Blog | HVAC and Plumbing Tips

3 Household Tips For Clogged Drains

June 29th, 2023

Dealing with a clogged drain in Alexandria, VA can be a frustrating experience for any homeowner. Whether it’s a slow drain in the kitchen sink or a backed-up shower drain, a clog can disrupt your daily routine and even cause potential damage if left unaddressed.

While calling a professional plumber is always an option, there are several effective household tips you can try before reaching for the phone. Here are three simple yet effective tips to help you unclog your drains and keep your pipes flowing smoothly!

How Much Should AC Repairs Cost?

June 14th, 2023

As a homeowner in Woodbridge, VA, it’s essential to understand the factors that influence AC repair costs. There are various considerations that impact the price of air conditioning repairs. From common repair types to the factors that affect pricing, McDaniel Service, Inc aims to help you gain a better understanding of how much AC repairs should cost.

How Maintenance Extends Your AC’s Lifespan

May 15th, 2023

As the temperatures rise in Fairfax, VA, air conditioning becomes an essential part of our daily lives. It keeps us cool, comfortable, and productive during the scorching summer months.

Like any other mechanical system, air conditioners require regular maintenance to ensure optimal performance and longevity. Let’s explore the importance of AC maintenance and how it can significantly extend the lifespan of your cooling system, saving you money in the long run.

It’s Time to Replace the Air Filter

May 1st, 2023

When we usually cover topics related to AC repair in Woodbridge, VA, they can get pretty complicated. When the discussion turns to your compressor or the electrical components required for air conditioning, our blogs can become hard to follow.

The reason for this is the fact that air conditioners are just a lot more complicated now than they used to be. You can’t just fix a refrigerant leak yourself anymore, or patch up your condenser for the next year of AC. A professional HVAC technician is practically required for every type of adjustment imaginable.

Except for one!

If your air conditioner is having trouble, there is one thing you can do all on your own. That’s right, you might not have to call for professional repairs at all, and your bank account might stay exactly the same. This involves changing the air filter, and it’s a component that’s responsible for a lot of the functionality of your system.

It’s AC Maintenance Season Again!

April 17th, 2023

The flowers are starting to bloom, the days are getting longer, and it finally feels like spring is here. This is a big deal for many different reasons, and on our end, we’re excited to start providing AC maintenance in Springfield, VA.

For anyone who might be new to maintenance, a new AC owner, or someone who generally hasn’t explored it as an option before, this blog post should be pretty helpful.

Air conditioning maintenance is a unique service that’s unlike the installation of a new system or the repair of an existing one. With those services, there’s usually a problem (like the absence of a comfort system, or a broken component), and our services are designed to fix the problem. This can be an easy way to justify the cost.

However, with maintenance, there usually are no problems that prompt this kind of service–and that’s a good thing. Maintenance is designed for systems in good shape and it helps to keep them in good shape.

Don’t Turn to Chemical Drain Cleaners

April 3rd, 2023

We know that in a stressful moment, even the most trivial solutions to a problem can seem like good ideas.

If you’ve been plunging or snaking your clogged drain for hours, those chemical drain cleaners offered at the grocery store probably sound like a perfectly reasonable idea. Plus, you can just pour them down the drain and go to bed, and by morning they’ll have worked just fine, right?

Well, no. Unless you like the taste of chemical fumes in the air and you’re a sucker for pipe corrosion, you’re going to wake up in a worse situation than when you went to bed. Chemical drain cleaners are unfortunately one of the worst ways to deal with a clogged drain in Arlington, VA, and we’ll talk about some of the reasons why down below.

Do yourself and your family a favor and call a professional to have your drain cleared. It won’t take very long, it won’t be very expensive, and you’ll be very happy with the results. We promise!

What If I Can’t Afford Maintenance?

March 20th, 2023

This is a tricky question. We’re not one of those HVAC teams that will guilt you into paying for a service that you just can’t afford.

But we’re also not going to lie to you and tell you that your AC will be fine without maintenance, it likely won’t be.

Maybe there’s a middle ground that we can reach, something that will keep your air conditioner in good shape without breaking the bank.

Those kinds of compromises exist, and it’s what we’re here for. We wouldn’t be a very good HVAC provider if we didn’t have tools to help customers with tight budgets.

HVAC equipment can be expensive, and when preparing to pay for a service like repairs or air conditioning maintenance in Alexandria, VA, it can be easy to start cutting corners.

Let’s talk about some of your options, as well as the results that can come if you do decide to skip maintenance this year, so you’re prepared for the outcomes.

Water Heater Repairs Shouldn’t Be Complicated

March 6th, 2023

The only complicated part about a water heater fix should be for the trained professional to figure out–and even then it’s usually not that complicated. From a homeowner’s perspective, water heater problems should be simple to figure out. If it’s a nuisance, a problem, or something that’s clearly not making you happy, then it’s in need of repairs. That’s that.

The tricky part comes from the fact that everyone’s preferences are different. Some people are okay with a water heater that takes exceptionally long to deliver hot water to their appliances. Other people see a leak and just grab a bucket instead of calling for help. We understand that everyone’s threshold is different, but this should never mean that you live your life with a broken water heater.

Down below, we’re going to talk about a few instances where it’s clear that you need water heater repair in Woodbridge, VA. Then, just give our team a call and we can work to figure out the best option going forward.

How Bad Is a Broken Heat Exchanger?

February 20th, 2023

There’s one component in your furnace that just doesn’t mess around–that’s the heat exchanger. It might sound like a simple component like the ignition or the flame sensor, but the heat exchanger is arguably one of the most important components of your heating unit. It basically separates a dangerous furnace from a safe one, and it’s used every single time your furnace turns on.

In order for your furnace to heat your home, it needs to exchange heat between two places. At first, your furnace burns gas and heats up the air around it, but that air is terribly contaminated. Carbon monoxide, smoke, gas, and soot are floating around inside your furnace, so the heat needs to be transferred into fresh air that you can breathe safely. That’s where the heat exchanger comes in.

So, let’s talk about how important a furnace repair in Alexandria, VA might be if it includes your heat exchanger.

What Is an Emergency Heater Repair?

February 6th, 2023

There are two types of heater repairs in Arlington, VA. There are repairs and then there are emergency repairs. You can probably imagine the difference when you close your eyes. A repair is going to be some kind of loud noise or a high heating bill–something that’s bad but not going to stop you from feeling warm and cozy on a winter’s night. An emergency repair would be something like smelling leaking gas or a broken down heating system.

Well, each of those types of repairs is going to require a different response. As your local experts, we want to make sure that you have the right response when you encounter a specific repair problem. So, this blog post is going to be an informative PSA about what constitutes an emergency heater repair, and what heater repairs might be okay for the next few days while you figure out a plan.