Cooling Tips
- Whole-house fans help cool
your home by pulling cool air
through the house and exhausting
warm air through the attic. They
are most effective when operated
at night and when the outside
air is cooler than the inside.
- Set your thermostat as high
as comfortably possible in the
summer. The less difference between
the indoor and outdoor temperatures,
the lower your overall cooling
bill will be.
- Don't set your thermostat at
a colder setting than normal
when you turn on your air conditioner.
It will not cool your home any
faster and could result in excessive
cooling and, therefore, unnecessary
expense.
- Set the fan speed on high except
in very humid weather. When it's
humid, set the fan speed on low.
You'll get better cooling, and,
slower air movement through the
cooling equipment allows it to
remove more moisture from the
air, resulting in greater comfort.
- Consider using an interior
fan in conjunction with your
window air conditioner to spread
the cooled air more effectively
through your home without greatly
increasing your power use.
- Don't place lamps or TV sets
near your air conditioning thermostat.
The thermostat senses heat from
these appliances, which can cause
the air conditioner to run longer
than necessary.
- Plant trees or shrubs to shade
air-conditioning units but not
to block the airflow. A unit
operating in the shade uses as
much as 10% less electricity
than the same one operating in
the sun.
- We serve Pinellas Park, Indian Rocks Beach, Madeira Beach, Redington, Indian Shores Beach, Belleair Beach, Redington Beach, Belleair Bluffs and Sand Key Florida for all of your air conditioning needs.
|
Heating Tips
- Lower your hot water heater
to 120 degrees and drain any sediment.
Adjusting your hot water is a huge
potential energy saver. Though
you need to keep your water heater
to at least 120 degrees to prevent
bacteria from building up, many
hot water heaters are set too high.
Experts also recommend draining
a pint or so of water from your
water heater a few times a year
to reduce sediment and increase
efficiency.
- Add insulation to your hot-water
heater.
- As long as you're dealing with
your water heater, you might
as well add some insulation.
Since the standard hot water
heater is on all the time, adding
extra insulation will save more
energy than you think. Most hardware
stores sell pre-made insulator "jackets" that
can be easily wrapped around
one's water heater. Experts estimate
that adding insulation to your
water heater and any exposed
pipes can knock up to 15 percent
off the costs of heating water.
- Install a low-flow shower head.
Low-flow shower heads are also
a worthwhile investment (especially
for renters, because you can take
them with you) that will reduce
the amount of hot water you use
and hence the energy needed to
heat it.
- Check for and seal any cracks
or gaps.
Experts estimate that all of the
tiny gaps and cracks in an older
home are roughly equivalent to
a one-foot square hole punched
in your wall. Sealing gaps with
caulking and weather stripping
keeps that heat inside your home
and saves you money.
- Tighten windows and loosen your
budget.
If all windows were as efficient
as the best products now widely
available in the marketplace, the
average household would save $150
a year and reduce its carbon dioxide
emissions by about 4,300 pounds
per year. A cheaper and easier
method than replacing windows is
to insulate your windows during
the colder months with transparent
film that keeps the heat in and
the cold out.
- Heating ducts: Keep the air
flowing.
If just one in ten households
used current technology to upgrade
their inefficient heating systems,
we could keep 17 billion pounds
of pollution out of the air.
You can also save money and cut
pollution by having your heating
vents and ducts cleaned regularly,
and having your furnace serviced.
- Get a smart thermostat.
Upgrading to a programmable thermostat
will enable you automatically
to set back your thermostat during
those times when you don't need
as much heat (everyone's at work
or underneath down comforters).
The Department of Energy estimates
that you can save as much as
10 percent a year on your heating
bill by turning your thermostat
back 10 percent to 15 percent
for eight hours a day.
- We serve Pinellas Park, Indian Rocks Beach, Madeira Beach, Redington, Indian Shores Beach, Belleair Beach, Redington Beach, Belleair Bluffs and Sand Key Florida for all of your heat pump or heating system needs.
More Air and Heat Service and Air Conditioner Repair Tips:
It is a good idea to start thinking about preseason cooling service. Just as we prepare our automobiles in the fall prior to winter’s freezing temperatures, air conditioning systems need to be prepared for the hot summer conditions. if you don’t change the oil in your car it will lead to far more expensive repairs than that $21.95 oil change fee.
Even a film of residue on the coil and fins of the condenser will raise the high side pressure and decrease heat transfer to the point of increasing running time and decreasing compressor efficiency.
Reciprocating air compressors operating with even a slightly increased high side pressure lose effective stroke rapidly, thus increasing power consumption. Excessive high side pressure is trapped in the clearance pocket of a reciprocating air compressor at the end of the compression stroke. This trapped pressure must re-expand on the down stroke before the suction valve can open to draw in new refrigerant from the low side. The higher the high side pressure, the farther the piston must fall on the suction stroke before the suction valve opens. This can amount to a substantial loss in pumping capacity.
In addition to the loss in capacity, the compressor is consuming more power as it works against the higher high side pressure. Just cleaning a dirty condenser can increase capacity by 20 percent or more while decreasing operating cost by 15 percent or more, depending upon how much the high side pressure is lowered.
Reduced Likelihood of a System Failure
Properly servicing an air conditioning system will reduce the possibility of a problem during the summer. Just cleaning the air condenser and lowering the high side pressure will decrease the stress on the system. Additional items rectified during the pre-season check may eliminate other potential problems.
For example, vibrating copper lines, lines in contact with each other, or in contact with the cabinet could become leaks. Loose electrical connections could become the cause of other problems.
Improved Indoor Air Quality
With the new awareness for the necessity of improved indoor air quality in our homes and workplaces, we need to stress the importance of keeping cooling systems clean. All technicians have serviced residential systems that were incredibly dirty. So dirty, in fact, that they were disgusting to work on. The air we breathe has been transported through this filth! I like to actually show my customers their air systems while I have them apart and let them see for themselves.
|
