Posts Tagged ‘a/c freezing’
Friday, June 17th, 2011
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
When it’s finally time to replace your old heating and cooling system, there will be many choices and different decisions to be made that will affect your comfort, efficiency and overall happiness with any new system selected. It would benefit anyone to become familiar with the different components and terms you will face when that day does arrive.
There are 3 separate pieces of equipment you have to replace when purchasing a new HVAC system and they are the furnace, the indoor cooling coil, and the outdoor condenser or air conditioner. You have choices of different furnaces and condensers, but generally there is only one coil for any system.
There are many different manufacturers of furnaces and many different models available, but there are really just two distinctly different types of furnaces, single speed, single stage furnaces and two stage, variable speed furnaces. A single speed single stage furnace comes on full blast anytime it runs and the motor in it consumes $250 a year of A/C electricity. A two stage variable speed furnaces comes on gradually and only uses the amount of gas needed at any given time to heat your home and it’s blower consumes only $30 annually of D/C current. The Variable Speed furnace also comes with a special thermostat that actually allows the furnace to reduce the amount of humidity in your home by an additional 5 to 10%, and when it is drier in your home, you can actually keep it warmer and feel the same comfort level, which will save you money.
You have many choices in different outdoor condensers and what you pick is critical in your comfort. There are two different types of outdoor units, single speed units and two speed units. The two speed units are the best choice for most homes in the south, as they can be large enough in capacity to handle the extreme hot days, but because of their two speed design, they slow down to remove more moisture than a regular single speed condenser. The efficiency of these two speed units is usually so much better than a single speed unit that they can reduce the electric consumption by over 50% compared to your old cooling system you have in place now.
There are “builder grade units”, consumer grade units and top of the line units in both single speed and two speed. Builder grade units are units designed for a low, upfront price point and come with short warranties and will usually provide a shorter life span, as most builders are only interested in how a particular appliance operates for one year, which is the standard warranty a new home comes with.
Consumer grade units today come with a 10 year parts warranty and some companies offer a 10 year labor warranty or even a lifetime warranty if properly maintained. Units such as these can last 18 to 20 years often times and are available up to 16 seer in most cases.
Top of the line air conditioners are loaded with safeties and controls that allow them to last 20+ years and cut operating costs up to 60% while doing the best job in dehumidification and cooling and come in single speed, two speed single compressors, two speed twin compressors and even solar powered. Units such as these are more expensive up front, but are a better investment in the long run, by offering superior operation, efficiency and comfort.
It helps in any market place to know about the different products that are available and it is always a good idea to get at least 3 different estimates to see if there is a general consensus to what each company recommends.
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Monday, May 16th, 2011
Dan Jape, Reliable Heating & Air
Now that warm weather has arrived, it is very important that your cooling system is checked to make sure it is operating at peak efficiency. If your system is low on refrigerant or coils are dirty, it can cost you hundreds of dollars more each year to cool your home. Make sure you do not waste your money operating a cooling system that is not operating at peak efficiency.
Most HVAC companies offer a service contract which provides two visits a year to clean and tune up your heating and cooling systems and the summer inspection should include cleaning the outdoor unit of mud and debris lodged in the outdoor coil. This cleaning helps a unit give the best efficiency possible. It is always best to sign a service agreement with your company, as it gives your priority treatment during peak times and a discount on parts. At Reliable, we offer a lifetime warranty on most parts if a service agreement is put into effect at time of repair. If that same problem or part ever fails again, we fix it for free, no questions asked.
There are some big changes in the HVAC business brought about by the passage of the new Georgia State Energy Code, which goes in effect this year. It calls for some new tough policies regarding the heating and cooling systems that are installed in new homes.
Blower door tests are now required on all new homes to check the infiltration rate of a new home. The result must be less than 7 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals . Companies such as Reliable Heating & Air are required to have a DET certified specialist on staff to check the tightness of the duct systems and the thermal envelope of the structure. Duct leakage now has to be tested and certified to meet the new standard for tightness. Duct mastic has to be used to seal ducts to make sure they are tight and not leaking conditioned air.
Programmable thermostats are required with every system as are attic tents or covers over the attic staircases. Attic vent fans can no longer be installed in a new home unless they are solar powered. Electric furnaces cannot be installed in any new homes after January 1, 2011. A heat pump must be installed as the primary heat source if natural gas or propane is not used.
There are many other facets of this new energy code, but these are some of the highlights that might affect your HVAC system in the future.
For over 33 years, Reliable Heating & Air has been known as the company to trust for all your heating and cooling needs, providing top quality service at affordable prices. Many times, our customers have looked to us for referrals to handle their plumbing needs also since they have always felt a high level of trust and satisfaction from conducting business with Reliable. We have searched for many years for the right plumber who gave the same great service experience we like to provide our customers and have never been able to give a recommendation without worrying about the outcome. We are now proud to announce we have opened up a plumbing division offering the same great pricing and helpful cheerful service our customers have always had counted on for their heating and cooling needs and we guarantee 100% customer satisfaction. Call us today for any plumbing or heating and cooling needs.
Dan Jape, Owner – Reliable Heating & Air
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Posted in Air Conditioning, Awards, Care and Maintenance, Commercials, Dan Jape, Going Green, Heating, Plumbing, Safety, Saving Money, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, April 18th, 2011
Courtesy of HGTV.com
To keep your house in top shape, give systems an annual checkup.
Spring cleaning is a tradition, but there are some other chores that should be part of your springtime routine, too. Most of them take only a few minutes, so get started!
1. Check your air-conditioning and heating equipment before the beginning of a new season.
2. Check and replace your furnace and air-conditioning filters every month. There are several types from which to choose, depending on your needs. Fiberglass filters last only one month, while the filters typically last three to four months. HEPA filters last up to six months and can be cleaned with a vacuum nozzle.
3. Most air conditioners have a drainage hole on the base of the cabinet, beneath the evaporator fins. This hole needs to be kept clear in order for the air conditioner to work properly. It’s a good idea each spring to use a paper clip or wire to poke through the hole and clear it.
4. To keep a dehumidifier working properly, remove its housing and let the unit dry completely. Vacuum every accessible surface and crevice.
5. Clean your bathroom fans once a year. Take the cover off, wash it in soapy water and clean dirt off the fan blades with a toothbrush. Be sure the power is off when you do this!
6. Check the flappers on your toilets at least once a year. If they are showing their age, replace them before they start leaking and wasting water.
7. Remove all faucet handles and clean their insides to keep the screws from corroding. Use a rust remover if necessary.
8. Replace the batteries in smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors twice a year: when the time changes to daylight savings time and then back to standard time. While you’re at it, dust or vacuum the detectors to keep them working at peak performance.
9. Make sure you have a fully charged fire extinguisher that you can reach quickly and easily.
10. Inspect and, if necessary, caulk around your home’s windows and doors annually. That will help keep out heat and humidity in the summer and cold drafts in the winter—and save money on your utility bills all year round.
11. Open and close all windows. Do they all open easily, yet close tightly? If not, check the weather stripping. There are a number of different types to consider.
12. The best time to caulk a joint outdoors is during the spring or fall. That’s when the width of the joint is halfway between its seasonal extremes. A plastic drinking straw or a length of plastic tubing makes a handy extension tube for caulking hard-to-reach places. Secure the extender with duct tape.
13. To really clear and clean screens for springtime, rub them with kerosene on both sides, then rinse with soap and water. Kerosene fumes are dangerous, so make sure to do this outside or in a well-ventilated area.
14. To fix a small hole in a window or door screen, dab clear household cement over the hole with a toothpick. If the screens are plastic, test the cement on a scrap to make sure it won’t melt the material.
15. Use the same technique to repair screen tears. Pull the two halves of the tear together and hold them in place with masking tape on one side. Apply the household cement to the tear, then smooth with a putty knife. When it’s dry, gently remove the tape and apply cement to the other side.
16. Clean out the gutters of winter debris and check them for damage from ice. Install gutter screens or protectors to help keep debris out of the gutters.
17. If a roof gutter is sagging, pitch it back to a level position by tightening its strap with pliers. The tighter the strap is twisted, the more the gutter will rise.
18. Be sure the gutters slope properly toward the down-spouts.
19. To prevent basement flooding, make sure there is at least three feet between the side of the house and the down-spout’s outlet. Use one of the following methods to reach that distance:
- Add an elbow for pipe and extension, although that often leaves the outlet still too close to the house.
- Use a splash guard that stretches about three feet.
- Attach a flexible extension hose to the end of the down-spout and bend it in away from the house.
20. To prevent foundation erosion as well as basement flooding, build up soil around the house and slope it away from the foundation.
-For more home improvement tips and money-saving ideas, visit HGTV.com
-Dan Jape
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Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
By Dan Jape – Reliable Heating & Air
One of the most important aspects of your home’s heating and cooling system is the duct work. Proper duct work can make a huge difference in the comfort and efficiency of your home. I visit four or five customer’s homes each day and in the vast majority of them, I find duct work issues that need to be corrected to make sure the new heating and cooling system we install will deliver what is promised in terms of comfort and efficiency. I see a number of customers who simply are talked into replacing the equipment in their home without analyzing the distribution system and they end up with the same poor comfort level they had before they purchased a new system.
One of the most frequent problems we find is lack of the proper amount of return or intake duct work. A proper operating system has to have the correct amount of return ducts to match the output of the system. Without the correct amount of intakes, many problems will arise such as lack of cooling capacity, overheating furnace heat exchangers, freezing cooling coils and reduced life of the entire system. Many homes suffer this issue and it must be corrected when upgrading your HVAC system.
Many homes have duct work built out of fiberglass or duct board. This a foil covered, glue impregnated sheet of fiberglass that is used as plenums or distribution boxes on the top and the sides of furnaces and is a very poor choice for ducting material. It is very porous and rough inside and collects dirt and debris and after a few years of service is always filthy dirty. Mold grows on the inside of this material and it is very hard to keep the corners and seams sealed up to keep air from leaking out in attics or basements. Metal ducts and plenums need to be installed to replace this inferior product when a new system is installed in your home to assure you of proper airflow, comfort, and efficiency. In some extreme cases, I find actual splitter boxes or wyes made of this duct board to try and save money on new home construction. You can find these by looking for boxes made into triangle shapes with many ducts attached to them. These impede airflow, overwork the furnace blower, and provide inferior comfort to the entire home. They have to be replaced to make sure you are getting the full comfort and efficiency a new HVAC system can provide you.
The last and one of the most important aspects of your ducts is making sure they are sized properly to deliver the correct amount of airflow to each room in your home. Almost every homeowner I visit complains about the comfort in their bonus room or the room over their garage in a two story home. This discomfort is caused by lack of airflow to overcome the heat loss or heat gain in this special room, which is over unconditioned space and needs more air flow to make this room comfortable. I will never understand why builders ignore this room and provide a space that in many cases cannot be used in peak weather conditions. This problem is easily corrected when replacing your comfort system and should not be overlooked and if it is, the problem will still be there after the new system is installed.
One should never purchase a new HVAC system without having a competent contractor inspect the duct system to assure you that your new heating and cooling system will actually deliver the promise of comfort and efficiency that you should demand from this purchase.
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Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
Two years ago when the tax credit program started, December 31, 2010 seemed so far down the road it would never come. Well, here we are at the end of one of the best deals we have seen and there is only a few months left to take advantage of the $1500 credit that has allowed millions of homeowners to replace old inefficient heating and cooling systems. There have been many negative reports in the media about the stimulus plan and its success or failure has been debated to death by the press and talk radio, but the positive side of this bill is the impact it has had on every average homeowner who had old worn out heating and cooling systems that needed upgraded. These people have been able to purchase top of the line super high efficiency heating and cooling systems for the same price as an entry level system. A very nice added feature to these new systems is a special thermostat that not only controls temperature but also controls and removes more humidity than a regular system. The increased moisture removal makes one feel more comfortable at higher temperatures saving cooling dollars.
There are many new models and sizes available today that earn the tax credit and they give homeowners many more choices that were not open to them just a few months ago. Another positive side of this tax credit program is that all the different manufacturers of heating and cooling systems have advanced technology and efficiency to meet the government standards and these new models will be around for years after the credit program goes away in a few months. If you have not looked into the tax credit program, you should call your heating and cooling provider and at least explore this program as it ends December 31, 2010 and there is no extension or plans to extend this program, so do not miss this opportunity to cut your utility bills in half and increase your comfort by two fold.
The cold weather is here now and it is time to get your furnace checked for proper operation and safety. A properly adjusted furnace can save hundreds of dollars in cost of operation and make sure that your heating system is in top working order. Furnaces should be cleaned of rust and soot and have the heat exchanger inspected thoroughly each year. Gas pressure should be adjusted and the gas jets cleaned to assure proper operation and efficiency. Your air filter should be changed every 2 months and the blower wheel and assembly should be kept clean and free from dirt build up.
Another nice addition to your comfort system this season would be a central humidifier that adds moisture to your homes heating system. These units prevent damage to your homes hardwood floors, cabinets and furniture. They also prevent dry skin and static electricity and reduce the heating bills as it is more comfortable at a lower temperature when the moisture is increased. This is the opposite of the summer when comfort is increased with lower humidity. Call Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air at 770 594-9969 for all the details about the expiration of tax credits.
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
After a ten year phase out, Freon is now dead and gone forever and this change will have an impact on most every home and business in the country. Back in the early 1990′s, law was enacted that called for the phase out of CFC’s, halons, and HCFC,s due to the fact they destroy the ozone layer and are responsible for creating an ozone hole over the South Pole. Freon is an HCFC and whether you believe in the ozone issue or not, everyone who currently has an old air conditioner that runs on Freon will be affected by the phase out since the law mandated that no new Freon based a/c units can be built after January 1, 2010 and after January 1, 2015, there is a ban on the sale and use of Freon in residential use. As the production of new Freon is limited, the price of this gas is going up to the point to where if you have an old leaky a/c system that uses Freon R-22, it will be a better idea to replace your a/c system instead of spending hundreds of dollars fixing leaks and recharging the system with Freon. Freon is going to be expensive this summer and to keep adding more to a leaky system is not a good use of your money. The state of the economy has the price of new systems lower than ever before and warranties have been escalated to 10 years parts and labor making this the best of times to cut ties with your Freon based a/c system.
New units now use R410a refrigerant which is far better than Freon in removing heat and moisture and is the only refrigerant available for home use. New units can cut your electric bill by 50 percent while giving you comfort you have never known. There are tax credits available of $1500 from the federal government which will pay the cost of upgrading to the very best furnace and a/c system. You will get a variable speed furnace with a built in dehumidifier and a 16 seer a/c system that will keep your home cool and dry in the summer and an even temperature in the winter. There are also factory rebates of $1000 or 36 months same as cash to help with the cost of upgrading your comfort system. Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air was one of the first contractors in the Atlanta area to specialize in the new R410a refrigerant having installed some of the first units on the market late in 1999.
Every year people who know they have to replace their cooling systems get estimates over the winter when business is slow and they get the best prices of the year. But instead of going ahead and getting the work done early before the warm weather arrives, they procrastinate until it get hot and contractors are already busy, then they call and try to get off season deals. The heating and cooling business is all about supply and demand. In the warm months, there is an abundance of jobs and customers waiting to have work performed and no contractor can give you a special deal because the time to do your work could be sold at full price to the next person waiting in line. Do not wait until spring to try and repair or replace your a/c if you already know you need service. Get it done early if you want the best price and experience no waiting in a hot house. Call Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air today for details about the new green refrigerant R410a.
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Monday, November 23rd, 2009
By Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
There are many different ways to find and screen good contractors to perform work at your home. Some people prefer word of mouth and personal referrals. A number of people turn to Internet services such as Kudzu.com or Angie’s List. Others use the yellow pages or other advertising services when compiling a short list of companies to interview.
Whatever method you use, when selecting a heating and air conditioning contractor, one of the most important questions one should ask is whether sub contractors or employees perform the actual work. One would never want to use a company that uses subcontractors, as they are paid a set amount to perform a certain task and they have no vested interest in the outcome or quality of the job. They simply do the work as fast as possible so they can move on to the next job. They gain nothing by taking their time and making sure all the little extras are done properly. In the past, most heating and air companies that specialize in new construction residential installation work would use subcontractors so they could control the labor costs when building new homes. On the other hand, most heating and air companies that service and replace systems in existing homes all employed technicians that work by the hour and work only for that particular company.
Now, there is a new method of paying employees who replace and install heating and cooling systems that is designed to fool the homeowner into thinking they are not getting a subcontractor, but in reality they are. The method of payment is called “piece rate” and it is the most dangerous method of payment arrangement a homeowner could contract for. Under this method, a technician or installer is paid a certain amount of money to install each component or “piece” of equipment regardless of complexity or difficulty. The technician’s goal would to be installing a new system as quickly as possible so as to expend the least amount of time possible allowing them to move on to the next job. This method was developed by the managers of a certain large heating and cooling company as a method to control their costs and insulate the company of the ups and downs of the individual jobs. When a customer asks this company if they use subcontractors, they are told no without any mention of this other payment method. It is a dishonest way of tricking a customer into thinking they are contracting with a company that pays a technician for all the time spent at their home when in reality they are just getting a subcontractor who will not care about the finished product, only the time spent installing it.
One needs to ask their heating and cooling company they are considering hiring if the people installing or servicing their heating and cooling equipment are hourly workers paid prevailing hourly wages to work at their home and are not paid any type of “piece rate” or performance incentitive to perform this type of work. This same type of query would be appropriate for other types of companies one might be contemplating hiring. You will much happier with a contractor who does not employ this type of payment method. If you are unsure of how a company pays it employees, give me a call and I will be glad to give you what information I have from interviewing people who have worked for these “Piece Rate” companies.
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
by Dan Jape of Reliable Heating & Air
The floods that struck Atlanta brought many tragic results included the destruction of life and home for many and my heart goes out to all those affected. Sometimes one is at a loss to understand why such occurrences happen and how they become so terrible out of something so necessary such as rain. The floodwater also can have long reaching affects on our lives and safety unless properly cleaned up and treated.
Many basements and crawl spaces were flooded with water that was laden with bacteria and byproducts of sewer due to the overflowing of the drain water systems and septic tanks. This water made its way into walls, carpets, floors, and most importantly, furnaces and water heaters. The modern day furnace is lined with insulation panels that absorbed all this very dangerous and polluted water and it cannot be removed the fibrous material. These panels have to be replaced as do all the controls devices, limits, fan motors and gas valves. The furnaces have to be removed and completely taken apart and scrubbed and disinfected and by the time all the damaged parts are replaced, one would come out much better by replacing the entire furnace. The cooling coils are also insulated with fiberglass panels that soaked up this dirty infected water and should also be replaced to ensure safe indoor air quality.
Water heaters that have been under water are extremely dangerous, as they often will relight after drying out, and people assume sine they fire up and heat water, they are safe. This could not be farther from the truth, as the water and sediment that seeped in gas valves, burners and safeties can cause trouble in the days that follow the flood. One should never attempt to light a flooded water heater without a complete replacement of the controls and burners or replacement of the entire heater. These appliances are far too cheap and the consequences of a malfunction are too severe to chance using a damaged and flooded heater.
Outdoor air conditioner condensers are designed to sit outside in the rain and they faired much better in the floods than furnaces. If an outdoor unit flooded and the controls did not get immersed under water, there is a good chance the unit can be cleaned out and put back in service. If the control box and the electronics got wet, they will need to be replaced. The coils should be acid washed and thoroughly cleaned before the unit is operated.
The two mail concerns with flooded systems are safety from gas valves and controls that were damaged and dangerous indoor air quality from fecal matter and sewer water that was mixed in with the rain water. The last area of concern was ductwork and insulation that got soaked in the flood. All duct work that got saturated needs to be replaced regardless whether it’s metal or flexible. The insulation on ductwork will never dry out to properly insulate the ductwork after it has been under water, and the ducting itself can’t be properly cleaned to make sure it is clean and disinfected to not spread airborne pollutants.
The floods hurt many people and cost untold millions in damage to homes and property. Make sure you properly repair and replace your homes heating and cooling systems along with your water heating appliances to make sure you are safe and secure and all systems work as designed.
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
This time of year we are besieged with desperate phone calls from homeowners who have noticed there cooling systems not working properly or frozen up with ice. If this happens to you, turn the unit off immediately. Turn it off as soon as you can get to the thermostat! I know this is a tough request when it is hot outside, but if you continue to run an air conditioner that is not cooling up to par, you are going to do harm to your unit, waste your cooling energy dollars, and ultimately may permanently destroy your cooling system. I know this may seem hard to believe, but a large share of dead units we replace are killed by the owner refusing to turn it off when cooling is diminished. The one thing you can be assured of is, a broken air conditioner will never repair itself, no mater how long you continue to let it run. Never! Ever!
Many times customers will place a service call for no cooling and then continue to run their system thinking it might work a little until we get there to fix it. This is when most damage is done to the unit due to the lack of proper operating conditions. A unit that has frozen will do no cooling at all regardless of what common sense tells you and continued running in this condition will kill a compressor quickly. When you see ice anywhere on the refrigerant line set, you are seeing just the tip of an iceberg. The ice is covering the indoor coil preventing air from passing over the fins and it is five to six inches thick after continued operation. If you do not turn and let it thaw, you will burn out your compressor while wasting your money running a compressor that is not cooling your home. Also, if the unit is not thawed when the repairman arrives, he will not be able to find the problem and repair it properly.
A lot of customers will turn the unit off after it freezes and it will thaw and they turn it back on to find it cools again and they call our office and cancel their service call. This is a bad idea! What ever caused the icing will do it again after prolonged running and you will continue to damage your compressor . If you notice ice on your air conditioner, the first thing you should check is your air filter, as a dirty filter will cause icing and this is one of the most common problems we find. The other causes are a lack of Freon or refrigerant, a dirty indoor coil or a bad indoor fan motor. If any of these conditions are the cause of icing or lack of cooling, you must have a technician repair your unit.
One very simple thing you can do to check you air conditioner is go outside to your outdoor unit and carefully observe a few things. First, look for any ice anywhere on the unit, inside on the compressor or on the lines. Next see if there is hot air blowing out the top of your air conditioner. The hot air blowing out your unit is the heat being removed from your home and if the air is not hot, your unit is not cooling properly. The last thing you can do is located the large rubber covered line coming from your house and connecting to your cooling unit. It should always be cold and sweating water off the copper line inside the rubber insulation. If it is just cool to the touch and not sweating cold, you need service. This simply check and observation could save you thousands of dollars in energy costs and unit repair.
Tags: a/c freezing, a/c frozen up, a/c not cooling, ac repair, air conditioner broken, air conditioner freezing, air conditioner icing up
Posted in Air Conditioning, Care and Maintenance | Comments Off
