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Here we address some money saving tips, maintenance, testing your central air system as well as simple and common solutions for all heating and air conditioning problems. . Please read our legal Disclaimer first!!!
Facts & Money saving Tips on Central Air Conditioning Systems.
Heating and cooling your home drains more energy dollars than any other system in your home. Typically, 44% of your utility bill goes for heating and cooling. What's more, heating and cooling systems in the United States together emit over a half billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, adding to global warming. They also generate about 24% of the nation's sulfur dioxide and 12% of the nitrogen oxides, the main ingredients in acid rain...
No matter what kind of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system you have in your house,
you can save money and increase comfort with a few simple steps:
- Inspect and clean both the indoor and outdoor coils. The indoor coil in your air conditioner acts as a magnet for dust because it is constantly wetted during the cooling season. Dirt build-up on the indoor coil is the single most common cause of poor efficiency - up to 50% energy waste. The outdoor coil must also be checked periodically for dirt build-up and cleaned if necessary.
- Contact a service contractor to check the refrigerant charge. If the system is overcharged or undercharged with refrigerant, it will not work properly; this will increase your energy consumption by as much 50%.
- Try not to use a dehumidifier at the same time your air conditioner is operating. The dehumidifier will increase the cooling load and force the air conditioner to work harder.
- Operate dishwashers, ovens, dryers, and other heat producing appliances in the morning or at night.
- Use bath and kitchen fans sparingly when the air conditioner is operating.
- Reduce the cooling load by using cost-effective conservation measures. For example, effectively shade east and west windows.
- Over most of the cooling season, keep the house closed tight during the day. Don't let in unwanted heat and humidity. If practical, ventilate at night either naturally or with fans.
- Did you know that trees and vines could create a cool microclimate that reduces the temperature by as much as 9 degrees? During photosynthesis, large amounts of water vapor escape through the leaves, cooling the passing air. Vines are a quick way to provide shading and cooling. Grown on trellises, vines can shade the whole side of a house. Set trellises away from your house to allow air to circulate and to keep the vines from attaching to your house's facade and damaging its exterior. Plant deciduous trees; they provide shade in the summer, then lose their leaves and allow sunlight to warm your house in the winter. The taller varieties of trees will shade your roof as well as your walls.
- About a third of the unwanted heat that builds up in your home comes in through the roof! Apply a reflective coating to your existing roof. Standard roofing coatings are available at your local hardware store. Purchase one that has both waterproof and reflective properties. These are marketed primarily for mobile homes and recreational vehicles, but can be applied over many common roofing materials.
- Set your thermostat at 78°F or higher. Each degree setting below 78°F will increase your energy consumption by approximately 8%. Contact us to calibrate or replace the thermostat, it could save up to 30% of energy.
- If your home is regularly empty during the day, install an automatic setback or programmable thermostat. These thermostats are also recommended for businesses that are empty at night or on the weekends. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours. You can do this automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing an automatic setback or programmable thermostat.
- A ventilated attic stays about 30 degrees cooler than an unventilated one! Ventilating your attic greatly reduces the amount of accumulated heat, which eventually works its way into the main part of your house. Properly sized and placed louvers and roof vents help prevent moisture buildup and allow some of the hot air to escape. They may be installed under the eaves, at a roof gable or along the ridge.
- Install R-30 insulation in your attic to reduce your heating and cooling costs.
- Roughly 40% of the unwanted heat that builds up in your home comes in through windows. Apply caulking and weather-stripping to keep heated or cooled air from escaping. Be aware that when you seal doorways and windows, you can increase the risks caused by indoor pollutants such as allergens and carbon monoxide!
- Use ceiling fans or small fans to help circulate the air in summer. Air that is circulated feels cooler, so the thermostat can be set at a higher temperature and the house will still feel comfortable.
- If a room is not in use, close it off and partially close vents in the rooms; however, never close off more than half the vents at one time to avoid damage to the equipment.
- Dirt is the biggest enemy of your air conditioner! Giving your air conditioning system a good electrostatic or electronic air filter is the best thing you can do for your air conditioner. Clogged, dirty filters block normal airflow and reduce a system's efficiency significantly. With a new air filter, as an additional benefit - your family and you will enjoy breathing much healthier indoor air that will be free of dust mites, mold, mildew, dust, pollen, etc. Contact us for more information about the new electrostatic or electronic air filters.
- When the time comes to replace your air conditioner or heat pump, consider selecting a split system. Check its SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) rating. This rating tells you how efficiently a unit uses electricity. The higher the number, the greater the efficiency.
- If you replace your central air conditioner, make sure that the outdoor and indoor units match.
Maintenance
My unit will not start
My unit doesn't cool well
Water is coming from my indoor unit.
The outside unit will not come on.
My indoor blower never shuts off
My unit doesn’t cool and freezes up.
My outdoor unit is blowing the breaker (or fuses) as soon as I turn it on.
My unit will not start
Actually, the most common reason for this complaint is usually that the unit is not properly switched on at the thermostat. Make sure that the heat/cool selector switch is turned to "cool" and make sure the thermostat is turned well below room temperature so that there is no doubt that it should be calling for the cooling to come on. If the unit still will not come on, check all breakers and fuses that feed power to the unit. Make sure to observe safety-first guidelines when working with fuses and breakers. If you are sure that the power is on to the system (there is usually more than one circuit) you probably will need to call for professional help.
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My unit doesn't cool well
The most common reason for this complaint is an air conditioner has lost part of its refrigerant charge because of a leak, but there is a few other things that can cause the same symptom. Make sure that you have done your normal air conditioning maintenance. If you still have poor cooling performance you will need professional service; please contact us
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Water is coming from my indoor unit.
There is usually two common reasons for this problem and a few other reasons that are not too common. The most likely things that can cause water to come from the indoor unit is simply that the drain line that normally carries the water to the sanitary sewer is stopped up. This is not a major repair, but most homeowners do not feel comfortable trying to diagnose and repair this themselves. Another common reason for this complaint is that the unit is freezing up (you often can not tell that the unit is froze from the outside) and when the ice melts, it doesn't drip into the pan that normally catches water produced by the evaporator. Several things can cause freezing. You should make sure that your normal air conditioning maintenance has been done. If all of your normal maintenance has been done, and you are still leaking water from the indoor unit, you probably need a professional to diagnose what is causing the problem; please contact us.
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My outside will not come on.
This is a common complaint. There is a whole list of things that can cause this problem but only a few that would fall into the area of a homeowner repair. The first thing you should do is make sure that your normal air conditioning maintenance has been done. Next, check all breakers and fuses that feed power to the outdoor unit making sure to observe the safety first guidelines. If you don't feel comfortable checking electrical fuses and breakers, call for service. Make sure that you have the system switch on the thermostat set to "cool" and that the thermostat is set well below room temperature.. If you have done your regular maintenance, all breakers and fuses are good, and you are sure that the thermostat is in the "cool" position and set well below room temperature, and the unit still wont cool, you need to call for service; please contact us.
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My blower never shuts off.
There are several things that can cause this complaint, but only one that would fall in the category of a homeowner repair, or in this case, it is actually just homeowner training. Make sure that the fan "auto/on" switch is set to the "auto" position if you don't want the indoor fan to run all the time. In the "on" position, the fan normally operates ALL the time, whether or not there is a call for cooling. You can operate the air conditioner with the fan in either position. Most homeowners operate the fan switch in the "auto" position. If you have the fan switch in the "auto" position and the indoor fan will not shut off, then you need to call for service.
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My unit doesn’t cool and freezes up.
If your normal air conditioner maintenance has been done and you are having this problem, you will need to call for service.
My outdoor unit is blowing the breaker (or fuses) as soon as I switch it on.
This requires professional service. If you have this problem, do not continue to reset the breaker or replace fuses; please contact us.
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