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Is your furnace ready for Oklahoma’s cold weather? The best time to prepare is now before you need it. That way you can prevent having a costly breakdown on a frigid cold night. Here are 3 ways to prepare your furnace for fall and beyond. 1) Turn it on before you need it You haven't used your furnace in a while. So run it for about 30 minutes…

Got an old water heater? You may want to replace it now, or you may have to pay more to replace it later. New government mandates will force water heater manufacturers to increase the Energy Factor (EF) of their water heaters by April 2015. While this makes the water heaters more efficient (meaning lower energy bills) it also means higher upfront…

Energy factor (EF) rating is like the Miles Per Gallon (MPG) of water heaters. It determines how efficiently the water heater uses its fuel source. For example, these are the typical EFs of gas and electric water heaters: Electric water heaters: 0.75 to 0.95 Gas water heaters: 0.5 to 0.7 Let’s say you have a gas water heater with an energy…

Toilet clogged? It’s tempting to reach for the nearest bottle of Drano to try to clear the clog, but should you? No way. Even Drano says you shouldn’t use their typical clog cleaner for a toilet.Here’s why.How Drano can “heat up” your pipes and toiletDrano uses caustic or oxidizing chemicals (like lye) to dissolve whatever is clogging a…

Is your air conditioner's inside unit covered in ice? Is frost building up on the refrigerant lines? Are you getting very little air from your vents?There are a variety of things that could cause this, but we’ll cover the 2 biggest ones. But first, turn off your air conditioning system. Running your air conditioner with it like this could…

AC blowing hot or warm air? Want to figure out what the problem is before calling an air conditioning professional? This article is for you.While there are many, many reasons your air conditioner is blowing hot air, we’ll run through the most common causes that you can fix or diagnose on your own. The thermostat is set incorrectlyIt may sound…

The summers in Lawton, Oklahoma can be hot and humid. And the humidity can make you feel warmer than the thermostat tells you that you should feel. To fight this, many homeowners turn to dehumidifiers to help them cool off without cranking down the AC too far. But what’s better – a portable dehumidifier or whole-home version? There are pros and…

Everybody loves the sweet smells of air sprays, scented candles and plug-ins.But that sweet smell could lead to bitter health issues. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study Hidden Hazards of Air Fresheners, 12 of 14 air fresheners they tested contained phthalates. Phthalates (pronounced thal-ates) aren’t…

Here’s a burning question we hear from Lawton, Oklahoma homeowners: “Why won’t my furnace shut off?” To answer this, we need to know what you mean by that since it can be interpreted in different ways. Do you mean the furnace blower (fan) won’t turn off? Or do you mean the furnace burners won’t turn off? We’ll tackle these separately. Furnace…

Oklahoma’s weather has been especially cold this winter. And, as a result, we’ve seen more costly home repairs than usual. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are some simple ways to prevent most of the problems we’ve seen. Clean out your gutters Although we don’t get a lot of precipitation in the Lawton area during the winter, when we do it…