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Tara Smith

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2 security camera outside of a building

Is it time to upgrade your security system?

Residential Security | Commercial Security

If you’ve ever gone a few years between getting a phone and upgrading to a new one, you know just how fast technology can advance and leave older tech solutions outdated and obsolete. When it comes to security systems for your home or business, outdated technology can present your building as an easy target, rather than repelling would-be intruders.

What to look for:

There are a few things you should look for when deciding whether your security system is obsolete in the year 2023.

  1. Transition your system from hardwired devices to wireless. In the past, wires were the way that we connected security devices to a central security system. This was because it was the only way to do it, not because it was the best way. These wires can easily be cut or disabled, leaving your security system offline and in the dark as to what is going on. Switching to wireless cameras and sensors is a necessity for modern-age security systems.
  1. Do you have 24/7 accessibility? If your outdated alarm system DOES detect a problem at your home or business, typically you will receive a call from your security company to see if authorities need to be sent. If you aren’t able to monitor your property remotely, you may not know whether or not authorities are needed. With up to date security systems, you should be able to view live feed from your cameras through your smartphone and be able to control features like door locks, access control as well as live feed. With a security system like Brivo, Ideal Partners will ensure that you have access to all these features, giving you a robust and effective security response to any threat.
  1. Are your cameras even useful? How many times have you seen a picture of a suspect on the news from a grainy security camera? You can never tell anything from these videos and pictures, so what are they really helping with? If your cameras are grainy or lack night vision, they are failing your security system and should be replaced. Ideal Partners works with industry leaders like Eagle Eye Networks to supply clients with premium camera hardware with features like night vision, high resolutions, remote monitoring and AI support to detect interference like tampering.

Who to call:

If any of the above descriptions sound like your security system, you’re in luck. Call Ideal Partners today to talk with security experts about the right security upgrades and solutions for your home or business, and for a free estimate. Let the experts at Ideal make security as simple as it can be.

a technician squatted down checking the air conditioner ,measuring equipment for filling air conditioner units

Don’t Miss out on Maintenance

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As you’re getting ready for your Spring to-do list, make sure not to leave off getting your HVAC system serviced. While many homeowners don’t realize it, annual service is vital to maintaining an HVAC system and can save you money and prevent early degradation in your unit.

Is this really a big deal?

Absolutely, yes! Forgetting to get your HVAC unit can result in all sorts of things happening to your system including loss of warranty, higher electricity bills, earlier repair costs, and lower comfort in your home. Let’s dive deeper into what some of these mean for you.

Loss of warranty: Most HVAC systems come with a warranty when you purchase them. These warranties are extremely helpful when it comes to replacing parts and having repairs done on the units. However, most warranties are voided if regular maintenance is not done on the units, leaving you on the hook for expensive repairs when things eventually wear out.

Higher Bills: When you skip on maintenance, you’ll save a buck or two in the short term, but one of the biggest reasons for annual maintenance is to keep your unit running efficiently. Without routine inspections, your unit will slowly degrade and will require more electricity to do the same amount of cooling and heating. This means a higher bill at the end of the month for you.

Earlier Wear and Tear: As we mentioned earlier, skipping maintenance can lead to inefficiencies in your HVAC system. When your unit must use more electricity to heat and cool your home, it’s also having to work much harder. This means quicker wear and tear. This can be a double whammy because you haven’t had a serviceperson inspect the unit to catch any problems early, and you may have voided your warranty, leaving you to pay the difference.

Lower Comfort Levels: This may be the most important one of all of these. If you continue to skip on maintenance, eventually your unit will degrade to the point where it won’t be able to maintain your desired temperature as well as it used to. This could mean higher temperatures in the summer and colder ones in the winter, lowering your levels of comfort in your home.

The moral of this story is that HVAC maintenance is critically important to keeping your home comfortable and for increasing the lifespan of your unit. Here’s where the good news is: it’s not hard to do. If you’re interested in keeping your HVAC system going stronger for longer, give Ideal Partners a call to receive a free estimate and schedule a time for your HVAC system’s annual maintenance.

Ideal-088-B1-Carpenter-Ants-Blog

Carpenter Ants: A Home Inside Your Home

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Typically, when someone finds small, winged insects in their home, alarm bells start going off in their head, and rightfully so, but maybe not for the right reasons. Carpenter ants are commonly mistaken for termites, which can lead to time delays in professionals getting to the root of the problem.

What are they?

Let’s go ahead and clear up one thing: carpenter ants don’t eat wood. They use it to build their homes, like a carpenter would, by excavating the framing in your house and living in “galleries,” carved into the grain of the wood. You can differentiate between termites and carpenter ants in a few different ways. The biggest differences are their wings and antennae. Carpenter ants are larger than termites, and have antennae bent at a 90-degree angle, as opposed to termites’ straight antennae. Additionally, although both carpenter ants and termites have a 2nd pair of wings, they have a small difference. Both pairs of wings on a termite are the same size, however, on a carpenter ant, the second pair of wings are a smaller size.

If you don’t see many ants but are still worried about your home harboring these unwanted pests, then there are some signs you can look for. When carpenter ants are building their galleries, they kick out the wood shavings and sawdust from their new homes. An accumulation of sawdust near points of entry like windowsills, baseboards, and doorjambs can be an indication of carpenter ants at work. These areas are most attractive to them because of the likelihood of the wood there being damp.

What can I do?

If you’re thinking that your home could be host to a carpenter ant colony, it is almost always best to go ahead and call a professional. When eliminating a carpenter ant colony, it is important to kill all of them, as even just a few surviving ants can go on to rebuild and reproduce into a brand new colony.

Call Ideal Partners for a free estimate on extermination services and an inspection for a potential home hiding inside your home, or to set up an interval pest control program that will eliminate the insects before they ever have the chance to set up shop in your home.

A dirty air filter

Clearing the Air on HVAC Filtration

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Air quality is directly linked to your day-to-day health and general well-being. It is also in a literal sense directly linked to your HVAC system. Air quality is one of those things where companies will scream out their “MERV ratings” and terms like “HEPA filter,” but what does any of that mean for you, and does it actually matter?

What are the key terms?

The big one here is MERV ratings. The higher the MERV rating, the smaller the particles the filter can remove at a higher efficiency. This buying guide from HVAC Training Shop runs through some more details about MERV ratings. Ratings between 1-4 are very basic and remove basic lint and carpet fibers, but not much else. Typical residential and commercial air filters fall in the 5-8 range and block out some common pollens and dust. These are adequate, but if you suffer from allergies or have respiratory issues, it can become a problem. MERV ratings above 9 block out pet dander, mold spores, fine dust particles, and the highest ratings can even block out viruses and bacteria. Home Depot uses its own system to rate filters called FPR, which scores from 1-10 instead of 1-20.

HEPA filters are filters that are higher grade than the MERV rating system, blocking over 99.97% of particles larger than .3 microns, including bacteria and viruses. Even if installing high MERV filters in your home isn’t a feasible option, contact Ideal Partners to receive a free estimate and learn about some of the other air quality solutions they can offer. Ideal Partners serves some of the best products from companies like Trane and Active to utilize top of the line UV light technology from Active and premium filtration technology from Trane that exceeds both the MERV and HEPA qualifications.

Why is it important?

Even the White House agrees that air quality plays a huge role in overall health, and your air filter could be selling you short. Different homes and businesses have different air filtration needs, depending on what they’re filtering out. If you have pets in your home, a higher MERV rated filter is necessary to remove pet dander from the indoor air.

Higher filter settings are good for the immunocompromised and can help reduce the spread of bacterial infections and in some cases viral infections as well.

If you’re concerned about air quality in your home due to your home’s HVAC filtration system, call Ideal Partners to receive a free estimate and talk to a professional about what the best solution is for you.

smoke surrounding a smoke detector

Fifteen-Minute Fire Safety Checklist

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It takes no time at all for a fire to grow from the size of your hand to filling a room. This video shows just how a housefire can become an uncontrollable blaze. While housefires can be a terrifying thing to have to think about, Ideal Partners has a fifteen-minute checklist that you can use to identify and eliminate dangerous situations in your home where fires are most likely to occur.

Smoke Alarms

These lifesavers are hiding in plain sight, but if you don’t maintain them, they may not be there for you when you need them. Take a couple minutes to test your smoke alarms and change out the batteries in them. The batteries in smoke alarms need to be changed twice a year, so try to change them when you must change your clocks for daylight savings. The Department of Homeland Security gives recommendations on smoke alarm maintenance and more in this article.

Check your Fire Extinguishers

This one only takes minutes. Fire extinguishers need to be maintained and check at regular intervals. Check out this helpful explanation on how to inspect a fire extinguisher quickly and effectively. If you’re still not sold, check out our article on why it is important to check fire extinguishers regularly. Ideal Partners makes it easy. You can pick up a fire extinguisher from the office or schedule to have one delivered to your home.

Make a Plan

Every family or household should have a fire escape plan in place if a housefire prevents everyone from escaping together. Start by ensuring that every room has a viable rapid escape option other than the door entering the room. This could mean attaching a rope ladder to an upstairs window or replacing a closed window with one that opens fully. Next, have a place far enough away from the home to be safe to have everyone meet after escaping. This allows for an easy headcount so you can tell firefighters who is still inside and where they may be.

Mind your Appliances

Nine out of ten appliance fires start with the dryer. Check your dryer to make sure that lint isn’t built up in the filter screen and be sure to remove lint between every use. Also check your dryer to make sure that you know how many screens there are. Some newer dryers come with two lint filters, so be sure to know about your dryer.

Cooking fires are the most common types of housefires. Always be aware of what you have in cooking appliances like a microwave, oven or air fryer. Additionally, never leave something cooking on the stove while you leave the room to do other things. When cooking on an open stovetop, oil and other flammable ingredients can splash onto the cook surface and ignite, starting a fire.

Lastly, be mindful of heating appliances like space heaters. If you need to use a space heater, be sure to place it on a stable, flat and nonflammable surface like a ceramic tile and away from things like rugs, carpet and curtains.

Ideal Partners can help you be prepared for fires by installing and maintaining fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and even residential fire sprinkler systems. If you want to ensure your home is protected, call Ideal Partners for a free estimate.

A man wrapped in a warm beige blanket drinking coffee

HVAC Struggling to Keep Up with the Cold?

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It seems like the North Texas winters keep getting colder and colder every year. Many residents are facing a common problem: their HVAC systems simply can’t keep up with the cold weather to keep their homes warm. We’ve listed some of the most common reasons a heating system can be inadequate and what can be done to fix that.

Older Systems

Older systems can come with an entire host of problems. Old systems that rely on a mechanical thermostat rely on a spring that expands and contracts depending on the temperature, which sends signals to your heating unit. These springs are more prone to fail than a modern digital thermostat.

Another issue with aged systems is that they may not be big enough. As homes age, they tend to be less efficient. More drafts from leaky windows, doors, and heat loss from insufficient insulation could all be placing more stress on your heating system than it was originally designed for.

Dirty Air Filters

Maintenance is a key component to keeping your HVAC system running at its best. Replacing dirty air filters is a vital piece of maintenance because your HVAC system is only as good as its vents. If the vents are clogged, none of the warm air generated by your HVAC system will make it into the house and this will instead place heavy stress on your system.

Another possibility related to blockages is that your air ducts need to be cleared. Over time, dust and debris can build up in your air ducts. If you can hear your system running but cannot feel air coming out of the vents despite a clean filter, call a professional to come inspect your air ducts and clear any blockages.

Leaks and Drafts

This one is related to having an older HVAC system installed. The older the home itself, the more heat loss is typically felt by the residents. Older homes tend to be less insulated, have drafts around doorways and windows, and other general gaps in the home. Getting your home reinsulated or having an AC professional come and inspect your home for drafts that can be sealed could be the key to staying warm. It’s also a great way to increase your home’s efficiency and keep your electric bill low through the winter.

If your HVAC unit is having trouble keeping up with the cold this year, call Ideal Partners for a free estimate to either replace your current unit, or have it inspected to find the source of your problem.

Kid scratching bed bug bites

Back to School Can Bring in Bed Bugs

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Kids bring home all sorts of things from school, including some weird stuff sometimes. Now that your kids are back in the classroom, please know that children share lots of things at school, including the dreaded beg buds. Bed bugs are excellent travelers and can live up to a year between feedings. If one child at a school has a home dealing with bed bugs, it’s very possible for bed bugs to latch onto children’s clothing or backpacks onto the belongings of other students. Here are some tips to make sure your children are not bringing home surprise guests this winter.

Identifying Bed Bugs

It is always best to try to identify a bed bug infestation as early as possible, as it will be easier and cheaper to rid yourself of the problem. Bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed and are brownish red in color. Young bed bugs that haven’t matured yet are smaller in size and are translucent in color. They will be difficult to see unless they are moving.

If you see bed bugs, there are likely more that you cannot see. A professional could take over from here and treat your home to get rid of the bed bugs. If you have seen bed bugs on your furniture, call Ideal Partners to get rid of the problem before it becomes an expensive infestation.

Where to Find Them

Bed bugs love to hitchhike on students’ clothing and backpacks. Check these places for signs of bed bugs. Other places that these pests like to hide include mattresses, sheets, and furniture. Look for black speckling, which could be bed bug droppings. Another telltale sign is blood specks around the seams of furniture where bed bugs have been crushed.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shares some great information on where bed bugs like to hide, including common misdiagnoses. Bed bug bites look very different on different people. They can look like mosquito or chigger bites, so don’t panic right away at the first sign of bug bites, and instead check with professionals if you think it could be bed bugs.

What to do About it

The bed bug’s biggest vulnerability is that it cannot withstand high heat. If you’re worried about your child bringing them home, place their clothes in the dryer for 15-20 minutes on the highest heat to kill the bed bugs. Remember, backpacks are usually the main culprit, so the easiest way to prevent spreading is to keep backpacks away from bedrooms and living rooms. Read here for more tips to prevent bed bug spread if one of your children has brought them home from school.

If you’ve tried these steps and are still having trouble fighting a bed bug invasion, the experts at Ideal Partners can help. Give us a call for a free estimate and to have an inspection or treatment done on your home to help kill insects before they have a chance to start an infestation.

an image of the phone app on an iphone screen for Brivo Mobile Pass

Better Security with Brivo

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Ideal Partners strives to deliver the highest level of security for homes and businesses. This means offering our customers the “ideal partner” for every aspect of our business. We’d like to introduce you today to one of these partners: Brivo, the pioneer in cloud-based access control. Brivo’s easy to use service can utilize your existing security hardware and bring everything online through its mobile platform. Brivo specializes in bringing control to top-notch security systems through your smartphone in an easy-to-use interface. Here are some of the services Ideal Partners and Brivo can deliver to our customers.

Access Control

Security starts with determining who can enter your building and being able to control where they can go. Brivo’s mobile pass replaces older and less secure forms of access control like keys and physical identification cards. With the tap of a button, a businessowner can alter access rights for any of the users, including groups of users like visitors. This eliminates the need for rekeying and purchasing new ID’s every time one gets lost or someone is added to your team.

Video Surveillance

Brivo’s video surveillance service works in conjunction with your video cameras that are already installed, removing the need for new cameras. These cameras interact with Brivo’s remote access, allowing a businessowner 24/7 access to live CCTV video feed.

Brivo also takes the manual labor out of surveillance with its Camio integration for smart monitoring. Integration with Camio’s software allows Brivo to actively identify individuals tailgating an authorized user without showing identification themselves along with other smart-surveillance features. Tailgating is when an employee with security access opens a secure-access door, and either holds the door open for another person or someone following closely behind enters the door before it closes. Like tailgating in a car, tailgating in security can be dangerous and solved with better guardrails to prevent compromised security.

Mobile Management

Bringing security into the 21st century means embracing wireless technology. With Brivo’s Mobile Pass, users can open doors without needing a key, passcode, or ID card. This cuts down on costs such as rekeying manual locks and allows a businessowner to unlock doors for an emergency from anywhere. The mobile element also allows businessowners to change access rights, monitor multiple sensors, and gives the maximum amount of control over the business’s safety from anywhere.

Modern security means eliminating risks that we used to take for granted because they were necessary. Physical keys that can be stolen or lost and camera wires that can be cut are security elements that used to be necessary risks but aren’t necessary now with Brivo. Contact Ideal Partners to learn how upgrading your security system with Brivo can eliminate threats and pack the power of security into the size of your smartphone.

A plastic container on the floor with a fake christmas tree and blue ornaments inside

Keeping Pests at Bay After the Holidays

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The holidays have come and gone, meaning that it’s time to pack up all of the decorations until next holiday season. Before you do, it’s important to know that that pests like mice, cockroaches, and rats love to nest in poorly stored holiday decorations. Here are some tips to help you diagnose if you have a pest problem, and what you can do to prevent creating one.

Diagnosing the Problem

There are some key things to look for when trying to decide if rodents are calling your stored décor home. Look for telltale signs like rodent droppings or dead cockroaches. These are some of the more obvious signs. Always check to see if the corners of any storage containers have chew marks. These come from mice trying to get into containers. Check for these marks on cardboard storage boxes especially, as they provide a food source for cockroaches and allow easy access for mice.

What Can I do?

One big change you can make to prevent rodents from getting into your things is to use plastic storage containers instead of cardboard. As we previously mentioned, cardboard not only gives pests an easily-accessible place to live, but it also provides a food source for bugs. Try using plastic totes with lockable lids to keep a tight seal on your decorations. You can also tell if rats have been kept out of your plastic totes by the footprints they will leave behind in the dust. This also lets you know that you need an exterminator.

Another important step you can take is to eliminate any food items that may be stored with other items. Oftentimes, candy canes, gingerbread ornaments and popcorn garlands are stored with holiday decorations and this can cause big problems. Even if there is plastic wrap on things like candy canes, pests will still detect these items and be lured into your decorations. Taking extra care to separate and dispose of food items instead of storing them with the rest of your decorations is another great way to keep pests at bay.

The most important thing you can do is to regularly treat your home for pests through a proven pest control company, like Ideal Partners. An interval pest treatment plan gives you access to professional grade protection on a regular basis. Call Ideal Partners for a free estimate and to learn more about how pest treatment can protect your home and your stuff.

Takeaways

There are some great and easy ways to minimize the chances that pests will move into your holiday decorations in the months that they are tucked away in an attic or crawlspace. And, of course, there is still no replacement for a good pest treatment plan. If pests are a problem, or something you’re looking to avoid to start the year, contact Ideal Partners to learn more about their pest control treatments and to get a free estimate.

Someone pulling out a air filter

Bitter Cold Temps Coming Soon. Make Sure Your House is Ready and Warm for the Holidays

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Bitter cold temperatures are forecast for Ft Worth and surrounding areas in upcoming days. Keeping warm is one of the most important aspects of the cozy holiday atmosphere. Here are some tips from Ideal Partners to help you make sure your home is comfortable and welcoming for the holiday season.

Tip 1: Make sure to change out the furnace filter. If your furnace filter is dirty, it can severely hamper the efficiency of your heating unit. If your home is cold, it could be that you have a perfectly fine furnace unit, but it is just not able to get that heat to your vents due to this blockage. Here are some instructions to change the filter yourself, or you can give Ideal Partners a call to change it out and make sure your furnace is in working order this winter.

Tip 2: Reverse your ceiling fans. The Energy Star program recommends utilizing the reverse setting on your ceiling fans at a low speed to draw heat that has risen to the ceiling down into the living space below. By keeping the heat from dissipating so quickly into the ceiling and walls, your home will stay warmer and be more energy efficient.

Tip 3: Seal up animal doors and mail slots. Sealing up places that are designed to be accessible from the outside will help prevent small drafts from coming into your home. Using a blanket or a cover designed for the purpose, simply cover up the entry points to prevent cold air from leaking into your home.

Tip 4: Call professionals to inspect your heating system. There’s no replacement for the expertise of an HVAC professional. If you’re worried about your heating system being ready to handle the cold north Texas winter, call Ideal Partners for a free estimate for repairs or a new unit. Ideal Partners can also inspect your current system to see what improvements can be made.

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