.org. We heard from Samantha, who called from Knapp, but couldn’t stay with us. Samantha wants to know about the efficiency of heat pumps in Wisconsin. At a certain point they drop in efficiency and is it worth the investment considering how cold our winters are? 

Service Manager Alex:

This is a great question. And here in Wisconsin it does make sense to have a heat pump. It works down to specific temperatures. From 10 degrees to 20 degrees, things like that. And then you do need some electric [heat from a furnace]. But in that middle zone, exactly like today and exactly like the spring and fall months, it’s a fantastic unit and the efficiency is perfect. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Can you explain what a heat pump is and how it works?

Service Manager Alex:

Yeah, so it looks just like an air conditioner outside, but what it does is it has a valve in it. All it does, it’s pretty simple, it reverses it through the unit and it makes that refrigerant that we were talking about earlier, either hot or cold, depending on what you want. So instead of needing a forced air furnace or something downstairs, your air conditioner sends heat that way too. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, have you had a customer wanting to put those in or get those installed?

Service Manager Alex:

Yeah, we’ve done a few and we’ve fixed a few as well. And we haven’t really seen any big issues with them. It just kind of depends on where in Wisconsin you’re looking. Obviously, when it gets colder faster up a little higher in the state, it doesn’t really make sense [to have one installed]. They kind of stick with the furnace. But the heat pumps are more down by us Madison, Muckuanago, areas like that. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Let’s talk about how to set that thermostat because we know that when we keep those temps lower during the winter in our home that can really contribute to lowering our Energy bill. Do you know how low you can reasonably set a thermostat in the winter?

Service Manager Alex:

You know that really depends on the person. It’s a great question. The biggest thing is, you don’t want your pipes to freeze. You don’t want to come home and be like “wow it’s cold in here.” But a big help for that is you can set it at 68, you can set it at 70, 75, depending on where you feel comfortable. But a good way to help is actually a humidifier. A humidifier will help you feel warmer. If it’s 68 [degrees]  it will help you feel roughly 2 degrees warmer. So it will feel like it’s 70 [degrees] in the house. So you can set your thermostat down lower and see that savings in energy that way and still feel warm. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Where should you; yeah; where should you place a humidifier in your home to do that? 

Service Manager Alex:

We only recommend whole-home humidifiers, which we actually put on the furnace. Because while it’s great to do one room–maybe in your living room or your bedroom so that way when you wake up, you feel better. But when we offer a solution that can do your whole house, that makes everybody feel great…it’s a little bit cheaper for you that way so you don’t have to buy 5 or 6 of those portable ones. We just want to help the whole house and everybody in it, instead of just one section of it. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Okay so that unit then attaches directly to your furnace?

Service Manager Alex:

Yes into the ductwork right above the furnace. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Well let’s take another call now. Alex is joining us from Fox Cities, wanting to talk about furnace filters. Hi Alex, go ahead.

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Hi, so I’ve had professionals tell me that the higher Merv rating filters actually put a lot more stress on the motor and can wear it out sooner. And obviously the higher rating of the Merv the more pollutants and all that, that it takes out of the air, but yet when I go to research that online and researched it using the actual furnace that I have, I’m not finding that [response]. So I guess I’m wondering what is the best Merv rating to be using that isn’t going to be putting extra stress on the motor? Because of [the furnace] having to try to pull air through a less porous surface (of the air filter with a higher MERV rating), which is basically my understanding [of higher MERV filters] is that the less porus it is, the higher the Merv rating and while it gets out more pollutants, it puts more stress on the motor. 

Kate Archer Kent:

That’s a tricky balance and great question Alex, thank you. To the other Alex, go ahead!

Service Manager Alex:

This is a fantastic question. I’m assuming Alex has a very efficient furnace, that’s fantastic to hear. As furnaces, I mentioned this earlier, as furnaces get smaller and more efficient, yes you want to be careful with the air that you are restricting to it. Merv 7, Merv 8 filters, filters like that are pretty good for furnaces [that are high efficiency]. With furnaces that have single stage blower motors and kind of the less efficient style, you can do more for your indoor air quality. You can have bigger filters and restrict more air because they’re not as sensitive. Once you do start getting into that more efficient lifestyle, you don’t want to restrict the air flow and start overheating the furnace. You want to install a good filter, 7 or 8 Merv, and just check it pretty frequently. You probably want to check it every 3 to 6 months and just make sure you’re not restricting that air – because you also want to be able to breathe in that clean air. You need a healthy balance. 

Kate Archer Kent:

When you say “ to make sure you’re not restricting that air,” what do you mean by that?

Service Manager Alex:

So kind of exactly what Alex is saying, whoever is explaining to her is doing a fantastic job. If you have a very good filter it has very small holes in it. So what it does is it only allows extremely small particles and things like that to come through. But it takes all the big stuff out. And what happens is those small holes inside that filter get plugged up pretty quick. Because as you can imagine, if you don’t get your ducts clean, the dust inside of those ducts are going to be pretty heavy. So it’s going to plug up those filters pretty quick.  And it’ll restrict it (the air flow from the furnace) within a few months. 

Kate Archer Kent:

All right, so you should really keep checking those filters and make sure that they’re in working order. We’re talking with Alex Steinberger, he’s a service manager for an HVAC business in Mukwonago, tackling your questions about winterizing your space, inside and out. What temp do you set your thermostat at during winter? Do you have humidifiers going in your home? How often do you replace your furnace filters? Do you have problems with your water heater? Join in! What’s going on? Bring your questions on HVAC. 800-642-1234, we’ll pick this up after a news update, with Alex Steinberger here on the Ideas Network. 

~News break~

Kate Archer Kent:

We’re talking with the HVAC expert as part of our “Ask a Contractor” series on The Morning Show. I’m Kate Archer Kent. We’re getting cost effective tips for winterizing our spaces. According to the US Department of Energy, we can easily save energy in the winter by setting our thermostat to 68 [degrees] while we’re awake and setting it lower while we’re asleep or away from home. Do you have a programmable thermostat? How do you set it? What energy apps or tech have helped you bring down your energy bill in winter? What is on your winterizing to-do list this fall? Join in 800-642-1234. We have HVAC expert Alex Steinberger tackling your questions for the hour. Let’s go to Steve, in Newbold, who’s closing up his cabin. Hi Steve, go ahead. 

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Hi Alex. So I’ve got a home up in the Northwoods here and I’m real concerned about mold and mildew.  I do not have a heat source so I’ll be winterizing it, but I’m just wondering, do I just leave a window open or run the exhaust fan? Or should I put a forced air unit in and just run the fan so I don’t get mold and mildew.

Service Manager Alex:

This is fantastic. A forced air fan or an exhaust fan would work great. The biggest thing it sounds like is that you’re already going to do it, is making sure that all the water is shut off. You want to keep all that moisture out of there. Kind of like what you’re saying. So a kitchen sometimes, like a kitchen exhaust fan keeping that running [is an option]. Opening a window can help but sometimes there’s snow and you don’t want to let that snow in and melt. I wouldn’t recommend that. But an exhaust fan would probably be best or a furnace. But winterizing it, turning off the water heater and draining that house down, getting rid of all that water inside the house so that way you won’t break pipes is great. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Alex, is there any concern that if you have that exhaust fan running 24/7 that you could perhaps burn out that motor on that exhaust fan or worse you know, have it catch fire?

Service Manager Alex:

This is a great question. The motors nowadays, for instance, the motor inside my house – I have a motor in the attic that I leave 24/7 365, it never shuts off winter or summer. The biggest thing is maintenance. As long as you look at that thing before you leave and make sure that there’s no oil on the motor, make sure that the electricity is good to it, amp draw. If you make sure you maintain that motor, it should be good to go. There’s always that worry when you leave that you don’t really have control of it, but as long as you maintain it, I think you should be good.

Kate Archer Kent:

Steve, how does that sound to you?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

That sounds pretty good, thank you.

Kate Archer Kent:

Thank you for the call. You know you were talking about pipes freezing, Alex, and I was wondering – pipes can typically freeze at 20 degrees but burst pipes can easily cost thousands of dollars. How can we avoid this from happening?

Service Manager Alex:

Make sure your furnace is running. Make sure you have some sort of heat source in there. If you don’t have any heat source, and you plan on leaving a cabin or a a camper or something like that up north, make sure you winterize it. Either put antifreeze in the toilets or drain that thing down to make sure that there’s no water in the pipes anywhere. That’s the best thing you can do if you know you’re leaving. If you’re going to be home or if you’re going to have a cabin up north and are going to come and come back and forth from it, I really recommend a Wi-Fi thermostat to make sure that heat stays running and that you don’t have any burst pipes.

Kate Archer Kent:

When you say put antifreeze in the toilet can you explain that a little bit? 

Service Manager Alex:

Yeah, so sometimes what happens when you drain the water from the house, there is going to be a little water left in the toilet in the back of it. If you look at the back end of the toilet, there is a little trap there. So what you want to do is put some antifreeze in there so that the little bit of water that’s in that trap doesn’t get frozen or crack the toilet and leak water. It won’t be a big deal until you come back to fill the toilet up and then you’re going to notice “oh no the porcelain is cracked” or something like that. It’s a good preventative measure.

Kate Archer Kent:

So if pipes do freeze, what is the best way to fix this problem?

Service Manager Alex:

The best thing to do is to make sure that you call somebody out and shut the water off to the house. If you don’t shut the water off to the house, it’s going to continue to leak and leak and leak. And the more water in the house, obviously the more issues and more problems it will create. So as soon as you notice it, make the call. For instance, we have water sensors and stuff that a lot of our customers buy. We put it near the water heater or near the furnace or the air conditioner, things like that. And if it leaks, it sends a message to their phone saying “hey you have water leaking.” Then somebody can run out there and turn off the water. Making sure that you stop it and turn the water off right away is the biggest thing. 

Kate Archer Kent:

I imagine you’ve seen just like an explosion of apps and technology that homeowners can use now to set their thermostats and things like that.

Service Manager Alex:

Yes, that really is one of the great things about technology, it is amazing what we can see. We can load up a computer and we can see 100 customers. And they just allow us to take a look at what they have and if they ever leave their home for a weekend, it’ll send us an email saying “hey we’re going to be gone for this weekend, if it’s below 50 degrees [in the house] don’t call us don’t, just go check it out please! Don’t let our house freeze!” So we really try to take care of our customers that way and they get the same email we do if their furnace stops working. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Well, Lisa sent us an email and they’re wondering how low to set the temperature in the winter when they are gone from their house for say one or two weeks. What would you suggest?

Service Manager Alex:

I’d say the lowest you want to go is probably around 50 to 55 [degrees], you’ll want to stay somewhere in there because it’s still going to be cold. But like you said those pipes will start to get freezing around 30-32 degrees, 20 degrees is kind of the breaking point. You want to start being careful around that area. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, so keeping it around 50-55 [degrees] might keep things just north of any type of pipes being frozen. Let’s go to Tom in Peshtigo. Hi, what’s on your mind?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Hi, I have a couple questions. The first one’s about furnace filters. There’s a little arrow on the filter. Is that supposed to point away from the furnace or towards the furnace? 

Service Manager Alex:

It’s always supposed to point towards the furnace. So you always want to go with the air flow, Tom. 

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Okay, my next question is about ceiling fans. Are they much help? And should the switch be up or down in the winter? 

Service Manager Alex:

I want to understand your question a little better, Tom. About ceiling fans, do you have a furnace or an air handler in the attic? Is that what you’re talking about?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

No, just circulating ceiling fans.

Service Manager Alex:

Okay. I would definitely recommend running them, kind of like I was talking about earlier, any movement of air, like in my home I leave my fan running constantly. I want my bedroom to feel the same as my living room or the same as the downstairs rec room. If you can keep that airflow moving, Tom, you’ll feel much more comfortable. Whether it’s with a ceiling fan or a blower motor or anything like that. 

Wisconsin Homeowner:

And for winter or summer, there’s a little switch on top, should you switch that up or down? 

Service Manager Alex:

If I’m understanding correctly, flipping the switch will either pull or push the air and either one is okay. It’s just whatever you feel comfortable with.

Kate Archer Kent:

So yeah, whether you want to push it [the air] up to the ceiling or pull it down, you can have that option. Tom, thank you for the question. You know as we’re talking there about water, what should we do to our sprinkler system once it gets cold out?

Service Manager Alex:

That’s a good one. A lot of people forget to do this, including myself, last year. You want to make sure that when you’re turning off your outside water spigot that you are opening them up to make sure there’s no water coming out of it. Even if you turn off that valve to the outside spicket, you really want to make sure that you open it up outside to let any existing water that’s in there out. Otherwise that water will freeze and you definitely don’t want that. 

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah and in terms of hoses and things like that you just would recommend disconnecting the hose and winding it up getting it out of there?

Service Manager Alex:

I mean unless you have a cover for something like, at my house what we do is, we don’t want the hose getting rusted or too cold or cracked or something like that. So we always wind it up, put it in the carrier, put it in the garage or put it in the attic up there and then bring it out for next spring. You don’t want a hose that’s going to expand and crack too much in the cold. It’ll crack and you’ll end up buying a new hose about every two years.

Kate Archer Kent:

How do we locate our water shut-off valve and what to do there?

Service Manager Alex:

That’s a little bit of a tougher question. Every house is different, depending on who built it, where it is, the biggest thing you want to do is locate where the spicket is on the outside. And then from that spot, you want to go into your basement on that side of the house and look for a copper pipe or an insulated pipe that goes outside. You’ll see a shutoff, it’ll be red or blue, sometimes even a yellow handle. And you want to turn that against the pipe to shut that off.  

Kate Archer Kent:

If you’re just joining us, we’re talking with Alex Steinberger, he’s a heating & cooling service manager in Wisconsin, as we get tips on winterizing homes ahead of the season and what we can do now to save on the heating bill this winter. Taking on your questions, have you ever cleaned your ducts? Or do you cover your air conditioner when colder temperatures hit? Have you dealt with frozen pipes before? What did you do? What do you do around the cracks on windows and sealing windows up? 800-642-1234. Ken is joining us from Eau Claire. Hi Ken, go ahead.

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Hi, thank you. I have a question. We have a cabin up north and we leave the heat on over the winter. We have heat tapes and we have electric baseboards and I wanted to put in like an internet controlled thermostat. Like a Nest or something, and a friend of mine told me that they [Nests] don’t work with electric baseboards. Do you know if you can use those with baseboards?

Service Manager Alex:

Good question. It depends on what voltage your baseboard is. So yes, I’ve had Nests that can do electric heat, but you have to be careful on the voltage that you buy. So you’ll either have a baseboard that’s 208-230-volt or 115-120 volt or something like that. You just want to make sure that you buy the right thermostat for that.

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Okay.

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, Ken, do you know what you have in your baseboards?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

I don’t, but I’m sure I can try and figure it out. I just have a regular service, I don’t think it’s been 220 [volts] or anything, so I imagine it’s just a regular circuit.

Service Manager Alex:

Ken, it’ll say, just to lend you a hand there, it’ll stay on one of the sides. There will be a panel you can lift up and it’ll say what it is. And then if it’s 120 [volts], you can get a Wi-Fi thermostat that does 120 [volts] for sure. 

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Okay, thanks for the help.

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, thank you, Ken. And Alex, when you mentioned Nest, that is one of the Wi-Fi technologies to be able to control your thermostat. What does that do and how does that work?

Service Manager Alex:

All it really does is it, it’s kind of pushing people to feel more comfortable not being home. So let’s say that you go to Florida or let’s say you go to a family member’s house and you’re worried about your house. It can send you alerts when it gets too cold or too warm in your house in the winter and summer months. Or if you’re like “hey I’m getting off the plane and on my way home,” you can adjust that thermostat and say “I’ll be home in 20 minutes, I’d like to be a little warmer or a little bit cooler.” It’s just kind of a perk that way. 

Kate Archer Kent:

We’re talking with HVAC expert, Alex Steinberger, helping us winterizer spaces to be ready to go when the weather turns. Still time to talk about the winterizing questions that are on your mind. Furnace, water heater, attic insulation, what projects are you trying to do before the snow flies? Still time to talk 800-642-1234. Back in a minute here with Alex Steinberger on the Ideas Network.

~short break~

Kate Archer Kent:

We’re focused on HVAC systems and winterizing the home as part of our “Ask a Contractor” series on the Morning Show. I’m Kate Archer Kent. The US Energy Department says heating a home uses more energy and costs more money than any other system in a home, typically making up about 29% of our utility bill. Do you dread the soaring costs of heating and cooling your home? What have you tried? Do you have cold zones or cold spots in your home that refuse to warm up no matter how high you crank the thermostat? Still time for your questions 806-421-2344. Our heating and cooling expert is Alex Steinberger, works as service manager with a Wisconsin heating and cooling company and he’s with us for about 9 more minutes. Let’s go to Aaron now in Neenah. What would you like to add?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

I actually just bought a house and moved in and tried to install the Nest [thermostat] and it’s giving me “no power to RH wire” error and I’m noticing the Nest and the other thermostat I’ve tried, they aren’t getting any power unless it’s battery operated. I’ve tried checking the RH wire with a multimeter and it’s running 24 volts straight through so it seems like it should be powering it, but I have no idea what’s going on. And I don’t know why I can’t put any thermostat on there unless it’s battery powered.

Kate Archer Kent:

Hmmm, no power to RH wire, Alex have you come across this?

Service Manager Alex:

Oh yeah we come across this, I’d probably say weekly. The biggest issue, Aaron, is how many wires do you have to that thermostat?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

I have five. I have the heater and air conditioner and I had a techcome in actually and he said everything looks like it’s wired right, but no thermostat that I put on there works.

Service Manager Alex:

The biggest thing that we deal with is sometimes you have to use a wire saver. I would recommend having a company come out and take a look at it, but it sounds like you’re missing the C-wire. Sounds like you need a C-wire coming from your furnace to your thermostat. Even if you have it upstairs, it doesn’t mean it’s not broken in between or something. I would probably recommend replacing that wire if you’re having an issue with every thermostat.  

Kate Archer Kent:

Aaron, have you looked into that?

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Um yes ma’am. We actually ran new wires from the board to the thermostat. I got a brand new wire and it’s telling me the same issue.

Service Manager Alex:

Okay, well then I would definitely say look into the control board. I would have a company come out to look into that control board. Just because you’re receiving that voltage doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for that thermostat or enough for that thermostat. A big thing it could be too, is making sure that thermostat is charged before you put it on the wall and things like that.

Kate Archer Kent:

Aaron, thank you and good luck with that, yeah. Marine, now in Port Washington. Marine Hi.

Wisconsin Homeowner:

Hi I have a question regarding a home with three zoned furnaces, that’s three, and I’m wondering about replacements of furnaces and air conditioners. When you do that, they are 20 years old, they have had service and they’re still working. They are old and I’m just wondering if I should progressively replace them or just wait till they’re dysfunctional and when to do that? Winter or summer or what’s the best time?

Service Manager Alex:

I love to hear that they’ve lasted for 20 years. That’s fantastic. Typically what we see out of furnaces and things like that and air conditioners are about 10 to 15 years [of life]. So to hear that you’re around 20 is absolutely fantastic. Great job doing the maintenance and everything that way. Looking into replacements, a great time of year would be spring or fall, when you don’t need them. You’re kind of in that lull time where it’s like “ hey we can run the fan or we can open the windows a little bit.” That would be the time where —  Some jobs are a little bit more complicated where if the contractor runs into problems, now’s the time where it’s not a big urgency. There’s no snow on the ground, there’s no sun blaring heat at you.

Kate Archer Kent:

Yeah, those in between seasons. So would you suggest that Marine do a phased-in replacement or you know, replace those three zoned furnaces in one fell swoop? 

Service Manager Alex:

It depends on Marine’s budget and where she’s at and what she’d like. If she’s saved up some money and she wants to do that right away, she would probably get a better deal, to be fair, with that company, if you did all three at the same time.But if you’re progressing and notice “hey these two are still working, this one causing me trouble, let’s do [replace] that.” It’s always better to be proactive instead of reactive. But it all depends on where you’re at and where you feel comfortable.

Kate Archer Kent:

That wouldn’t mess up any compatibility issues with the other two older furnaces operating versus the new one? 

Service Manager Alex:

She has three separate furnaces. So I’m assuming they are [covering] three separate sides of the house. So I don’t see that causing any issues at all. If they were connected into the same ductwork, then I  would say that they could possibly do that [have compatibility issues], but without knowing, I would say it would be okay.

Kate Archer Kent:

Marine, thank you for the call. We heard from Chris, who called and couldn’t stay with us. Chris says that they bought a 100 year-old home four years ago and the house came with a fuel oil furnace. What are the pros and cons of oil gas? Should they switch to a newer furnace? What would you suggest?

Service Manager Alex:

Oil gas is great. We are probably one of the last companies around that still deal with that actually. People say it feels a lot hotter when that oil furnace is running. The only issue is of course, with oil, is the cost of it. It really does cost a pretty penny to run that. If you have natural gas on the road or close to the house, I do recommend changing it once that oil furnace starts to have problems. It will be easier on your wallet and better for efficiency and things like that.

Kate Archer Kent:

How often do you have to refill those oil gas furnaces? How often do they require that?

Service Manager Alex:

It depends on how cold it is outside. And then also it depends on what the customer has the thermostat set too. My dad used to have one and he was changing it about every two to three weeks.  He liked it pretty cold in his house, but obviously when it’s -10 [degrees] and that furnace is pumping, he’ll definitely have to do that [change the oil] more frequently.

Kate Archer Kent:

All along the lines of these older, century-old homes that may not have an HVAC or an air conditioning unit, is it worth the investment to add a whole air conditioning system or would you suggest window units? Are those okay as far as efficiency?

Service Manager Alex:

Window units are still okay, as far as efficiency, yes, but I think that it’s become definitely more of a necessity nowadays to be able to cool the whole house instead of just one room. What we do offer quite a bit to people instead of window units, are mini split systems. And [with mini splits] you can control each individual room and whatever temperature you’d like. 

Kate Archer Kent:

And they’re called mini-split systems you said? 

Service Manager Alex:

Yes!

Kate Archer Kent:

And in that way you can really zone your home, your space to where, you know what you’re going to be using at what time?

Service Manager Alex:

Yes, so a zoning system can do [control the temperature of] certain sections of the house, imagine you’re cutting it like a pie. And what a mini split system does is, you can have one in your room, I can have one in my room, we can have one in the kitchen, in the living room and we can set those all to different temperatures depending on if we’re going to have guests over, if I sleep colder or you sleep warmer, things like that. Individual comfort is what mini splits are instead of zoning. It’s a great thing to have. 

Kate Archer Kent:

And so for that family member who’s blazing hot when everyone else is freezing, that mini-split system might come in and help.

Service Manager Alex:

Definitely. 100%!

Kate Archer Kent:

Because no one can get the temperature right, believe you me, no one has it right. 

Service Manager Alex:

That is totally correct! I just got married last year and I am definitely feeling that as we speak!

~~ Laughter~~

Kate Archer Kent:

Well Alex, thank you so much for joining us.

Service Manager Alex:

Thank you very much for having me!

Kate Archer Kent:

Alex Steinberger is a Service Manager of Midwest Heating & Cooling, offering HVAC services for homes and businesses based in Mukwonago. Make sure you are back with us next week, a week from today, for more expert advice from our “Ask Contractor” series. We dive into home inspections. Oh my goodness, home inspections and what that process looks like. Also don’t miss out on any helpful advice from our home improvement series. Find past episodes at wpr.org/contractor. You’ll find a list of resources we’ve learned about over the weeks to help on your next home improvement project. I’m Kate Archer Kent. This is the Morning Show and you’re listening to the Ideas Network. 

Need HVAC Service?

Contact the experts at Midwest Heating & Cooling.

Call us at 414-209-4668!

Read More of Our Articles

View other articles.