Sound Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. Blog: Archive for March, 2014

Use Solar Heating to Warm Your Home

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

Here is what’s great about solar energy: the power of the sun is free. Instead of paying for natural gas, electricity, oil, propane, etc., you won’t have to shell out a single cent for the energy that radiates from the star at the center of our solar system. Once you’ve paid for the installation of a solar-powered heating and cooling system, the only money you will need to pay to keep your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter is for regular maintenance and occasional repairs. (And solar powered systems have few moving parts, so they rarely require extensive repairs.) And if you go solar, you’ll help the planet because you’ll be using a renewable energy source.

Solar power is still underutilized, but at Sound Heating we hope to change that. We want to help you benefit from solar in Puyallup, WA. Contact us today to talk about installation of a solar heating and cooling system for your home, as well as other solar-powered systems.

A few things to consider with solar heating

Solar power does tend to be more expensive to install than systems that use electricity or natural gas. However, the long-term benefits outweigh the initial costs. It only requires a few years for solar energy to pay back its installation price, and after that point you’ll save money every month that you have your system working.

Homeowners are often worried about the space requirements for solar panels. You should have a technician experienced with solar power take a look at your property so you know about the potential for your home to harness the sun’s energy. You don’t necessarily need an enormous amount of roof space, since panels can now be installed on posts in the yard.

Something else to keep in mind: If you feel a bit hesitant about hooking up a full solar-powered heat pump, you can start smaller with a solar-powered water heater, one of the easiest units to install. It’s not difficult from there to start to add on more solar panels as you expand your home’s use of the energy of the sun.

Find out more about solar power and your home

Contact Sound Heating and set up an appointment with our Puyallup, WA solar specialists. We can tell you about the options available for using solar power to heat and cool your home, and then arrange to look over your house and property and see where you can start saving money with sun power. We are happy to answer any questions you might have, and we hope that’ll you decide to invest in solar heating for your future and for the planet’s.

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Signs Your Solar Panels Need Repair

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

Our customers at Sound Heating are often looking for ways to reduce their energy bills as well their impact on the environment. The best way to do both is the choose to have a photovalic (PV) solar panel system installed on their roof or other part of their property to harness the free energy of the sun. Solar panels will soon pay back their installation cost through their highly energy-efficient performance.

A solar panel operating with repair needs, however, won’t give you the savings you want—or the power. But it can be difficult to tell when PV panels need repairs because they do not use mechanical parts and show no display outwardly that they are working at all. Here are some things to look for to tell that you may need solar repair service in Olympia, WA for your PV panels.

Watch for these signs that your solar panels need repairs

  • Broken glass casing: Solar panels are built to withstand most weather conditions, but can still sustain damage from debris, such as falling trees, stones hurled in the wind, and hail. If you notice any cracks in your solar panels, from small factures to a web of shattered glass, don’t ignore it or hesitate with calling for repairs. Water getting inside the panels can cause fogging and eventually other serious damage to the panels.
  • Power from the cells cuts in and out: An issue that can afflict solar panels is loose solder connections or other problems with the wiring such as corrosion and oxidation, which can lead to the panels cutting in and out when they are heating and cooling. If you rap your hand against the panels and their power cuts in or out, then you should call for repairs to fix the connections and locate any other panels that may have similar problems.
  • Drop in power production: You should keep close track on the power meter for your solar system to see how it performs on average (measured in killowatts per day) as compared to the manufacturer’s expected average. If drops occur that you cannot account for because of weather conditions such as clouds or rain, then the panels may be losing their capacity for some reason and will need repairs.  
  • Error message on the inverter: Check the inverter once a week to see that it is operating correctly or displaying an error message. The problem may actually be with the inverter itself, but it could also be a problem with the panels. Record the error code on the inverter and then call professionals to see what can be done.

Solar panels need precision repairs, and you can only get this through experts in solar power technology. Trust to the solar repair experts in Olympia, WA at Sound Heating to take care of your sun-powered needs.

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