Minimizing Central Air Conditioning Bills

People can get hit with a double increase in heating and air conditioning bills as energy costs go up and aging HVAC units work less efficiently. A poorly maintained air conditioner can work at half the efficiency of a well maintained and designed unit. Heating bills are also going up, and many cities now charge energy on a graduated system where each increase in usage is billed at a higher rate. There are some things you can do yourself as a homeowner to increase HVAC efficiency, and some energy-saving steps require the help of a Denver air conditioning company.

The theory behind how cooling works is not all that complex, but trying to make your own adjustments can be hard, especially as Denver HVAC equipment gets more digitized. Even experienced HVAC techs often cannot diagnose cooling problems without the help of many specialized tools.

The steps to be followed on any service are pretty standard. First the technician cleans the coils and checks the refrigerant pressure. The standard checks involve looking at all moving parts and lubricating them. Normally the system should not need to be filled up. With correct sealant it should never lose pressure, however refrigerant fill up are still common.

In central air systems, the heater and air conditioner use the same ductwork. This means there must be a damper to separate the heating and cooling system, so making sure the damper is intact is an important part of minimizing air conditioner bills. Missing dampers waste huge amounts of energy as hot or cool air is dumped into the wrong areas. This is one of the most simple fixes your Denver furnace services company can do.

However regular maintenance and service need not take up all your time. Depending on the part of the country you live in, AC units need to be checked anywhere between every one and five years. If you did have a problem with cooling maintenance you may eventually need to replace an air conditioner.

Usually this will not happen, but if your ac unit is more than 10 years old, or has a poor SEER rating, replacing it may save money in the long term. Although there are many things you can do like fixing duct work, if your system is still hemorrhaging energy after sealing everything up a new HVAC system may be your only option.

Fixing Common Thermostat Problems

Most homeowners have little HVAC knowledge beyond using the thermostat. If your thermostat fails, many people end up calling a Denver HVAC company thinking there is something wrong with their air conditioning equipment when in reality, there is something wrong with the thermostat. When the AC refuses to turn on, it can be hard for someone who is not an HVAC expert to determine if the problem is in the equipment or in the thermostat.

However, before you call a Denver HVAC company, try and follow this troubleshooting guide to see if you can get to the root of the problem. Even more advanced digital and zone-control thermostats really just function as thermometers that switch the HVAC system on and off depending on the temperature. As an electronic switch, the thermostat needs to be hooked up to power in order for it to work and communicate with the heating and air conditioning equipment.

Usually the power for the thermostat comes from the air conditioning unit itself. So any break along this line could cause the thermostat to turn off. You can check the circuit breaker in the air handler or heating split system to see if it has flipped off. Sometimes the handling unit also has a power switch outside the unit that looks like a light switch. Some digital thermostats have two different power sources: battery and wired from the external unit. The batteries power the display, so if the batteries go out, the display stops working but the ac unit does not stop cooling. You can save yourself a lot on calling a Denver air conditioning repair company by simply replacing the batteries. The batteries are there to maintain your programmed thermostat settings in case the power goes out.

If the problem with the thermostat is not the power, it could be the location the thermostat is installed. Except in very advanced models with multiple temperature sensors over the building, most thermostats have the thermometer built in. That means if the thermostat was built into an area that does not represent the air temperature in your home then it will give false readings.

Thermostats with mercury bulbs need to be level to give accurate temperature readings. Heating anticipatory can also get out of whack when not properly calibrated. The anticipatory needs an amp meter in mechanical thermostats to adjust to make sure it properly keeps the blower running past the burner time to get excess hot air out of the ducts.

Air Conditioner Condensing Unit

The air conditioner condensing unit is one half of the cooling cycle with the evaporator coil. The condensing unit's job is to diffuse and reject heat, while the evaporator coil absorbs heat. All HVAC technicians learn this as the first step in their cooling education. The condenser is located in the big boxy exterior unit at most buildings. Heat pumps also use condensers, but most people North of Denver do not use heat pumps because the efficiency of heat pumps decreases as the temperature drops.

The condenser along with the compressor is the main transferor of heat between the outside air and the air blowing through your house. To do this, the compressor must be sealed inside the cooling cycle, and that is why compressor replacements are so common. It is very hard to try and repair something that is sealed within the system. On the other hand, there are many things you can do to try and maintain the life of your condensing unit. If not properly maintained, the condenser and most other air conditioning parts will go into a downward spiral before they self destruct. As the parts become worn and less efficient, the compressor and blower motor will start working harder to try and keep cooling despite reduced ability. Eventually parts overheat and fail.

One thing you can do to maintain your Denver HVAC system to to check the outside cooling unit before summer starts and it is in heavy use. I recommend calling a Denver air conditioner company to perform the check, but if you feel handy and know how to operate around electricity, then go ahead. The first step before doing any work on a condensing unit is to shut of the breaker supplying electricity to the unit. Spin the fan and see if it turns. Then turn on the power and switch on the thermostat and make sure the fan starts blowing upward a good deal. A common problem with these condenser motors is bearing failure, which will stop the fan from spinning properly.

The main reason you want to check the condenser fan motor before you operate the system is because it is connected to the compressor. A failure at the fan can overload the compressor, and the compressor is a much more expensive part than the condenser motor.

Just like evaporator coils, condenser coils can build up dirt and gunk which will decrease efficiency. Just like everything else in central air, as efficiency goes down, the system tries to work harder to compensate until it fails. The solution is to call an air conditioning services Denver company to clean the condenser coils. You can also do it yourself, but you will need to turn the thermostat and breaker off and pull the plug on the condenser electrical box. You will need to spray the condenser with enough pressure to remove dirt without bending the fins. A little soap can help too. The key to maintaining performance with these units is maximizing airflow. So the condenser should be clean and the exterior unit should have clear airflow.

Filter Role in Maintaining HVAC Performance

Many homeowners with central heat are unaware that they even need a filter for their HVAC system. The filter cleans the air for two primary reasons: to keep you healthy, and to keep your heating and air conditioning equipment healthy.

For your central air system to work properly, air should easily circulate through the ducts, vents and evaporator coils. All of these parts can become clogged by dirt and other foreign particulate matter. Clogged air works means the compressor and blower have to work harder to push air through the system. They will heat up and eventually work at high energy, sub-optimal cooling modes, then fail. Dust inside the evaporator clings to the moist coils and stops the heat transfer between he air and coil coolant. You can get a recommendation for a good quality HVAC filter from your local Denver air conditioning service company. A poor quality filter will not strain out enough particulate matter to be effective.

These quality air filters also make a big difference on the quality of air you breath in your home. Your filter should stop pollen, dirt, harmful chemicals and allergens from being circulated though your home's Denver HVAC system. Along with the traditional physical filters you can also get electronic air cleaners and electrostatic filters. These offer much more filtering ability and do not need to be regularly replaced.

The electric charge on an electrostatic filter pulls dust to it out of the air. The dust is attracted from a distance, instead of having to get caught up in a tangle of webbing like a traditional filter. A HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter is the Denver heating professional's choice when it comes to air filtration. These filters are certified by the Department of Energy as being very effective at removing small airborne particles.

The first filters were created for work on the atomic bomb to stop the spread of radioactive particles. HEPA filters are well used in hospitals and research labs, these filters will stop most airborne viruses, mold and bacteria. Hospital filters may include a ultraviolet light to kill all organisms in the air. Airlines used to be a prime location for the transmission of disease untill HEPA filters were installed. Now airline cabins have lower dangerous organism rates than the average home. Residential HEPA filters are also available and you HVAC company would be happy to help you install one.

Heating Your Home With Solar Energy

One of the cheapest, most environmentally friendly, and efficient ways to heat water is to use solar water heating. A new advance in the HVAC community is solar energy for heating homes. Even in the winter, the sun still bathes the earth with an incredible amount of free energy. The main limitation for solar heating is the climate. In cloudy areas like London, solar heating my not be the best choice. However HVAC in Denver is a great place for home solar energy because of the nearly year round appearance of the sun.

Solar heating is divided into active and passive systems. Passive systems use architecture and smart building design to allow the sun to heat a building. This is not the place for Denver heating companies because passive heating does not use any mechanical equipment.

Active heating collects either heat or solar energy in the form of electricity to heat a house. Then pumps or a HVAC system pushes the heat around the house from the stored heat source. A simple device that can heat a whole house is the non-concentrating flat plate collector. These collectors use a simple plate of some sort of heat-conductive material like metal to absorb solar heat which is then pumped through the house. If your furnace is broken, instead of calling your Denver furnace repair company, consider installing a flat panel solar heat collector. These devices are actually cheap and simple. Not only will you be saving the environment through reduced energy use, but the Denver heating devices pay for themselves after several years of service.

A little more advanced design is the concentrating collector, which uses mirrors or some other device to concentrate all the solar energy to heat a smaller absorbing area. The final and most technically advanced design is using photovoltaic cells to convert solar energy into electrical energy. These systems can be integrated into your house's whole power supply, so it will supply you with electricity for uses other than HVAC.

These solar cells are becoming increasingly efficient and user friendly. A common design has the cells hooked up to batteries to continue to provide power even when the sun is not out. Solar cells create DC current which must be converted to AC to run appliances in the western hemisphere. Any heating device worth the price should be able to continue providing heat at night and on overcast days. Otherwise, you can just use your solar heating device as a supplement, to reduce your energy bills on sunny days.

Controlling Indoor Air Pollution with HVAC Equipment

Pollution within structures is often many times worse than outside because pollutants do not have the whole atmosphere to be diluted in. Especially in manufacturing and heavy industry applications, proper ventilation is necessary to have workers on site. Workers are very vulnerable to indoor pollutants because they will receive continued exposure to them for the duration of their time on the job.

The first step in maintaining proper ventilation in a work environment is to identify all possible pollutant vectors, as well as all the inlet and outlet air ports in a building. Buildings are usually not near air-tight, so harmful fumes can enter or exit from many unusual of locations. Consult with a Denver HVAC company to identify all the natural and man-made ventilation points in your building. Natural points are windows, doors and leaky walls, while man made ventilation points are things like ventilation ducts and blow-off valves.

Not maintaining proper HVAC ventilation puts your company at risk for workplace injury and lawsuits. The first thing a possibly injured worker will do to determine if they are getting sick from improper building ventilation is to leave and see if the symptoms subside. There are a wide range of symptoms and possible indoor pollutants, so it is best to get and idea of what they are and how to address those pollutants from your Denver heating company instead of the local lawyer. Without a vigilant HVAC company or workforce to report problems, many dangerous gases are not noticed until a Denver furnace repair services technician notices something strange. Unfortunately, there are too many stories to count of Denver HVAC techs working in refineries with dangerously inadequate ventilation.

Not controlling these fumes can lead to "sick building syndrome" where workers feel lethargic and sick when at work. In public institutions like hospitals and schools, these symptoms must be taken very seriously because children's immune systems may have less natural ability to fight off toxins. A HVAC system with the central air hooked up to filters and scrubbers will take care of most harmful substances on non-industrial applications.

The major culprits to get people sick inside buildings are: tobacco smoke, burnt combustibles like exhaust smoke, biological pollutants like mold or viruses, volatile organics like solvents and jet fuel, and heavy metals like lead or any other smelter fumes.

How TXV thermostats work

If you are smart and want to save money, you have a programmable thermostat; a thermostat that monitors air temperature and controls heating and cooling digitally. Most Americans however, have an old fashioned thermostat with a wire thermostatic expansion valve. If your thermostat is round or square and says "Honeywell" you are in the same boat with most Americans with their wire thermostatic heating controls.

These thermostats work by monitoring the size of a coiled length of wire. As the temperature increases, the wire expands, and as it decreases, it contracts. Although not the most accurate, these thermostats have been a staple of Denver HVAC for over 50 years. Inside the actual cooling apparatus, there is another kind of thermostat that regulates the equipment. This is a thermostatic expansion valve, or TXV.

Instead of measuring the ambient air temperature, the expansion valve controls the refrigerant as it flows into, and boils out of the evaporator. This split separates the high and low pressure sides of the system. Although still mechanical, the TXV is a little more complex than the Honeywell on the wall, because it must balance three different forces: the bulb pressure trying to open the valve, the spring pressure which tries to keep it closed, and the evaporator pressure, which also forces the valve closed.

All certified Denver air conditioning services technicians learn these forces early on in their HVAC training. With the advent of central air conditioning and heat pumps, many thermostats ore more complex. However the simple thermostatic expansion valve will close if evaporator pressure increases and bulb pressure is stable, and will open if the bulb pressure increases.

Superheat is a Denver air conditioning term that refers to gaseous refrigerant that is still maintaining excess heat. This increases pressure on the bulb, which opens the valve to allow more refrigerant into the evaporator. A problem with your TXV will send your air conditioning out of line because the pressure differential essential to the cooling cycle cannot be maintained if the valve is stuck open or closed. A Denver HVAC technician can identify problems like this relatively quickly. The thermostats come from the factory already calibrated, but the settings may not match your local air conditioner use profile very well.