How Duct Sealing can Improve Your Air Conditioner Efficiency

July 13th, 2015

Summer is here, and everyone is firing up their air conditioners in order to keep their homes comfortably cool. Many people are getting their air conditioners tuned up, in order to make sure that they can deal with the added strain of daily use. Far too few people, however, are conducting one of the most important services for air conditioners: duct sealing. Let’s take a look at why duct sealing is so important for improving your air conditioner efficiency.

Continue Reading

What to Do About Cool Spots in Your Home

July 6th, 2015

Sitting on your couch watching TV should be an enjoyable experience, especially after a long day at the office. But, if your air conditioner deposits an abnormally high volume of cold air directly onto your couch, making you shiver despite the 90 degree heat outside, you may have a cool spot. Cool spots are an unfortunate side effect of modern air conditioning technology. They often occur when HVAC systems are improperly sized or ductwork is improperly installed. Other factors like insulation, vent configuration or window placement can also contribute to the presence of a cool spot (and possibly some hot spots). So, what can you do about it?

Continue Reading

The Role Refrigerant Plays in Your Air Conditioner

June 29th, 2015

With most of us using air conditioners on an almost daily basis during the summer, it’s important to keep an eye out for problems with your system. One of the biggest problems that air conditioners face is refrigerant leaks, which can cause all sorts of problems and eventually lead to a breakdown. In order to understand this problem, you have to first know the role that refrigerant plays in your air conditioner. Let’s take a closer look at what refrigerant actually does, and why it’s so important to the system.

Continue Reading

Air Conditioner Parts You Need to Know About The Compressor

June 22nd, 2015

Air conditioners are complex systems, and it’s unreasonable to expect you as a homeowner to know exactly how they work. After all, you don’t need to know how your car works down to the smallest detail in order to drive it. However, there are a couple of air conditioner parts that you should know a bit better. One of these parts is the compressor. Let’s take a closer look at the compressor, and how it can affect the wider system.

Continue Reading

Why You Should Install a Zone Control System This Summer

June 15th, 2015

The days are starting to heat up, and people are beginning to rely on their air conditioners more and more to keep them cool. As you may or may not have noticed, though, central air conditioning is not a perfect system. There are two main problems with modern central air conditioning. The first is its reliance on a single thermostat to control it. This leads to uneven cooling across the house, as the system cannot compensate for differences in the warming and cooling rates of different rooms. This leads to the second problem, which is that the air conditioner cannot alter its output. It either conditions the entire house, or none of it. This leads to lots of wasted energy on rooms that don’t need it. Read on to find out how zone control can solve these problems.

Continue Reading

How Installing a New Thermostat can Improve Your Air Conditioner Efficiency

June 8th, 2015

With summer almost upon us, many people are taking steps to make sure that their air conditioners can keep them cool for another summer. While plenty of people are conducting regular maintenance on their air conditioners, though, far fewer are taking a look at their thermostats. The thermostat is a vital piece of equipment, not only for the air conditioner but for all climate control systems. If you haven’t upgraded yours in a while, now might be a good time. Read on to find out how a new thermostat can benefit you this summer.

Continue Reading

Why You Should Schedule Video Pipe Inspection at Least Once a Year

June 1st, 2015

When your furnace or your air conditioner breaks down, you know it. The air stops flowing, or if it keeps flowing it’s the wrong temperature. Sometimes, the whole system may just refuse to start. With plumbing problems, however, it can be a lot harder to detect any symptoms. Sure, sometimes you may have a clogged drain or a burst pipe, but there are plenty of other common plumbing issues that can only be detected by actually examining the pipes. By the time these more subtle issues grow large enough to give off more identifiable symptoms, it is often too late to mitigate most of the damage. That’s why video pipe inspection is so important. Let’s take a look at what video pipe inspection is, and why you should schedule it at least once a year.

Continue Reading

Why You Should Consider Water Treatment Installation

May 25th, 2015

Before water enters your home through your water line, it goes through extensive treatment by the city. Any harmful chemicals are filtered out, along with most other substances. As thorough as this treatment is, however, it is not perfect. There are a number of things that can make it through the city’s treatment and into your home, carried by your water supply. Though they are not dangerous to humans, they can cause serious issues with your plumbing system. Read on to find out more about the problems these substances can cause, and how a water treatment system can mitigate them.

Continue Reading

Water Heater Parts: The Anode Rod

May 18th, 2015

Your water heater is one of the hardest working appliances in your house. You probably don’t use your heater or air conditioner every day, but you almost certainly use hot water. If you use a storage water heater, as most people do, your water heater is working day and night to provide you with hot water. All of that water exposure should cause your water heater to rust into oblivion within a couple of years. Why, then, do water heaters last up to a decade under constant water exposure? The answer lies with a part called the “anode rod.” Let’s take a closer look at what the anode rod is, and why you need to have yours checked at least once a year.

Continue Reading

Why You Should Schedule Air Conditioning Maintenance This Spring

May 11th, 2015

Most people will schedule repairs for their air conditioner as soon as they realize that there is a problem with it. Prompt repairs are an excellent way to help your air conditioner last a long time. However, if you really want your system to last as long as possible you’ll need to do a bit more than that. Preventive maintenance is a vital part of keeping your air conditioner running smoothly. It’s so important, in fact, that most manufacturer warranties require it in order to remain valid. Let’s examine why air conditioning maintenance is so important, and why you should schedule it this spring.

Continue Reading