Growing HVAC company opens showroom

The Chicago area is a place of temperature extremes. We suffer from frigid winters and scorching prairie summers.

That is why homeowners here need to make sure their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are always in tiptop condition, said Adam Kern, co-owner with his wife, Cheryl, of Official Heating and Cooling, which recently moved from McHenry to Crystal Lake.

"We are very excited about our new location along Route 31 because our customers will now have a physical location they can visit to see our various products and view and hear them in action. You can't explain over the phone how quiet a particular system is, for instance," Kern said.

Today's homeowners want to be comfortable, of course, but they want to achieve that without incurring huge energy bills or harming the environment. They also want to be sure the air they are breathing inside their homes is free of allergens, particulates and germs.

"We like to look at the entire house envelope to pinpoint where they are losing heating and cooling. In most cases, we can solve those problems for them with electric dampers and/or duct sealing," Kern said. "We can also improve indoor air quality through duct cleaning, duct sanitizing with ultraviolet light and the installation of mechanical filters.

"Many people assume that if they have a two-story home, they are going to be more uncomfortable on the second floor during the summer," he said. "It is true that in a large or multilevel home with only one thermostat, it is nearly impossible to achieve a constant temperature throughout the home."

But Official crews can solve that problem by "zoning" the home with electric dampers and supplemental thermostats, giving homeowners a constant comfort level throughout.

"Every home can be fixed. Electric dampers, which were pioneered in commercial buildings, can regulate the air flow in different areas of the house, as needed. But sometimes a home's ductwork will need to be adjusted in order for this solution to work," Kern said.

In addition, most homes that are 10 years old or older "leak like a sieve," he said, because leaks in the ductwork cause treated air to escape into the basement and between the walls."

Such leaks make the HVAC equipment work harder, cause the home to be less comfortable and increase the bottom line on those energy bills.

"If your basement is freezing during the summer, this is probably why. We can redirect that cool air into other rooms of the house with duct sealing," he said. "We inject a liquid into the ducts at a high pressure. It adheres to all openings where air is being lost and prevents the loss of treated air."

Duct sealing can also help with improvement of a home's indoor air quality by not allowing dirt and dust from one area of the home to get into the ducts and spread to all areas of the home. Official is an authorized Aeroseal duct-sealing dealer.

Improvements to indoor air quality, on the other hand, can be made in three ways: through duct cleaning once every six to eight years, the installation of mechanical filters that remove particulates from the air stream, and treatment of ducts with the same type of ultraviolet light that is used to kill germs in our water supplies, Kern said.

"Through these interventions, you can make sure the air you breathe inside your home is as good as it is going to get. They even remove cooking odors, cigarette smoke and so forth.

"What distinguishes us from our competition is the fact that we work to improve a home's comfort without reinventing the wheel. We modify and improve existing systems, instead of suggesting total replacement of equipment," Kern said.

Kern has been in the heating and cooling business for 38 years. He and Cheryl purchased Official Heating and Cooling in McHenry four years ago when the former owners retired. Since then they have also purchased and merged in Acme Heating of Wheeling, Biewer Heating and Cooling of Elgin and Active Air of Palatine.

Official Heating and Cooling crews are highly trained and familiar with all of the latest HVAC equipment so they can easily and competently install and repair it. The company employs ten to 12 North American Technician Excellence-certified technicians, depending on the season.

"The technology of our business seems like it is changing on a daily basis," Kern said. "Our guys are constantly attending classes because heating and cooling systems today are as sophisticated as the new cars. They are too complicated to work on unless you have been specifically trained."

Official repairs and installs residential and small commercial furnaces, air conditioners, Wi-Fi thermostats, boilers, humidifiers, hot water heaters, sump pumps, ejector pumps and anything related to ductwork, including the installation of new ductwork in additions.

It provides service in the North Shore to the Wisconsin line and the Northwest suburbs as far west as Huntley and as far south as South Elgin, Kern said.

For more information, call (800) 350-4822 or visit www.officialhvac.com.