Routine Maintenance
Keeping your system properly maintained will
lower energy and repair cost, prevent breakdown and prolong the life
of your equipment. Some maintenance should be left to the
professionals, but there is much that you, as a homeowner, can do to
prevent the mentioned problems.
Air Conditioning
Filters
The most important task that will ensure the
reliability of you air conditioner is to routinely replace its
filter. Clogged, dirty filters restrict airflow and reduce the
systems efficiency.
Performing Outside
Maintenance
Keep leaves, twigs
and other debris from clogging up the fan blades at the top of the
condensing unit.
Check to make sure
that the condensing unit is level. Unleveled units run nosier, less
efficient and cause excessive damage.
Finally check the
condensate line. The condensate line is the drain that removes water
that has condensed from the indoor evaporator coil. Find the end of
the line and pull it lose from fitting. Pour 1:10 bleach to water
solution down the line to remove any build up from inside the line.
Always be careful
when using lawn mowers and weed trimmers around the condenser unit.
Flying objects can cause damage to the coil and fins.
Furnaces
As with air
conditioning the most important task that will ensure the
reliability of you unit is to routinely replace its filter. Clogged,
dirty filters restrict airflow and reduce systems the
efficiency.
All other maintenance
on a furnace should only be performed by and HVAC technician. Just
make not of any unusual noise, operation or oddities in the units
performance. Call immediately for repair.
Seal And Insulating
Air Ducts
For central air
conditioning and furnaces to work efficiency, the ductwork must be
airtight. Hiring a competent professional service technician to
detect and correct duct leaks is a good investment, since leaky
ducts may be difficult to find without experience and test
equipment.
Obstructions can
impair the efficiency of a duct system almost as much as leaks. You
should be careful not to obstruct the flow of air from supply or
return registers with furniture, drapes or tightly fitted interior
doors.
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IAQ
What is it? How can
we control it?
Indoor Air Quality
When installing a
heating and cooling system one of the most common questions is how
can we lower our monthly expenses. This is achieved many different
ways, choose a more efficient system, update ductwork, and
tightening up your home are a few.
Lets review the third of these issues.
Tightening up your home. Stop the air movement in and out of the
home via new windows, better insulation and you reduce the energy
that is required to heat or cool the house. This good correct? Yes
and No. Obviously lowering your monthly expenses is a good thing,
however, once you seal up the home central air and heating systems
maintain livable temperatures and humidity levels within the home by
re-circulation of air and pollutants day after day. Dust, bacteria,
viruses, mold, fungus, mildew and gases are circulated with the
warm/cool air.
So let’s take a look
at filtering the above pollutants in an attempt to breathe easy.
Step I
Filtering And
Maintaining Our Air
The single greatest
step in filter improvement is to make sure that the air that passes
through the heating/cooling system is filtered. If there are leaks
in the ductwork that allow the system to pull return air from places
other then the return ductwork it is impossible to filter this air.
This is a good time
to have a HVAC technician come into the home and review your system
for performance and efficiency.
Filters come in
different shapes, sizes, materials and efficiencies. Efficiency is
rated by the ability of the filter to stop different particles. The
higher the efficiency the smaller the particle they will catch. The
other factor to consider is the resistance of airflow, will my
filter allow sufficient air to pass through.
Fiberglass – these
are the most inexpensive filters that can be purchased. They stop
approximately 15% of large particles. Replace Monthly.
Pleated - these
filters are made from paper and stop up to 45% of large particles.
Replace Bi-Monthly.
Media Filter - these
filters are up to 3 to 4 inches thick. Media filter require a
special frame to be mounted on the system. They stop 90% to 95% of
particles. Change Quarterly.
Electrostatic Filters
– these filters are an excellent upgrade to fiberglass or pleated
filters. They are made of layers of synthetic materials that
generate and electrical charge to attract the particles in the air.
Electrostatic filters
come with guarantees of five years to lifetime. Clean Bi-Weekly
Electronic Air
Filters – this is the premiere filter on the market today. An
electrostatic grid is powered when the AC or heat comes on and
attracts particles to it. The grid can be cleaned as needed with a
garden hose or in the dishwasher. This type of filter fits in most
spots that a fiberglass filter will fit. However, some modification
to the ductwork and wiring may be required.
Step II
Killing the Mildew,
Mold, Fungus, Bacteria & Funguses
Along with cooling
our indoor air, central air conditioning systems keep us comfortable
by removing humidity from the air. As the unit condenses moisture
from the air a drain is supposed to remove the moisture out of the
system. Now as can be expected some of the moisture does not drain
and we now have a area for the micro-organisms to grow.
UV lights are the
newest tools to be used to improve IAQ. These units are designed to
not only kill what is growing in the drain system but also what is
growing on the coils surface. These lights kill most allergens that
common people did not know existed. The light shines on the AC
continuously. Even though a new bulb is required every year, the UV
light combined with a good filtration system will significantly
improve the quality of air you and your family breathe.
