Focus on Small Business

Taylor Heating and AC opens Avon branch

The new Avon location of Taylor Heating & Air Conditioning represents the company’s first effort to establish a branch operation. In September of last year, Taylor purchased Climate Controllers in Avon, securing the old company’s stock of equipment and its 259 East Main Street location.

The new Avon branch brings Taylor Heating & Air Conditioning services to all of Livingston and Wyoming counties.

We spoke with Taylor Heating & Air Conditioning president Tony DiCiacce, who himself has 33 years with the company, and who supplied a brief history.

Bob Taylor began Taylor Heating in Rochester in 1947 as a furnace installer and sheet metal shop, in the days when heating ducts were yet to be mass-produced.

The business served Monroe, Wayne and Ontario counties from its headquarters on Merchants Road, which the company occupied between 1952 and 1995. Today, Taylor Heating & Air Conditioning operates out of the Simcona Office Park on Mount Read Blvd. in Rochester.

The company remains as a supplier, installer and repairer of home furnaces — and over the years has garnered a reputation as a premiere supplier for air conditioning, humidifying and air cleaning systems, always with a great emphasis upon energy efficiency.

Speaking of the new store in Avon, DiCiacce observed, “We came out here and found things were done a little differently in Livingston County. There are a lot of people who prefer to fix things themselves, so we have created a do-it-yourself center where you can get what you need to do your own repairs and installations.”

But, of course, for customers who prefer to have a company expert install a system or unit, Taylor, backed by 65 years of business experience, can do the job.

“We do everything: the air sealing, the insulation, the furnaces, plumbing, the electric, …whatever,” DiCiacce said.

Taylor Heating installs and services gas-powered, electric -powered and oil-powered units.

“We try to do something here [in Avon] to be a little different than a home center or hardware store,” DiCiacce reflects. “We have the expertise and the stock. We can help you do it yourself or do it for you.”

Anyone interested in checking out various energy saving units and systems is welcome to stop by Taylor Heating’s 259 East Main Street store (across from McDonalds).

“Just stop in. There is always somebody here who is knowledgeable,” DiCiacce promises. “We’d be glad to discuss any of the new products.”

Energy audit

Taylor Heating & Air Conditioning will perform a New York State (NYSERDA) Energy Audit in your home at no cost or obligation to you.

DiCiacce explains what’s involved: “We hook up a big fan at the front door, blowing from the inside out, which will put the interior of the house under negative pressure. Meters indicate the amount the pressure being relieved, which in turn measures the amount of leakage into the house.”

“At that point we go through the home with an air pencil, which emits a vapor that tells us exactly where the leaks are.”

Surprisingly, leaks around windows are not usually the greatest culprit. More typically, unsealed drill punctures for electrical wiring, piercing the house’s framework, are a major source of leakage. Other common leakage points include the joints between framing members, plumbing vents, and flue pipe punctures.

The Avon Taylor Heating office has a demonstration doll house on display, subdivided vertically into three sections. One section represents a house with an uninsulated attic; the second section has an insulated but unsealed attic; the third section — and only one with no leakage from the outside (indicated by a ping pong ball inside a transparent tube chimney) — has both insulation and sealing in its attic.

The homeowner bears none of the cost of the audit. Taylor Heating is reimbursed through the Green Jobs Green NY program.

If the homeowner decides to have his home energy sealed, Taylor Heating is ready and capable of doing the work. The project will usually entail removal of any existing attic insulation, air sealing of leakage points, and air-blown reinsulation.

“A lot of people think windows are a great point of leakage, but usually there is not a great payback when you replace windows,” DiCiacce advised.

Air sealing will cost from $1,000 and up. A tax credit up to $500 is available, but the principal benefit is the energy cost savings which will be realized thereafter.

The ‘power miser’ and other displays

In addition to the miniature house illustrating the benefits of air seal, the store features a variety of demonstration units.

A high efficiency furnace has cut-away windows showing the valve and induced gas motor which draws gases through a heat exchanger. Also visible is a secondary heat exchanger, heating the air as it enters the furnace with radiator coils, which themselves are warmed by flue gases.

The connecting top unit, also with a cut-away window, shows the A-coil for air conditioning heat transfer.

On display as well are wall-mounted remote control air conditioning units by LG. The ‘Art Cool’ model is disguised as a picture frame ready to hold a photo or painting of the customer’s choice.

Most remarkable among the displays is the Power Miser, a box containing a series of capacitors. The single unit will replace all the surge protectors throughout the house, saving hard wired appliances from exterior power surges and interior power spikes.

More significantly, the miser unit recaptures the electro-motive output lost through the neutral/white wire to the outside electrical grid (and then sold back to you again) whenever an inductive motor runs. The typical home has numerous such motors: in refrigerators and freezers, pumps, dryers, computers, dishwashers, furnace blowers and fans.

The demonstration unit at the store features an electric motor drawing a 5.4 amperage without the power miser, then dropping to 2.1 amps when the power miser is turned on.

“The average house has about 15 motors. You pay for the power once. Why pay for it twice?” DiCiacce asks.

The standard Power Miser Model 250 unit is correctly sized for most homes. The unit costs $447 including installation. Taylor Heating guarantees a minimum of ten percent electric savings on your usual bill. If results are not evident within 90 days, the unit may be returned for a full refund.

There are floor warmer units, meant to keep your feet comfortable on what otherwise would be chilly tile, on display likewise in cut-away mode. They increase floor thickness by a mere half inch and can be operated on a timer or manual switch.

Other displays include Liberty sump pumps, made in Bergen, NY; a full line of Wolverine brass faucets and fixtures, and grab bars for bathroom use — no longer considered for just the elderly, but for persons of any age concerned over safety.

There are water efficient toilets, using 1.35 gallons per flush versus the old standard of 3 to 3.5 gallons. This toilet has a lid which shuts slowly and quietly.

There are plenty of parts for the do-it-yourselfer: black iron fittings for gas lines, PVC fittings for water heater vents, toilet mechanisms, furnace vents, copper water fittings, shark bite fittings and more.

Water conditioning

Taylor Heating sells, installs and services water conditioners.

“No matter how bad the water, it can be fixed,” DiCiacce vouches

A representative will perform a water analysis at your home to determine what minerals or contaminants need attention. Water conditioning is an investment in quality of life, but also in extending the life of appliances in the home.

“If you have real hard water, it is wreaking havoc with your faucets, toilet and water heater, “DiCiacce advises.

Prices start at about $800.

Tank vs. tankless water heaters

Water heating units are displayed and sold: the gas-powered instantaneous dispensers which mount under the sink for a fast and quick supply of hot water; the wall-mount tankless heaters, and the old cylindrical tank heaters.

For a somewhat higher initial investment, the tankless heater provides a virtually limitless supply of instant hot water by the cupful or tubfull.

“They are a much, much more efficient way to heat water,” DiCiacce vouches. “They are up to 98 percent efficient, while a standard water heater is about 63 percent efficient.”

The instantaneous unit contains a flow sensor which triggers ignition and heat only when water actually flows.

“So why haven’t our standard water heaters become obsolete?” we asked.

“It’s price. Still, I really believe within the next ten years they will be obsolete,” DiCiacce suspects. “When it comes to heating water, we are the most inefficient country in the world. You won’t find a tank heater in any other country.”

“Natural gas is so inexpensive here, it seems like we just look for ways to waste it.”

“I can’t promise you’ll realize your investment back in three years,” DiCiacce said, “but I can promise you will save energy — and that is the right thing to do.”

DiCiacce explained that the old style tank heats water and keeps it at a set temperature in storage all year long. In contrast, the instantaneous heater produces hot water on demand, only when it is needed — in any amount desired.

“If it is sized properly, you can hop in the shower on Monday and get out on Saturday, and have hot water the entire time,” DiCiacce, without exaggeration, says.

Units start at about $1,200, versus about $400 for the tank.

“Instantaneous units last twice as long. They have a 15 year warranty,” DiCiacce points out.

Instantaneous heaters are always installed in conjunction with a water descaler and a plumbing kit which allows for flushing with vinegar and hot water — the recommended annual maintenance.

The total package

DiCiacce suggests that persons striving for home energy efficiency embrace the total package: “You want to seal up that house, and then you want to bring in the efficient units.”

The result will be an approximate 40 percent savings on your total energy bill, DiCiacce states.

Other services and systems offered by Taylor Heating include anything to do with plumbing, attic ventilation, insulation, program thermostatic control, duct cleaning, and duct sealing.

Twenty-four hour emergency service is available. All work is done by Taylor’s own technicians. There is no subcontracting.

For any service call 226-2474 or go to www.TaylorHeating.com.