HvacReport.com - Air Conditioning and Heating Maintenance

 




There are many important reasons why you need to have maintenance performed by a professional on your air conditioning
and heating equipment at various times of the year. Some people ignore maintenance altogether and only see a technician
when their equipment fails to perform. Some people religiously subscribe to a maintenance program as performed by their local
heating and cooling contractor. Then there are those people in between those two groups.
Ignoring heating maintenance can become dangerous in more than one way.




First of all, if we ignored our air conditioning maintenance and the air conditioner broke down in the summer (even in
the worse heat wave), we could tolerate it enough to live through it. On the other hand or at the opposite end of the
spectrum, if we ignored the heating system and it broke down, a dangerous condition would exist and it could severly effect
our health not to mention possibly damage the plumbing in our home. This is a good reason to have the heating system in
our homes checked out, however, it is not the primary reason why we need to have it checked especially those of us who use
oil, gas, propane, or another source of fossil fuel to heat our homes.





Finally, the primary reason we need to have our heating maintenance done before the cold arrives is for safety reasons.
You can't smell it or see it and according the American Medical Association it is the number one cause of accidental
poisoning in America. It can kill you while you are sleeping.




It is carbon monoxide and is often referred to as the silent killer.




While the HVAC industry as a whole strives to make all heating systems absolutely safe for as many years as possibly,
accidents do occur and mechanical equipment will eventually fail including heat exchangers and venting systems. Things can
happen over the summer that can change something with your system. A flue can become blocked off by animals or the mortar
can let go and cave in blocking off the flue. These are only a few of the many things that can happen to cause your heating
system to become dangerous to you or your family.





The best way to avoid any unsafe condition is to take action before the cold weather arrives. Have the maintenance check
done and install carbon monoxide detectors in your home ASAP. By taking this action now, you can be assurred that your
heating system will safely provide comfort for your family this winter.





AC Cool tips




Did you know that if your system is not equipped with a delay, turning the air conditioning off and on again too fast can cause your compressor to lock up?
This can also be caused by adjusting the temperature setting up to a high setting and back to a low setting too quickly. This occurs a lot especially for people with children or those
that live in areas with intermittent power failures.
Make sure your child doesn't make the thermostat their new toy by instructing them not to play with it. If you turn the air conditioning off, wait at least five minutes
before turning it back on again.




Filter Maintenance and Indoor Air Quality




Air flow is very important to the efficiency of your system. Whether it be your A.C. system or your Heating system, both systems need the proper amount of designed air flow throughout the system. Dirty filters restrict the airflow which results in higher energy and repair costs to you.




A myth many people believe is that they can close off some of their supply registers and save money. This may be true if you only close off one or maybe two. The system installed in your home is designed for a certain amount of airflow. If this airflow is restricted in any way it causes the system to function improperly and could cause system failure. Open those supply vents, closing too many off is the same as a dirty or restricted filter.




There are many different types of filters. The most common type are the fiberglass disposable filter that you buy at most hardware or retail stores. Other types of filters include the metal or plastic fiber type filters which are washable. These filters save you money because they are washable but they are not as efficient at filtering the air as the disposable kind. By far, the most efficient filters are the Electronic Air Cleaners.There are other high efficiency air cleaning medias that you can have
installed by a contractor that will help keep your home's air as clean and dust free as most electronic air cleaners. The filtering medias are less expensive than the electronic air cleaners but have a higher maintenance cost associated with them because they also have disposable filter medias inside them.




There many different things in the air that we are totally unaware of. Among them are:




* Pollen

* Lint

* Mildew

* Mold

* Fungi

* Virus's

* Spores

* Dirt

* Pet Odors

* Dust

* Dander

* Dust Mites

* Smoke

* Cooking Odors

* Formaldehyde

* Bathroom Odors

* Chemical Smells

* Tobacco Odors

* Many Other Volitile Organic Compounds





Removing these things is the job of your filter. The standard filters you can buy at the hardware store, the fiberglass stranded filters, are the cheapest and most ineffective filters for removing these particles and odors. The cheap filter will remove less than 10 percent of these particles and none of the odors from the air that you breathe. Many people are surprised to learn the contents of the air they are breathing from the list above. The question they most often ask is what can I do to filter
these things from the air my family and I are breathing? The answer to that question is easy but based on what you want to spend and the level of cleanliness you want. As stated above the best is the Electronic Air Cleaner. An addition to the Electronic Air Cleaner, and one that will ensure the eradication of bacteria, mold, fungi, and mildew, is the ultra violet light installed in the return duct near the EAC (Electronic Air Cleaner). When these two devices, the electronic air cleaner and the ultraviolet air
cleaner, are combined with the standard type of filter, you can be assured that you have the best indoor air quality available in your home. Additionally, if you had the electronic air cleaner and the ultraviolet air cleaner installed in your home, changing the regular filters will come on a less frequent basis. That is triple protection for your families health through increased indoor air quality.





Electronic Air Cleaners




Electronic Air Cleaners (EACs) can be expensive compared to the regular filtering medias but from personal experience they are well worth the cost. Customers with allergies and respiratory conditions have reported better breathing conditions when their units were working properly. These units are capable of filtering particles that are less than one micron in size. An EAC is a high tech way of improving the indoor air quality of your home.




When the air passes through the first part of the unit the particles in the air are given an electrical charge using thin ionizing wires located in the cells. Downstream from the wires are collector plates with an opposite charge. The particles (now polarized) are attracted to the collector plates that have an opposite polarized charge. For this reason, electronic air cleaners need to have the cells removed and cleaned usually on a semi-annual basis. Mild soap and water should be used along with extreme
care so the ionizing wires or collector plates are not damaged. If the plates or ionizing wires are damaged during cleaning, the cells should be replaced before restoring power to the unit or the power pack can be damaged. The power pack is an expensive and integral part of the electronic air cleaner. If you have a maintenance agreement the service should include cleaning and caring for this unit if you have one installed in your home. Since these units are expensive they should have professional attention paid
to them from time to time. While the cells are not super-fragile, damage can occur if the proper precautions are not taken during the cleaning of these cells.




Ultraviolet Air Cleaners




Many of us know that Ultraviolet rays are harmful to our skin if we are over exposed to the suns rays. This is the reason most of us use sun block in the summer. Why are UV rays so harmful to us and most biological organisms? UV rays penetrate the cells and break down the molecular bonds in the cells. This can cause mutation of the cells and change their biological make-up. This process can be used to our advantage to improve the indoor air quality of our living spaces. UV lights can be installed in
your duct work so that it may wash the air from harmful bio-organisms that live in the air and duct work of your home. When the air containing these microorganisms pass through the UV light in the duct work, the light penetrates the organism and breaks down it's molecular bonds. This causes cellular and genetic damage that renders these microscopic critters harmless. It also robs them of their ability to reproduce. Many of the items listed above can be eradicated from your system if you have one of these lights
installed in your duct work.




There is an additional benefit to having UV light protection installed in your ducts. The UV light will eliminate these restrictions allowing the motors to use less power to move the air. The secondary benefit to this is reduced maintenance costs because the motors are not working so hard all the time and therefore do not have to be replaced or repaired as often. A UV light installed in your duct work can benefit more than your health, it can benefit your checkbook also.