HawthorneVillager.com

Hey all ;

OK, so ...have been a homeowner for 1 month now, and so far so good....but I have a couple of questions, and wonder is fomeone who has been an owner for while longer can help me with.

1) The Furnace fan......Is it best to leave on all the time...?

Just to clarify, I have not yet installed A/C, and have not had the thermostat on "heat" for a couple of weeks...., but do have it set on "cool", with the fan on all the time....I recall someone saying it was a good idea , to get the humidity out of the home.....In this case, for how long should I do this..? We do run a dehumidifier in the basement, and it does a great job of keeping the air dry down there.....

2) For anyone else who has a gas fireplace....Do I leave the pilot on all year ?

I have had 2 different opinions on this......One says, no, as soon as it is warm enough outside, turn the pilot off, and back on again when it gets cold outside. The other says, no leave it on all the time, because if you turn it off, there is the risk associated with turning it back on....insects in the pipes, etc....I vaguely recall being shown how to do it when we took delivery, but can't recall if I was advised to actaully turn it off.....and further to that....how much gas money am I saving by shutting it off...is it significant ?

Any help you all could offer would be appreciated....

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New Miltonians

Can't answer 2, but in the case of 1, Yes.

The fans, as I was told, are duel mode, if you put them to "ON" then they will run in a low power mode until the furnace kicks in, and then to the high power mode. In the lower power mode they do a good job of keep the air circulating, which cuts down on moisture on your windows, and keeps the temperature better balanced. Since switching mine on at around year 1, I haven't noticed a difference in my electrical bills.

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14C - Lot 82 - Upland B
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1) I was told for humidity, and air circulation, it was best to keep the furnace fan on at all times. But in our own home, we usually keep the furnace fan on 24/7 only during the winter. During the summer, spring months we just open the windows when we want some air circulation. I don't know if this is the best thing to do, but it's what we've been doing.

2) With the new furnaces in the mattamy homes, I didn't know that you could turn the pilot off?? If you just moved in, you should get applewood or cerval to come by and give you a free sales call/home inspection. Applewood is probably the vendor that installed your furnace, and when they come by they'll usually give you a small speach/instruction on the care of your furnace and answer any questions. Sorry, I know I didn't really answer your second question. Maybe someone else will, I assume the answer is to keep it on, but it's an assumption that's not based on any real knowledge.

For our fireplace I tend to turn it off when I'm sure I'm done for the summer, then turn it on the first time we use it in the fall. I'm not sure it really saves that much gas, but I'm a "every little bit helps" kind of guy. As far as insects and the like in the line... I really can't imagine that (I can if you're talking the propane line in your BBQ outside)... I mean, if they had a way of ever getting in to that metal line, that means they could cause a gas leak in your house at any time.

That said, I know many other people who never bother turning it off, and throughout the summer they will occasionally use it on cold nights or if they get caught in a rainstorm, so I think it's just a matter of personal preference.

oops...sorry you are right. Sorry didn't notice the "fireplace" part....

1) Spring/Summer/Fall I open the basement cold air return loover so that the furnace sucks in the cool basement air and I turn the furnace fan on 24/7. When my digital thermostat turns on the air conditioning the fan will already be on, so no big deal.

Winter I close the cold air return loover, so that I am not sending basement cold air throughout the house (this may change when I finish the basement). I only have the furnace fan on if I notice condensation on the windows



2) I know when we put in a gas fireplace in our old house, it came with the manual thermostat & the pilot light was always on. In the summer months I would turn off the gas on the fireplace. i) it doesn't heat up the room ii) your not spending money on gas to keep the pilot lit.

I'm sure all the new model furnaces now are electronic ignition, meaning there is no pilot light & gas is only burned when the thermostat turns on. Therefore there is no need to turn off the pilot light on this model.


Hope it helps.

Tim

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http://spaces.msn.com/greensburg101/ website update...Feb 13, 2009

Thanks Guys !

Pete

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New Miltonians