Air Conditioning Repair Tips - Find Reliable HVAC Contractor

The warmer the climate, the more important it is to have good air conditioning repair contractor's information handy. Who wants to get home from a long day at work and discover the ac has stopped working? So give yourself a head start. Complete your research before the need arises and then when and if the emergency strikes, you will be prepared.

So search for air conditioning repair companies online. Use terms like "ac repair contractor" or "air conditioning repair companies" online to get a list of local contractors. Follow these important steps to complete your research and to find the one who is qualified, reliable and properly licensed:

• First, locate contractor's license on their business website or call and ask for it. Then check contractor's license information on Contractor's State License Board site under Online Services. You can also reach CSLB by phone at (800) 321-CSLB. This is where you can verify their Worker's Compensation coverage and confirm that company's contractor's license is valid and there are no unresolved complains against the company.


• Check HVAC contractor's General Liability Coverage. General Liability insurance policy will protect you in case of any damage that may occurring while the company is performing repairs on your property.


• Always take some time to check out references for the repair company you selected. You can do this on Google Local, Yahoo Local, Yelp, CitySearch and other sites.


• Check company's Better Business Bureau ratings and read through complains. It is impossible for a real business with real people to not make any mistakes, but be sure to check that all complains have been properly addressed and resolved. Also note, that sometimes the rating may be adversely effected by other variables, such as length of time the business has been operating. So take a moment to look through the report, before jumping to any conclusions.


• Once your request an estimate for the repairs - be sure to get a written line per line cost estimate and find out how long the repairs will take before the work begins. Read all fine print on the contract before signing. The more detailed the description on the contract is, the less grounds for disagreements there will be.

Even though you are desperate to repair your air conditioner, don't rush to settle with a company that offers you the cheapest bid. Do your research to ensure that the company you choose will complete the job on time and as quoted.

3 Steps To Avoid Air Conditioning Rattle Snake Parties

The first blistering summers day has arrived and you know in the back of your mind that you have neglected your air-conditioning unit for months. The last thing you expect to hear from your trusty air conditioning unit sounds like a family of rattle snakes having a party, but you do and then you realise your air conditioner has just taken its last breath and stops.

What have you done to deserve this? Maybe you neglected the unit over winter, well here are a few tips to avoid those rattle snakes having a party in your air conditioning unit this summer.

1. Regular Checks - The user manual, manufacturers website or even on the side of the unit would contain a few checks for you to perform to keep your unit running silky smooth. Make sure you do these before summer arrives so if you find any problems you can get it taken care of before the air conditioning repairs companies get busy during summer.

2. Filter Clean - An easy to do DIY maintenance by yourself. Most are easily removed so you can clean them or replace them. Checking you filter the first time may shock you how much hair and dust they pick up, especially if you have any pets. Cleaning your filters will also be beneficial to your respiratory system, especially if you have young kids.

3. Condenser Clean - This is the part of the unit that sits outside. Their roll is to kick out the hot and humid air and suck in nice clean fresh air that will keep your orange juice chilled while you watch a movie. It is vital that they are not blocked by objects. Remove all spider webs, tree branches and leaves from around the unit so they can do what they are designed to do.

Having an air conditioning unit making your home a summer oasis is useless if it does not get you through to the other side, so keep it healthy with some regular checkups. It will save you time, money and the mental exhaustion of having your soul melted from the sun when you could be sitting in air conditioning unit in complete comfort.

The Top Ten Ways to Keep Your Metal Building Cool

Every year, the summer gets hotter, which means we desperately seek for a place to stay cool. However, some individuals have to work in very hot environments during the summer months. Amongst those hot environments are metal buildings. Metal buildings can become very hot, especially if measures are not put in place to keep them cool. Just imagine working in a metal building on a 100 degree day. It may be 100 degrees outside, but it is going to be even hotter in that building, so it is very important to do what can be done to keep it cool.

So what can be done?

1. Using asphalt shingles is a good first step. They work best if they are of a light color because light colors reflect the sunlight rather than absorb it. One color that tends to be favored is white. It is the lightest you can get; therefore it will reflect sunlight the best.

2. Air conditioning is another great way. Of course it depends on the size of the building as to what kind of air conditioning is needed. A small building may suffice with a window unit, whereas a large building may need a central air unit. This can be used in addition to a cool roof system to keep the air conditioning from working too hard.

3. If the steel building has windows, putting in window fans can pull in cooler air while sucking out the hot air. That is if the environment is one that doesn't need an air conditioner.

4. A cool storage system that is more environmentally friendly. This system makes ice at night and uses that ice to cool the building during the day through radiators placed throughout the building.

5. Roof tiles are also great to place on the roof to reflect sunlight. White is the best color.

6. Insulation and sheet rock can be placed within the building in order to try and keep heat out and cool air in. This in addition to air conditioning or window fan units and cool roofing can cool things off.

7. An insulated ceiling can keep the hot air where it belongs. By doing this, any heat that enters through the roof can be trapped. You can also use a cool roofing system to keep the hot air to a minimum. If this isn't enough, you can use fans In your windows.

8. A "cool coating" can be applied to the building. Basically, this means a different color coating on the building that reflects sunlight. This coating is also idea for not allowing much heat to accumulate in the walls.

9. Placing your building in an area that doesn't receive a lot of sunlight can also make it feel cool. If it is possible to place your building in a shaded area, try to do so. Minimal sunlight means minimal heat accumulation.

10. You can also keep windows and doors open while using large fans throughout. This may circulate hot air if there are not window fans in place. It depends on if the working environment will allow for such air circulation since these fans are strong.

These are ten methods that you can use to keep your metal buildings cool. It is important to do so, especially if there will be people working inside for long periods of time. Since the buildings can be hotter than the outside, it is important to make sure everyone stays cool enough to avoid heat stroke and other issues that can come about due to the heat. You'll certainly be glad you took the measures to keep everyone safe.

How to Survive Without Air Conditioning

In the hot summer months, most people residing indoors prefer some sort of cooling aid which we normally refer to as air conditioning. It makes for comfortable living, work, or social situations when indoors on miserable hot, humid, and sunny days. Some people do better than others when it comes to heat but the fact and matter is without this feature, summer can be a miserable experience.

One easy way take air conditioning for granted is when losing complete power due to an outage from a storm etc. If the day or night is excruciatingly hot, not having the air can really take a toll on individuals living conditions. Everyone may become irritable and encounter sleepless nights. One way to aid this unfortunate situation is turn on an attic fan if you possess one. Make sure all of the windows are open so that when the fan is turned on it will suck air from the outside into the house. You will be able to feel cooler air since the fan sucked out all the humid air. Ceiling fans can also do the same thing but not as full of force. If you do not possess attic or ceiling fans, normal electric fans can help take the edge off.

If for some reason during the power outage you do not own any type of fan whatsoever in your home, the last option and hope for getting through the day or night is to wear the least amount of clothing possible. Making sure the clothing is light weight is important as well. If you have infants or toddlers, having them just sleep in their diapers will help them sleep more comfortably through the night. When trying to sleep, lay flat on your back with no covers, your body will cool down slightly so that you may be able to fall asleep soundly through the night.

Air Conditioning and Energy Consumption

The amount of money people are spending to keep their homes cool is having a profound effect on the heating and cooling industry. Homeowners are in hot pursuit of efficient cooling systems, hoping to reduce both the sizes of their bills and their carbon footprints.

We all know that summer electric bills can get high and that gives us some clue about the levels of energy consumption associated with cooling. However, our personal experiences don't provide us with a look at the big picture. When you examine the overall levels of AC power consumption, you begin to understand just how much we're spending in money and natural resources to stay cool.

Air conditioners use a great deal of electricity because they're basically doing battle with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that temperatures will always tend to even themselves out. Heat flows to cold. An AC will try to "beat" nature by taking a refrigerant through states of compression and expansion. That refrigerant will absorb heat from the interior of your home and will then be pushed outside where it will "dump" the heat. This only works because of the compression and decompression of the gas and that relies on electrically-powered pumps and compressors.

To make a long story short, when you're fighting entropy you're going to use some energy. A lot of energy, actually.

Consider the fact that almost twenty percent of the electricity used in the US every year is used for cooling. That's right, one-fifth of our electricity consumption is AC-related. That amazing level of use has actually been one of the chief reasons why our power grid is outfitted with excess power generating equipment. The spikes in power use for which those systems are built come from our air conditioning use.

You can think about it this way. If you add up the amount of power we use for cooling, the total quantity is actually more than the TOTAL electricity consumption for Indonesia and India added together. We use more electricity to stay cool than the fourth and second largest countries in the world (in terms of total population size) use for everything.

When you realize just how much juice is mainlined by air conditioners, it's easier to develop an appreciation for a growing trend of looking for ways to cool homes more efficiently. Air conditioner power consumption is more than just a way to inconveniently raise your summer electric bills. It's a truly massive use of natural resources.

Air conditioner power consumption is more than just a way to inconveniently raise your summer electric bills. It's a truly massive use of natural resources.

What Is A Contactor In An Air Conditioning System? A Bad Contactor Can Lead To Major Failures!

A contactor is defined as an electrical relay used to control the flow of power in a circuit. Many people also refer to them as a relay. A relay is actually defined as a device that responds to a small current or voltage change by activating switches or other devices in an electric circuit. In the real world of heating and air conditioning, what this means is a contactor is capable of handling a higher current than a relay. Relays are usually reserved for small pilot duty applications. Most heating and air conditioning service technicians will not call a contactor a relay.

We will be discussing a typical single pole or double pole contactor as would be found in a modern home using a split system gas furnace with air conditioning or a heat pump. Single poles have only one set of contacts while double poles have two. Single poles are used by many manufacturers of equipment. Single poles only break half the power to the fan motor and compressor while double poles break it all. We feel most heating and air conditioning service technicians probably like breaking both sides, at least we do.

Contactors actually have at least two separate circuits in them. (Some commercial contactors have many circuits). One circuit is the low voltage coil circuit and the other is the load circuit.

The coil circuit in MOST home air conditioning or heat pump systems uses a 24 volt coil, however, there are some systems that use a 230 volt coil in conjunction with a small relay that switches the contactor on and off. These 230 volt coil systems are predominantly on older systems or commercial units these days. Before changing any contactor be sure the correct coil voltage is used or a burnt coil may result. The coil voltage will be marked on a small tag on the side of the contactor. The line/load circuit in the home contactor is used to supply 230 volts to the load side of the equipment from the line side. In other words, the main 230 volt power coming from the power source of the home flows across the contacts in the contactor to the line side (compressor, fan motor and any other component) when the coil is energized by a call from the home thermostat for cooling or in a heat pump for cooling or heating. When the thermostat isn't calling for the unit to be running, the coil releases and the contacts open causing the compressor and fan motor to stop.

Thousands of on and off cycles however, cause a couple of problems. The most obvious problem is that the contacts themselves get burnt from constantly arching as they open and close the 230 volt connection. Contacts can actually weld themselves closed after a period of time. These thousands of cycles also cause the plastic sliding mechanism to wear. This wear often causes the contactor contacts to stick closed even though the thermostat has stopped sending an electrical signal to the coil. When this happens it usually goes unnoticed by the homeowner and can quickly lead to a frozen evaporator coil and or compressor. When a frozen condition exists the oil in the compressor is also frozen and can't lubricate the internal parts inside the compressor. This conditions amounts to the same thing as running your vehicle with no oil! The other issue with burnt contacts is that there may be a voltage drop and added heat sent to the compressor and fan motor since the contacts are burnt.

To put things in perspective, changing a contactor is very cheap protection against having to replace a $1,000- $1,500 compressor. Contacts should be examined every year before operating the unit and usually should be replace every five years or so.

Solar Powered Heat Pumps - Lennox's Latest Innovation

New for 2010, Lennox has begun to release their new solar powered heat pump and air conditioner product lineup. Referred to as SunSource Solar Ready products, these new heating and cooling units come with built-in controls and electronics to allow the home owner to attach anywhere from 1 to 15 solar power collectors, also available through Lennox. However, it is not necessary to use solar power to run the SunSource Solar Ready products as they are also able to use your home's electrical supply just like all other heat pumps and air conditioners do. This allows the financial flexability of installing a solar ready heat pump or air conditioner now and installing solar panels in the future.

In many southern areas, on a home with good south-facing exposure, the solar panels can collect almost 400% more power than is required to operate the a/c or heat pump, depending on the system size. Through the addition of the iComfort controller / thermostat, the excess power collected can be fed back into your home's electrical system and thereby lower your utility bills. Excess power can even be sold back to your electrical utility's grid at a profit (if offered in your local area).

Consider the green environmental impact if we were to remove the entire air conditioning load from the existing power grid. A few less brown-outs would be appreciated, too.

Current models available are the XP21 and XP17 Heat Pump and the XC17 Air Conditioner.

The Abbotsford, BC branch of Complete Heating has recently installed this product line and has experienced excellent results. If it works in Canada it should work nearly anywhere.