Posts Tagged ‘Winder’

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Winder HVAC Tip: Heat Pump Refrigerant Problems

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Your Winder home’s heat pump is a very complicated piece of equipment that uses a number of moving parts to compress and circulate refrigerant and extract heat from one environment and place it in another. So, if your heat pump has refrigeration problems, it will almost certainly cause problems for the heating or cooling of your home.

Common Refrigerant Problems

There are a number of potential problems your heat pump might face, especially as it begins to age and components become worn. Some common issues include:

  • Compressor Issues – The compressor is a component in your heat pump that compresses the refrigerant gas into a liquid. This liquid is what circulates through the device and extracts heat from the outside air (or inside your home when in cooling mode). If the heat pump doesn’t turn on properly, isn’t producing enough heat or is using a large amount of electricity suddenly, it may be a compressor problem.
  • Refrigerant Leaks – Your heat pump doesn’t consume any refrigerant during operation. So, if it starts to leak refrigerant, there is likely another problem and it should be repaired immediately (for health and environmental reasons). Common signs of a leak include suddenly higher electrical bills, inefficient heating and possibly even a faint odor near the device.
  • Freezing Up – If your heat pump freezes, you should check for any blocked air vents or registers, check the condensate line and check your filter for blockage. Most often, a freezing problem is directly related to something being clogged and is a relatively easy fix. The only way to know for sure is to call a professional to investigate, however.

A heat pump is a very complex piece of machinery with a number of moving parts that can all cause issues if not properly maintained. If your heat pump stops heating or cooling effectively and it is not a simple fix such as a filter or belt, you should call Triad Mechanical to inspect for more significant problems such as the compressor or refrigerant.

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Berkeley Lake Heat Pump Repair Tip: Common Performance Problems

Friday, January 13th, 2012

The heat pump in your Berkeley Lake home needs to work year round to provide heat and air conditioning. This is why you want to make sure it’s performing as efficiently as possible to save on energy costs and prevent break downs. You should schedule an annual maintenance check-up and inspection with a certified HVAC technician to test the efficiency levels.

However, there are a few common causes of performance issues to be aware of so that you can be sure your heat pump performs at optimal levels. Call us if you have questions about heat pump performance issues, or to make an appointment for an annual inspection and professional cleaning.

Airflow Issues

There should always be a certain amount of airflow (measured in cubic feet per minute) in your heat pump to maintain proper efficiency levels. If the airflow is less than 350 cfm per ton, it could increase your energy costs. You should make sure your HVAC contractor checks the airflow whenever your heat pump is inspected. Always keep the coils clean. Sometimes the ducts are not the right size, or the fan speed needs to be increased, but often cleaning the coils will help airflow, which is why it is important to clean and maintain the components of your heat pump. A certified technician will know what methods are best, so if you suspect an airflow problem with your heat pump, call a professional heating technician.

Air Leaks in the Duct System

Inefficient or poorly-designed duct systems may not distribute air properly throughout your home because of potential air leaks. There should always be a balance between the intake and return air in a forced air system, which helps maintain a neutral pressure within the house and increase efficiency. Some contractors argue over how tightly a house should be sealed for this reason, but if your heat pump is losing heat through leaks in the air ducts, this will greatly affect its efficiency.

Improper Refrigerant

Refrigerant leaks are another common cause of low performance levels in heat pumps. Most heat pumps already have refrigerant when they leave the factory and shouldn’t have any issues. Heat pumps that are charged with refrigerant when they are installed can sometimes have the wrong amount of refrigerant. Either too much or too little refrigerant will lower the heat pump’s efficiency and performance levels. Always check the recommended refrigerant amount or ask an HVAC technician before you add refrigerant yourself.

If the heat pump in your Berkeley Lake home isn’t working properly, it is also affecting your heating bills. Call Triad Mechanical to set up an appointment.

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What is Air Purification? A Question from Winder

Friday, November 4th, 2011

The air around us, in Winder and everywhere else, is getting more and more polluted these days, and people are trying to do more and more to combat it. Cars come with ratings like “ultra-low emission vehicle” and windmills generate power from moving air rather than burning coal. No doubt, these efforts help, but if you want to take an active role in improving the quality of air in your own home, consider an air purification system.

Simply put, air purification is the process of removing contaminants and pollutants from the air. There are a number of devices on the market that can purify the air in your home. While anyone can enjoy the benefits of cleaner air, they are of particular utility for people which suffer from asthma or allergies, or who live in areas with higher concentrations of outdoor air pollution.

There are three main kinds of air purifiers, categorized by the kind of technology they use:

  1. HEPA filtration
  2. Negative ion generation
  3. Electrostatic precipitation

HEPA filtration purifiers simply filter the air that passes through them using a sieve-like filter or series of filters. Depending on the efficiency of the device and the filter, some of these purifiers can trap not only solid and like particles, but also gases and odors. One advantage of this type of purifier is that the HEPA filters can last for years before they need to be changed.

Negative ion generation and electrostatic precipitation models are more complicated and technical because of the technology they use. Consult with a professional to choose which kind of technology is best for your needs, depending on the air quality problem you are experiencing. Some air purifiers can trap bacteria, viruses, fungi or chemicals, so there is bound to be one that will suit your needs.

After deciding on which type of technology you need, you will also have to choose whether you want a portable air purifier unit or a central system that covers the whole house. Obviously the former works well if you are only concerned about the air in a room or two, while the latter is better if you have chronic asthma or a more widespread air quality problem.

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How Heating Zone Control Can Save You Money in Roswell

Monday, October 17th, 2011

The costs of heating your Roswell home have risen dramatically over the past couple of decades, thanks to higher energy costs and price increases for heating equipment. Despite the strides made in energy efficiency, there seems to be no end in sight for the steady rise in heating equipment operating costs.

Now add in the cost of heating unoccupied areas of your home, such as basements, hallways, or extra bedrooms, and the energy costs go even higher. Most of these costs are unnecessary and avoidable if you have the time and a small investment in a well-planned heating “strategy” for your home. This strategy involves using heating zone controls to make the most efficient use of your heating system.

In a nutshell, here is how heating zone control works. The rooms in your home are connected to your heating system by a series of ductwork, which carries heated and conditioned area to all corners. But some of these areas may not need to be heated as much – or possibly at all – compared to other rooms in your home. For example, do you need heat in your kitchen but not in your basement? Most people would answer yes. Or they may say they need more heat in the kitchen and some, but not very much heat in the basement.

Or try this: do most people in your house spend more time in one room, such as the family room, and less time in their bedrooms? If so, why would it be necessary to heat the bedrooms all of the time? In order to deliver heat to areas in your home that need it the most, the ductwork to these rooms should always be “open.” Ductwork to other unused areas of your home can be “closed” during various times of the day.

Opening and closing of ductwork and airflow is achieved by zone controls. A zone control is installed in the home which electronically or wirelessly opens and closes “dampers” in the ductwork, depending on the heating demand. You can divert heat to areas of your home using zone control and dampers while decreasing the heating load on your furnace. This type of heating zone control will move heated air to where you want it. Simply put, you are not heating areas of your home that don’t need the heat.

The heating zone controls can be programmed for various times of the day, too. For example, you may not need any heat in your basement while you sleep or when you are away from home. You can program the damper in your basement’s ductwork to remain closed or partially open during these times. In a sense, the heating zone control in your home acts like a programmable thermostat – only it uses a series of dampers to control indoor temperatures.

The next time you walk into an unused part of your home, think about how much money you are spending to heat it. It makes sense to consider heating zone controls. The initial costs of installing zone controls and dampers are minimal and the payback in energy savings and comfort are substantial.

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The Beauty of Zone Heating: A Guide from Winder

Friday, October 14th, 2011

While it might not technically be a necessity, there are a lot of reasons why you might want to look into having a zone heating system installed in your Winder home. Whether you’ve been using the same home heating system for a long time or are looking to have a new one installed, there’s never a bad time to have a zone heating system put in.

Most people think that the only thing that affects their home heating and cooling bills is the energy efficiency of their furnace or heat pump. However, that’s simply not always the case. Certainly, the more efficient your furnace or heat pump is, the lower your energy bills will be. But that doesn’t mean they’re as low as they could possibly be.

After all, if you don’t have a zone control system installed, you’re paying to heat your entire house every time you turn on the heat. Depending on the size of your house, that could mean you’re heating anywhere from two to 10 rooms or more that are unoccupied at the time. In fact, you could be paying to heat an entire empty wing of your home. And while you’ll pay less than you would if your heating system was less efficient, you’re still paying more than you need to.

With a zone control system, you can heat your home much more efficiently because you can control which areas of the house get the heat and which ones don’t. You can set multiple different temperatures for the different zones of your home, which allows you to keep the occupied areas warm while not forcing you to waste energy to heat unoccupied spaces.

Aside from the economic benefits of only heating the areas of your home that you need, zone control systems also can put an end to some of those contentious thermostat wars that go on in so many households. If the members of your household can never agree on what a comfortable temperature is, they can simply each set their own temperature for their own area of the house.

That way, everyone is happy and no one has to suffer uncomfortably. After all, you paid a lot for your state of the art home heating system. It’s only fitting that you should be able to get the most possible out of it.

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The Room by Room Benefits of Ductless Splits AC: A Guide From Winder

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

Ductless splits air conditioners are designed to eliminate the need for ductwork in your Winder home where space is at a premium. Usually homeowners with older homes – those built before the 1970s – have very little space to work with when it comes to installing the ductwork a traditional central air conditioning system requires. These homes are often heated with radiant boiler systems and have window units to provide cooling in warmer weather. As a result, cooling costs can be extremely high each summer and the house usually isn’t comfortable during these months.

Ductless air conditioning offers a solution to most of these problems. Not only does the technology not require ductwork to be installed; it allows for multiple in-room units on a single compressor and it costs significantly less to operate compared to window AC units.

Ductless System Specifications

Ductless air conditioning systems consist of two major components: a compressor which is placed outside and indoor evaporators. With the use of inverter technology, these systems can support multiple evaporators – usually as many as four to a single condenser. This means you can have a single outdoor unit supporting cooling four separate rooms of your home at the same time.

Each of those indoor evaporators acts as a heat pump, allowing you to both heat and cool the room year round. And because the only connection needed between evaporator and condenser is a single refrigerant line, the cost of installation is significantly lower than it would be for a ductwork based central AC system.

Room by Room Benefits

While the primary benefit of a ductless system is the fact that it allows you to install air conditioning in multiple rooms of your house without the need for ductwork, there are other benefits. Not only do you get a much higher energy efficiency rating than you would with traditional window units (many ductless systems are rated at 16 SEER or higher while window units are frequently as low as 10 or 11), but you can control each unit individually. So if a room upstairs doesn’t need to be cooled during the afternoon hours, simply turn off the thermostat in that part of the house and save money.

There are some factors to consider when installing a ductless system. How many rooms do you need cooled? How warm does it get in the summer? Will the system be used for heating in the winter? These are all things you may want to discuss in greater detail with your contractor when you call for an estimate.

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Amana Air Filtration – DMH900 Air Cleaner

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Air filtration is an important aspect of your home’s comfort and safety. Clean air keeps your family healthy and all of your HVAC systems working efficiently. A whole house cleaner is integrated with your central heating and air conditioning system, and a unit like the DMH900 Air Cleaner will provide your home with intense air filtration and purification.  The DMH900 is equipped with not only a HEPA filter rated for removal or contaminants as small as 0.3 microns, but also has UV germicidal lights to keep your home’s air clean and allergen free. This until also has a Carbon/ Potassium Permanganate filter which removes volatile organic compounds and light gases from your air, making sure that your family is not breathing in any chemicals that might negatively affect their health. All Atlanta homes should be a equipped with some sort of air filtration, and the DMH900 Air Cleaner is one of the best options available on the market today.

To learn more about having the DMH900 Air Cleaner installed in your home, contact your local contractor.

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Is a Heat Pump Right for Your Home? A Guide From Marietta

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Deciding which type of home comfort system to go with in Marietta can be a difficult process to navigate. There are a ton of factors to take into account including how much you will be using the system, what type of fuel you mainly rely on and what the specific climate is like where you live.

Heat pumps are a great home comfort solution for many people but they aren’t always the appropriate choice. However, there are many benefits to going with a heat pump system, so this is certainly an option you should keep in mind as you evaluate your options.

Heat pumps work by extracting heat from the air in one place and then transferring that heat to another space. For instance, in the winter, heat pumps take heat from the outside air and pump it into your house. In the summer, on the other hand, your heat pump will be able to take heat from your indoor air and pump it back outside, thereby keeping your home cool and comfortable.

Heat pumps are also extremely energy efficient because they don’t actually have to generate the heat they pump. Unlike furnaces, which take in fuel and convert it into heat, heat pumps simply harness the heat that’s already there, making them by far the more energy efficient option.

Another benefit to heat pumps is that they maintain a more constant temperature than many other types of heating systems do. Rather than pumping in a big blast of hot air and then waiting until the temperature indoors falls below a preset level before doing it again, heat pumps provide a relatively constant stream of warm air.

The initial amount of heat is smaller than what you might be used to from a furnace, but the cumulative effect means that you’ll be able to enjoy a much more consistently comfortable indoor environment.

It is important to evaluate the climate in your area before you decide to purchase a heat pump, though. These systems are extremely effective at heating and cooling your home as long as temperatures stay above the mid-thirties.

Below that, you may need to install some type of supplemental heating in order to keep your home warm enough on those really cold days. So if you live in an area where temperatures routinely dip below freezing for large portions of the winter, a heat pump might not be the most sensible solution for you.

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Allergies – Different Products that Can Help with Different Problems

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

One of the biggest problems related to indoor air quality is allergies. When not treated properly, excess dust, humidity, bacteria, mold, and other contaminants can cause a number of allergy problems, especially if anyone in your home has asthma and is particular sensitive to a contaminant.

Luckily, there are quite a few products on the market designed to reduce the effect of indoor allergens and help you feel comfortable all year long.

Filters

HEPA air filters are designed to capture incredibly small bits of debris in your home. They remove things like dust, mold, debris, pollen, and pet dander before they can trigger an allergic reaction. The best filters are all HEPA certified and are available either for a single room or for your entire home. The size of your home and the amount of contaminants you have will ultimately determine which filter is best for you.

Purifiers

For those with allergens beyond dust and pollen, purifiers are a good next step. Air purification is done electronically, utilizing ionization technology to remove things like gas and smoke as well as bacteria and viruses that get into your indoor air. Anyone suffering from even a mild bout of seasonal allergies can be made very uncomfortable by these types of contaminants. Advanced purification systems also come with UV germicidal lights to kill bacteria and viruses.

Ventilation

While capturing the bad stuff in your air is important, so too is getting new air into your home. Allergies are triggered as much by stale air as by the allergens in it. So, a good ventilation system is important. Simple fan units work very well for many families, but if you want to avoid the loss of heated and cooled air during the most extreme weather in your area, an energy recovery ventilator is a good alternative to straight fan ventilation.

Humidity

Finally, humidity is a big issue for many families. Dryness in the winter can make colds and flus worse and excessive humidity in the summer is a haven for things like mold. A good humidifier removes humidity when it gets too high and adds moisture to the air during the winter when it gets too dry.

Always do your research before choosing an air quality system for your home. It’s important to choose components that will help you overcome whatever allergies you face, throughout the year.

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Breakdowns – How to Handle an Overloaded AC

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

The last thing you need on a hot summer day is for your air conditioner to suddenly cut out. Without the cooling power it provides, your house will get uncomfortable quickly. Fortunately, once you know why this happens, there are several things you can do about it.

Why Air Conditioners Cut Out

The most common reason for air conditioner failure is an overabundance of pressure in the unit. This happens because the coil gets too hot, causing the pressure to rise in the entire device. As the pressure rises past a certain point, an automatic safety shutoff system is engaged. If you can stop the coil from heating up to this point, you can keep your air conditioner running.

How to Keep Them Running

Of course, this is easier said than done. Since your condenser unit with the coil inside is located outside in the heat, it’s only natural for it to get hot during the day – especially an extra hot day when you’re using your air conditioner a lot. You also need to be careful not to put anything over or up against your outdoor condenser unit.

While this may block the sunlight, it will also keep heat in the system and prevent the air conditioner from removing exhaust naturally. So in order to keep your air conditioner as cool as possible, make sure there is nothing up against the vents or impeding air flow in any way. Once you’ve done this, try and find a way to provide shade for you air conditioner without placing objects near the device. Blocking out direct sunlight is the best way to keep your air conditioner cool as long as you can do it without interfering with the system’s natural air flow.

Getting it Back On

If your unit does cut out on you, don’t despair. The best thing to do is to wait about a half hour to give your unit a chance to cool off on its own. Then, spray the coil and other overheated areas with a fine mist of cool water. This should lower the temperature enough that the system can come back on without any further complications.

If the problem persists despite the work you’ve done to keep it cool, you may want to call in a professional to take a look and make sure nothing is broken or worn inside to cause the overloads. Most of the time a little maintenance will take care of the problem, but if not, you’ll want to get repairs done quickly to avoid a full breakdown.

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