Original tests and charts from our technicians: how fast a house cools with the heat off, what a clogged furnace filter does, when appliances fail most in Northern Virginia, and what the numbers mean for your home.
We sorted every residential range, wall oven and cooktop recall CPSC announced from 2016 to October 2026 by hazard, fuel and year. Here’s what keeps showing up, and how to check your own model in a few minutes.
We modeled a cold Northern Virginia house warming from 60°F to 68°F with the thermostat at 68, 72 and 80. For a furnace, 80 changed nothing but the bill. For a heat pump, the answer has a twist.
We lined up five years of Google Trends search interest for heating-repair phrases with NOAA weather at Dulles. The link to cold weather is real but weak. Here’s what the data does and doesn’t show.
We modeled a 1990s Northern Virginia house against two real heat pumps from 45°F down to 5°F. A variable-speed heat pump runs almost nonstop most of the winter, and that’s by design.
We used a real furnace blower table and real filter pressure-drop data to calculate what a dirty furnace filter does to static pressure, airflow and temperature rise, from clean to badly restricted.
We modeled a 1990s Northern Virginia home through two real Dulles nights at 68°F, 65°F, 62°F and 60°F, with a gas furnace and with a heat pump. Here’s what each night thermostat setting saved after the morning warm-up.
We read 12 months of repair searches across Northern Virginia. Heating peaks in January, ovens in November, washers and dishwashers in December, and AC in July.
We modeled three Northern Virginia homes, from the 1970s to today, through three real fall nights at Dulles with the heat off. Here’s how fast each one cooled, and when to turn on the heat.
