Carney All Seasons Blog: Archive for the ‘Air Conditioning’ Category

Warning Signs: When to Call for an Air Conditioning Service

Monday, August 8th, 2011

The last thing you want is to be without an air conditioner during the hottest days of the year, especially in Elkins Park. Ideally you would never have to call for service to repair your air conditioning system, but just like anything else, your air conditioner will break down once in a while. However, you can dramatically reduce the inconvenience and cost of emergency air conditioning repairs if you are able to spot the warning signs of a problem before it shuts down your system completely.

For instance, all air conditioners make noise, but if your air conditioning system is suddenly making much more noise than it used to, chances are that something in there is not working properly. Calling for repairs when you notice this sudden increase in noise from your system will greatly increase the chances that the repair will be relatively minor and that you will not have to go without air conditioning when you need it most.

Also, it is a good idea to call for service if your air conditioning system does not seem to be doing as good a job as it used to when it comes to cooling your home evenly and effectively. Uneven cooling is a good sign that something is not working right within your system. And even if your air conditioner continues to work, it will probably be using up more energy than necessary for a less than ideal end result.

Along these same lines, a noticeable increase in humidity in all or part of your home is another good indication that something is wrong with your air conditioning system. Air conditioners both cool and dehumidify the air, so if yours stops removing humidity properly, you need to find out why.

In fact, even if you do not notice any difference in the way that your air conditioner is performing, you can still spot a problem if you keep a close eye on your energy bill. If you see a sudden increase in the amount of your bill because of the amount of energy that your air conditioning system is using, it is a good sign that something is not working right.

It may be tempting to put off calling for repairs, particularly if your air conditioner is still able to keep your house comfortable. However, it will likely be much cheaper and more convenient to have the repairs done early rather than waiting until the unit breaks down entirely.

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Why You Cannot Neglect AC Maintenance: A Tip From Hatboro

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Especially if you have just purchased a new air conditioning system (as I did in my home in Hatboro) maintenance is probably the last thing you are thinking about. In fact, if you are like most people, you do not think about your air conditioning system at all until it does not work when you need it. But if you simply continue to use your air conditioning system without maintaining it, you will be setting yourself up for a lot of problems later on.

Just like your car or any other machine that you run on a regular basis, your air conditioning system requires a regular tune up to keep it running like it is supposed to. The type of air conditioning system you have will dictate exactly how often this maintenance service needs to take place, but most systems benefit greatly from having a tune up once a year.

When you have just purchased an air conditioning system, the last thing you probably want to do is shell out a bunch of extra cash when the system is still running fine. But it really is much cheaper to pay now rather than waiting until you have a problem with your air conditioner to call for service.

During a regular maintenance visit, your technician will examine all of the component parts of your air conditioning system to make sure that they are working the way they should and not showing any signs of excess wear and tear. This is a great way to detect problems early, even when they have not yet begun to show in the air conditioner’s performance.

Your air conditioning technician will also thoroughly clean out your system to ensure that no excess debris is allowed to build up around the coil or other vital parts of the air conditioner. This is important because it helps the air conditioner to continue to function at peak energy efficiency levels. Without regular maintenance, your air conditioner will gradually lose efficiency over time. It will only lose a little bit every year, but if you do not do something to stop it, those little bits will quickly add up.

Regular maintenance also helps to prevent more costly and inconvenient repair visits later on. And it will certainly help to increase the lifespan of your air conditioner as well. Whether you have just purchased an air conditioning system or have had yours for several years, it is never too late to start your annual maintenance visits.

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When to Replace Your Air Conditioning System

Monday, August 1st, 2011

One of the last things you probably want to think about is replacing your current air conditioning system, especially during a hot summer in Telford. However, the time will come when you can no longer ignore the fact that your air conditioning system is not getting the job done like it used to. And considering your replacement options early can help save you a lot of money and aggravation in the long run.

Before you can start looking at replacement options, though, you need to be aware that the time has come to replace your current model. But how can you tell that your air conditioner is on its way out? Well, there are actually quite a few warning signs that, if you are attuned to them, will help you determine whether or not it is the right time to replace.

First of all, if you have to call for repairs, even minor ones, on a regular basis, chances are that you would be better off replacing rather than continuing to patch up the air conditioning system you already have. This is true for several reasons including the fact that a system that requires repairs so often is probably not going to last you much longer anyway.

By replacing now rather than continuing to pay for repairs, you will save a lot of money in the long run. After all, you are going have to pay for the new system sooner or later, so you might as well skip the shelling out of extra cash to repair a system you are just going to get rid of anyway.

Problems like inadequate or uneven cooling or mismanaged humidity levels in your home are a good sign that something is not working right in your air conditioning system and that it may be time to replace. At the very least, you should call someone out to take a look and let you know what type of repairs you are looking at.

You should also think about replacing an older system even if it is still working fine because the newer systems available are much more energy efficient than even the top of the line models available ten years ago. While you will have to pay the purchase and installation cost up front, you will immediately begin to save substantial amounts on your monthly cooling bills.

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Maintenance: Cleaning Your Conditioner Coil Will Save You Headaches Later

Friday, June 17th, 2011

You have plenty of things to clean all over your house. But do you really have to clean your air conditioner too? Well, if you want it to keep working well, you do. In fact, cleaning the coil of your air conditioner is a quick and easy process, especially if you do it on a regular basis, and it can save you a great deal of frustration later on.

Like any machine, your air conditioner needs a tune up from time to time in order to continue to function properly. While a lot of this is taken care of if you have an annual maintenance service performed by a professional, your air conditioning coil will benefit greatly by being cleaned more often than that.

In fact, during your annual maintenance visit, your air conditioning technician can easily demonstrate for you how to get to the coil and clean it. This is a relatively easy task that you can carry out every month or so when your system is in use to help ensure optimal health and functioning for your system.

Of course, your air conditioning system will still run whether you clean the coils on a regular basis or not. For now, that is. Allowing more and more debris to build up on the coil, however, can have a big impact on the overall energy efficiency of your unit. An air conditioner with a dirty coil will have to work harder to keep your house cool, and that will be reflected by an increase in energy consumption.

Also, an air conditioner with a dirty coil that is having to work harder to keep your house cool will wear out more quickly than one that is working properly without added impediments. The added wear and tear that this causes to various other parts within your air conditioner can cause them to malfunction and need to be replaced sooner than they should.

This means more costly repairs, even if they are minor ones. It also means that your entire air conditioning system will probably not last as long as it may have with proper care. You will have to replace it sooner, adding even more to the cost of having and running the equipment.

Cleaning your air conditioner coil regularly is a simple and effective way of helping to keep the entire system running smoothly and efficiently for many years to come.

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How Much Will a High Efficiency Air Conditioner Save You?

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

When it comes to your air conditioning system, the energy efficiency rating really does matter. While you may be paying a bit more for products with higher energy efficiency ratings to begin with, you will certainly save a significant amount on your monthly cooling bills in the years to come.

Before you can evaluate your options in terms of energy efficient air conditioners, however, you will need to know how their efficiency is represented. Most air conditioners come with what is called a seasonal energy efficiency rating (SEER). A higher SEER means a more energy efficient model, and likely a higher price tag as well.

But how much more energy efficient is a SEER 10 air conditioning unit as opposed to a SEER 11? Well, the truth is that it is about 7% more efficient. However, a SEER 14 will be 23% more efficient than a SEER 10, but only 5% more efficient than a SEER 13 model.

While all of these numbers can help give you some context in which to evaluate the various air conditioners out there, they can only go so far. Turning these percentages into dollars is what you really have to do when you are trying to figure out what your monthly or yearly savings will be.

So to give you a bit of perspective, imagine that your annual cooling costs come to around $480 with your current SEER 10 air conditioning system. If you choose to upgrade to a SEER 13, you will save somewhere in the neighborhood of $110. But if you opt for the SEER 14 instead, you will gain an annual savings of closer to $140 compared to your current bill.

Of course, the SEER of a particular air conditioner is not the only thing that will cause the price of the unit to rise, nor is it the only thing that can cause your monthly cooling costs to rise. Air conditioners also need to be matched to the size of the space they will be asked to keep cool.

If the unit you have is too small to effectively cool the area in question, you are likely paying more than necessary in terms of cooling costs for less than ideal results. Similarly, if your unit is too big, you will be paying too much no matter how high a SEER rating it has.

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What Is New in Air Conditioning?

Monday, June 13th, 2011

There are developments being made in air conditioning just about every day. This is a huge business, and so manufacturers are constantly trying to outdo each other as it is their only way to compete for customers. What this means for you as a consumer is that you will always have an excellent selection of products from which to choose.

Energy efficiency is one of the main selling points for any air conditioning system. For that reason, manufacturers are constantly working to come up with new and better models. The most advanced air conditioning systems on the market have energy efficiency ratings that by far surpass what was available even ten years ago and it is only going to keep getting better.

Another type of air conditioning system that is relatively new but is rapidly gaining in popularity is the ductless mini-split system. These and other compact air conditioners are popular because they can be installed virtually anywhere and do not take up much space. They also do not require the duct system that many other central air conditioners do.

In this way, ductless mini-splits combine the best of central air conditioning and more conventional window or wall mounted units. They keep individual rooms of your house cool and comfortable and can be controlled independently of one another, but they are also very quiet and energy efficient. In fact, ductless mini-splits are among some of the most energy efficient options available in the air conditioning world today.

For many years, enjoying the comfort that air conditioning provides has meant putting up with the noise of the compressor as well. Now, however, you can get the best of both worlds. Many air conditioning companies, in response to customer requests, have been working to curtail the noise and vibrations that air conditioners make.

This has affected models all up and down the line. Whether it is a window mounted unit you are after or a large central air conditioning system, you can rest assured that the model you buy today will be much quieter and produce a great deal fewer vibrations than your old system.

This is not only good news for you. It can also help to make your relationship with your neighbors a bit friendlier. The outside component of most air conditioning systems is usually where all the noise and vibrations come from anyway, and so your neighbors are likely to hear and feel it as well.

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What Is Mini Split Air Conditioning?

Friday, June 10th, 2011

If you are in the market for a new air conditioning system, you have probably heard about the mini split systems that are becoming more and more popular these days. However, without more information, it can be difficult to determine whether or not this type of air conditioner is what you really need to keep your home comfortable all summer.

Mini split air conditioners, like most other conventional home air conditioning systems, are made up of two components. They have an outdoor condenser and an indoor unit that manages the airflow throughout your home. But the main thing that sets mini split systems apart from other types of home air conditioning systems is that these two component parts are connected by refrigerant lines rather than air ducts.

In a conventional air conditioning system, the outdoor condenser cools the air and then transfers it through air ducts to an indoor air handler. That air handler then takes care of distributing the air throughout your house via a larger series of air ducts.

Mini split systems, on the other hand, do not require air ducts to get the job done. Instead, these types of air conditioners make use of a wall mounted unit indoors to both cool and circulate the air after receiving coolant from the compressor outside. These wall mounted systems can typically handle the cooling load for one or two rooms and there can be more than one indoor unit hooked up to the same outdoor compressor, allowing you to cool your entire house in this way.

What makes mini splits attractive to many people is the fact that they do not require the installation of complicated ductwork to function. If your home does not already have ducts in place, adding them can dramatically increase the cost of putting in a central air conditioning system. Plus the work will take longer and is likely to be a larger disruption in your life.

Putting in the refrigerant lines for a mini split system, on the other hand, is much easier and cheaper. Plus, refrigerant lines can often reach into places that larger ductwork cannot. This allows you to provide air conditioning to parts of your house that previously did not have access to it. Also, mini split systems allow you to control the temperature in the various areas of your house independently of one another, making it possible to save quite a bit on your cooling bills every month.

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Ice in Central Air Conditioning: Why Is This a Problem?

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

If your air conditioner does not seem to be working as well as it should, your natural first reaction is to go out and take a look at the compressor to see if there is anything you can do quickly to correct the problem. Of course, you cannot assess the situation unless you know what you are looking for. For instance, if you see ice forming on the condenser coil or anywhere else on the air conditioning system, you will know you found the likely source of the problem.

Ice can form in your air conditioner for a number of reasons. The most common one is that your refrigerant levels are low. Since this refrigerant is contained in a closed system, a deficiency in refrigerant means that there must be a leak somewhere in that system. Only a certified professional can refill your refrigerant and determine where the leaks are in the system to make the necessary repairs.

Another reason that ice can develop in your air conditioner is because the air is not flowing fast enough through the system and across the coils. This can happen because of a problem with the fan or because there is an actual physical impediment to the air flow. Regardless of the reason, the ice will form because without adequate air flow the condenser coils will get too cold.

These coils are typically kept just above freezing by the constant flow of air across them. When the air passes by them at this temperature, the moisture from the air condenses on the surface of the coil. But because the coil is not quite freezing, the water then runs down into a collection pan. When the coil is too cold, however, the moisture from the air will freeze on the coil before it can run off.

This ice actually manages to insulate the coil and keeps it from properly cooling the air or removing any additional moisture. If left unattended, the ice in your central air conditioning system can cause real damage to the unit. Plus, it is not allowing the air conditioner to do its job and cool your house down. So if you notice any amount of ice at all beginning to form on any part of your air conditioner, be sure to call for professional service right away.

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How to Stay Affordably Cool This Summer

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Putting in a high quality, energy efficient air conditioning system is a great step to take when you are trying to keep your house cool and comfortable all summer without paying a fortune in cooling costs. Many of the latest air conditioners are able to use very little energy to provide powerful cooling power to your house no matter how big it is.

But if you are really serious about keeping cool and keeping costs down, there are plenty of other things you can do to give your air conditioning system a hand. It might seem silly, but putting in a little bit of effort around the house can save you quite a bit in the long run.

For instance, since you are paying to keep the air in your house cool, it is a good idea to make sure that the air you are cooling stays in your house. Sealing off unused doors and windows with plastic is an excellent precaution to take to ensure that no cooled air leaks out through the cracks and door jambs. Also, you will want to check for any other openings that could create a draft and allow cool air to escape or warm air to get in.

However, just letting in air from outside in the summer is not the only way that the heat can get in. The sun is powerful in the summer and the more you can block of it, the cooler your house will be. So make sure that your blinds are closed to block out the sun, particularly in the afternoon. Morning sun is not nearly as powerful as the sun you get towards the middle and later part of the day.

All of these steps will help to take the pressure off of your air conditioning system and allow it to get its job done with a minimum of energy expended. And that will certainly save you money every month. You can save even more, though, by adjusting the temperature on your thermostat a bit as well.

Most air conditioning systems are set to a default temperature of 72°F. While this is probably quite comfortable for you, it is likely that you would be equally as comfortable at 75°F. In fact, you probably will not even notice the difference. But that small adjustment can actually save you quite a bit on your monthly cooling bills.

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How Do I Find the Right Size Unit for My Room?

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

When buying an air conditioner, there are a lot of things you need to take into account. One of the most important is the size and power of the unit you choose. Air conditioners come in many different sizes, so if you really want to get the most out of your purchase, you need to do your research and pick one that fits your home like a glove.

Square Feet and BTUs

The best way to determine how large of an air conditioner you need is to match the number of BTUs the unit has to the square footage of the room you want to use it in. That means you need to know what room you’re buying it for before you make your purchase.

The number of BTUs needed goes up proportionately with the room size, so even if you don’t have exact measurements or if your room is oddly shaped, you can get a good idea of how large an air conditioner you need. For instance, a 400 to 550 square foot room is best served by an air conditioner with between 8,000 and 11,000 BTUs, while a room that’s only 250 square feet would probably be fine with a 6,000 BTU unit.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

One of the most common mistakes people make when buying an air conditioner is to assume that the bigger the unit the better it will work. The truth is that buying an air conditioner that’s too big for your room is just as much of a waste as buying one that’s too small.

A larger air conditioner will cost more, and it will probably make the room too cold. It will also cycle on and off more frequently than a properly sized unit and it won’t be able to properly control the humidity level, leaving you with a cold, damp environment. That’s not very comfortable.

Other Factors

The square footage is definitely the most important piece of data you’ll need before buying a new air conditioner for any room in your house. But don’t forget to take some other factors into account as well. For instance, if the room has particularly high ceilings or receives a lot of direct sunlight, you’ll probably need a slightly more powerful unit than the straight square footage would indicate.

If you’re not sure how certain features of your home will impact your buying decision, call a professional who can help you get a more exact idea of what it will take to stay cool.

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