Here are some pictures from our commercial service manager of a leaking heat exchanger we ran into in the field.  It’s important to keep your system maintained so you can detect dangerous leaking heat exchangers!

Here’s a couple pictures from Tuesday of this week.  The snow didn’t stop our techs from getting out to help our clients!  We even did a rooftop unit replace for our friends over at Richmond Ford.

Here’s some burnt wires we found on a commercial service call today.  It had the potential to turn into a dangerous situation!  This is why it’s important to keep your equipment maintained properly.  Call or e-mail us today to talk about a commercial preventive maintenance agreement!

James River Air is a Diamond Sponsor for this year’s Holiday House Tour.

The Fan District Association’s 52nd Annual Holiday House Tour will take place on December 13th and 14th, 2014, from 1 to 6 PM each day. Richmond’s Fan District, a revitalized residential neighborhood made up of late 19th and early 20th century houses, is one of the largest and least altered historic townhouse districts in the South. The Fan District is on the National Register of Historic Places and represents one of the largest concentrations of Victorian period townhouses in the USA. The area’s name comes from avenues that “fan out”, creating spaces for small triangle parks from which the avenues begin. Participation by homeowners and volunteers in the annual Holiday House Tour enables the Fan District Association to carry out its mission, and proceeds are used to enhance the neighborhood through school projects, tree planting, park and alley refurbishments, neighborhood concerts, and collaboration with the City of Richmond Police and VCU.

Click below to get your tickets!

James River Air is sponsoring WRIC’s “Predict the First Inch of Snowfall” Contest.  Click below to enter!

Does your heat pump appear to be frozen?  There could be a problem with it, but don’t panic – it could be normal!  Read on to learn how to tell the difference between normal operation and a unit in need of repair.

Normal Heat Pump Operation

Heat pumps use refrigerant to absorb heat from outside air.  During this process, moisture that’s in the air can build up on the outdoor coils.  On very cold days, this buildup of moisture can freeze.  Your heat pump is able to deal with this ice buildup though during its defrost cycle, which lasts approximately 30 minutes.  When it goes into defrost mode, the heat pump basically works in cooling mode and uses heat from the refrigerant to help met the ice.  During this process, the electric strip heat keeps your home warm.

How to Know When There’s a Problem

If your heat pump is frozen and it doesn’t appear to be normal defrost operation, there could be a problem.  Causes of the problem could include airflow issues inside (like a dirty filter) or outside (snow or ice from a storm).

What to Do if There’s a Problem

Ice buildup can be removed from the top of your outdoor unit.  Sometimes a homeowner can remove it with a garden hose, but you never want to use a sharp object or your hands to try to get rid of it.  Sharp objects can damage the unit and hands can get injured!  If in doubt, have a qualified service technician take care of it.

If you experience a frozen heat pump and want to know if you need a service call or not, please give us a call or contact us via e-mail.

The importance of a thorough inspection of gas heat exchangers prior to heating season is too often overlooked.  Your system may be heating fine, yet silently contaminating your house or building with carbon monoxide.

Only a professional inspection of your gas heating system from a qualified contractor, like James River Air, will protect you from this possible harm.  Below are some pictures of heat exchangers with cracks / holes that we found just this week!

Make sure you Halloween is a Happy one and not a Scary one!  Click here to schedule an inspection with one of our qualified technicians.

James River Air is proud to have been voted Style Weekly’s 2014 “Family Favorite Heating & A/C Company” in their Style’s Family Favorites section.

We appreciate Richmonders taking the time to vote for us!  Click the picture below to link to the section at Style Weekly.

Just a friendly reminder that cold weather is coming, so don’t forget to disconnect your water hoses!  When it gets below freezing, this can lead to split pipes as seen below.  When it thaws out, you’ll have a nasty mess!

Here’s Chris Harlow, who heads up our residential plumbing team, going underground to check out a rainwater storage tank for one of our clients.  You can tell from the look on his face that this is one of his favorite assignments!

Chris Harlow, Master Plumber