Summer is most definitely officially here! The “real feel” has been a bit past 100 degrees in Florida already…yikes! You may have noticed that your air conditioning unit is running all day long during the hottest parts of the day. Your system may just be doing its best to keep your house to the temperature you want it to be. However, there may be some reasons your system is running non-stop, too.

Before it gets too hot out, we always recommend you have a routine maintenance. Having a routine maintenance helps to ensure your system is working at peak efficiency and that there are no issues at that time. Anything can happen though, so keep in mind that having a routine maintenance is not a 100% full-proof plan.

To begin with, it is necessary and important for your system to be the proper size for your home. If your air conditioning system is too small, your system will have to work very hard in order to cool your home. This means your system will run…a lot. If your system is too big, moisture will not be removed from your house properly.

We probably sound like a broken record, but it is very important that your air filter is clean! If it is not clean, airflow will be restricted and your system will have to work very hard in order to produce the correct amount of air.

During your routine maintenance, your air conditioning technician will check your outdoor and indoor coils to make sure that nothing (such as dirt, leaves, mud, pet hair, etc.) is clogging your outdoor coil. If your system seems to be running a lot, it would be a good idea to take a look at your coil to see if anything may be clogging it. All you would need to do is hose down the unit. (Be sure to turn your system off first!) The indoor coil is more difficult to get to. When your air conditioning technician is at your home next, ask them how you can take a look at it in between maintenances.

Tune in next week for a few more reasons why your system may be running so frequently! Until then, we hope you stay cool!

As we recently mentioned, it is very important you take measures to care for the air you breath in any way possible – especially when humans on a whole are spending more time indoors. Having good indoor air quality is vital to a safe and healthy home!

1) No Shoes Indoors!

This probably comes as no surprise, but shoes carry so much bacteria in your home! Bacteria can cause many different types of infections. An easy way to keep any potential bacteria from coming into your home is keeping it outside or at least in one specific place in your home. By keeping potential bacteria and outdoor air pollutants outside, it will not infect your indoor air quality.

2) Use Eco-Friendly Paint Only

If you plan on painting your walls or anything else in your house any time soon, be sure that the paint you select is eco-friendly, which means it has no or low volatile organic compounds (VOCs.) VOCs vaporize and emit gas. Paint that has VOCs in them emit gasses even after the paint is dry which can cause headaches, dizziness or even increase the risk of developing asthma or allergies.

3) Clean With Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

One of the leading contributors to indoor air quality issues are cleaning products. If you are using a cleaning product that has synthetic fragrance in it, you are using a toxic product.

We would recommend you clean with unscented or fragrance-free products. If you simply cannot do that, make sure the scent is plant-based. Also, don’t forget to not use aerosol spray products if you can help it.

4) Get Your Ducts Cleaned!

Having your air ducts cleaned will help you to not only get cleaner air, but also to help your HVAC unit run more efficiently. If there is a large amount of dust or pet dander in your ductwork, your system will have to work harder in order for air to flow through your air ducts easy. We would be happy to help you clean your air ducts!

5) Having a Whole Air Home Purification System

Air purifiers remove airborne contaminants and allergens, which helps to keep your indoor air quality the best it can be. If the air inside your home is not “good,” you may be more prone to suffer from asthma or allergies. An air purifier traps roughly 98% of pollen and mold spores. The Mayo Clinic states that 93% of chronic sinus infections have been attributed to mold. If you are prone to sinus infections, you may want to think about getting some type of whole air purification system for your home.

We do offer some great indoor air quality options. If this is something you are interested in, please get in touch with us. We would be so happy to help!

Having good indoor air quality is important to keep your family safe and healthy by breathing the best air possible. We have some ideas for you, not just air conditioning related, either! There are many households that do not practice healthy indoor air quality simply because they are unaware. We are here to help and teach you!

Here are five ideas to help you have good indoor air quality!

1) Have a Houseplant!

Plants obtain carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen while people and animals take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. In essence, plants help you breathe.  The aloe plant, English ivy, rubber tree, snake plant, bamboo palm, and red-edged dracaena are good houseplants to have. They help foster a symbiotic relationship by filter the air and creating fresh oxygen for you to breathe.

2) Change or Clean Your Air Filter Regularly

Check your air filter based on instructions from the manufacturer. As discussed last week, the filter is the key to having good indoor air quality. If the filter is dirty, it cannot pass air through it fast enough, which means your air conditioning system will not work efficiently, fast enough, or keep that pesky dust away!

3) Do Not Smoke Indoors

Hopefully no one still does this! But if they do, keep in mind that environmental tobacco smoke is a huge contributor to indoor air pollution. Just like smoking, environmental tobacco smoke can be very harmful to your health.

4) Brush Your Pets Often

As I am sure you are well aware, pet fur often becomes airborne and clogs your air conditioning filter. Pet dander is also a concern, as anyone in your home will breathe it in By brushing your pets often, the less likely fur and dander will reach the filter or breathed in by people in your home.

5) Dust Those Fans!

I know everyone hates doing it; nonetheless, it must still be done! When your fan is full of dust, it is circulating around the room and people are breathing it in and it is going for your filter! You are welcome for the reminder to dust your fans.

What are some of the ways you try help your home have good indoor air quality?

I don’t know why life is full of choices, but it is. If you have ever faced the dilemma of choosing to replace only the outside condenser unit of your air conditioning system, while a sales person pressures you to replace both the condenser and the indoor coil at the same time, you know what I’m talking about. I faced that decision and had to muddle my way through the many factors involved without the benefit of advice from a professional I could trust. It only complicates matters if you are in a position of having had no air conditioning for three days in the middle of summer. That situation might send you over the edge, but you have to think logically to work your way through this problem.

Obviously, one of the most important factors in this decision is money. Can you afford to do it right now? A condenser is substantially less expensive than a replacing both parts of the system. If you do not have the funds available, or the access to funding, your decision is a simple one. If you’re like me, you also have real first-world issues with replacing a perfectly good portion of a unit just because you have to replace a broken part of the unit. The cost involved is huge and the voice of my miserly father reverberates through my head. But is there more to it? Yes.

Is there a warranty involved? Most manufacturers won’t warrant the system if you only replace some parts.

The cost of installation to replace one major part now, and another major part later can be substantial, and you need to factor that into the overall cost. It could all be done at the same time which would save those extra installation charges.

You can never achieve the efficiency you hope for by replacing one old part, but not the other, which is another cost consideration you need to ponder because it may have a noticeable impact on your monthly cooling costs. It certainly can’t ever help.

Regulatory issues associated with coolant may have the largest impact on the costs. Old units use coolants that have been phased out or will be phased out and future costs may be substantially higher to install newer units, which must also be compatible.

It is always better to install a matched system, with the most energy efficient operation you can achieve. If you compare your A/C system to a vehicle you might better understand the logic if you imagine replacing your engine but nothing else. You have a new engine, but the rest of your old car is only going to last so long. And a new engine does not a new car make.

One last bit of advice, develop a relationship with your A/C service provider so that you have someone you know and trust advising you when you have to make these very complex decisions. They will have much more knowledge of the subject than you, and by developing that relationship you will foster trust and can have faith in their advice.