“Do I Need to Worry about Getting a Heater Tune-Up?”

September 23rd, 2019

technician-looking-at-inside-of-furnaceWe get it, your air conditioner is the main HVAC system of choice for pretty much 90% of the year. When you use your heater—if you use your heater—it’s for a very brief amount of time, maybe even only at night.

But, when you do use it, don’t you want to make sure you’re doing so as efficiently as possible? The only way to make sure that you do is with heating maintenance. This probably seems like a weird time of the year to start thinking about it—after all, don’t our summers last until January?

But it’s better to have a prepared heater than to be without one, if met with a surprise cool snap this fall.

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What’s the Difference between an Air Purifier and a UV Air Purifier

September 9th, 2019

uv-lightYou might think that a UV air purifier is “just another air cleaner.” However, it’s quite different from a standard ionization or electronic air cleaner—more on that below.

Basically, there are a number of things that can have a negative impact on your indoor air quality, but there are a few systems that can help improve this situation. Indoor air quality is a big concern no matter what time of the year it is—in fact, without the right products in place, it’s worse than the quality of the air outdoors.

But, what type of air purifier is best? To answer that, we first need to explain what air purifiers actually do.

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Don’t Let Ice Be the End of Your AC!

August 26th, 2019

ice-on-air-conditioner“Wait, isn’t ice development a normal part of air conditioning? After all, it is a cooling system right?”

Well, not quite. Actually, ice is not part of the cooling process at all! Unless you’re using an evaporative cooler—which is likely not the case here in Northwest Florida—then you’re using a refrigerant-based system to cool your home. To provide the cooling you feel in your living space, your air conditioner uses that chemical refrigerant to absorb heat from inside your home and transfer outdoors. This is why the condenser unit outside blows out heated air when your air conditioner is running.

Moving heat from one place to another using refrigerant, as we just described, does not use or create ice.

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Why Refrigerant Loss Calls for AC Repair

August 12th, 2019

refrigerant-line-outside-acHas your handyman told you to refill the refrigerant on your air conditioner because it’s getting low?

Have you been looking online for ways to seal your refrigerant leak by yourself?

Well, aren’t we glad you found us! First off, your AC does not consume refrigerant, so if your system is low- there must be a leak somewhere. Not only that, but refrigerant leaks are a critical concern and should in no way be fixed by untrained hands.

If your system is low on refrigerant, our technicians can perform a refill—called a recharge, but this is only a band-aid on a deteriorating problem that could spell costly repairs for your AC in your future.

So, let’s start at step one. How can you tell that your AC is leaking refrigerant?

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Beware These 4 Signs of AC Malfunctions

July 29th, 2019

outside-unit-of-an-air-conditionerThe reason we talk about repair needs and malfunctions so much this time of the year is because this is the time of year they’re most likely to occur! And AC repair is one of those services you need to schedule ASAP and not wait on. We see a lot of systems, unfortunately, that are near failure simply because homeowners waited too long to call for repairs.

The longer you wait, the more likelihood there is of a “domino effect” inside your air conditioner—that is, a malfunctioning or failing component impacting other components in your air conditioner. Taking care of your air conditioner is good for your comfort, your home, and your wallet!

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AC Care: Small Signs You May Need Big Repairs

July 15th, 2019

ac-vent-near-floorNot all air conditioning repair needs are catastrophic. In fact, not all air conditioning repair needs are actually air conditioning repair needs. For instance, you might have a miscalibrated thermostat, or a thermostat that was accidentally set to heating mode. Or you could have damaged ductwork.

But, you should never assume that a small issue is small. It could be a sign of something much bigger. Waiting on repair needs can only cause them to grow, until you’re stuck making an emergency AC repair call, or even scheduling a premature system repair. That said, what are some signs that your air conditioner may be in need of repairs? Read on to find out!

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6 Sounds You Don’t Want Your AC Making

July 1st, 2019

woman-covering-her-earsWouldn’t it be nice if we had air conditioners that could self-diagnose malfunctions and report them back to the homeowner, in detail? We’re sure that will exist someday, but in the meantime, we have to rely on other methods for an air conditioner to send warnings that something is wrong. Perhaps it’s a drop in cooling power, an unexplained spike in energy bills, or frequently tripping circuit breakers.

Or it could be something else entirely–strange and unfamiliar noises coming from the air conditioning system. Anything that’s different from the normal hum of the fans and compressors, and the occasional clicking as the system comes on and shuts down, might be telling you of a malfunction. Do not try to investigate these problems on your own, since there are various possible causes for them, and we don’t want you to injure yourself or damage the air conditioner even more by inspecting.

Be sure to call our HVAC pros and we’ll track down the exact source of the problem so it can be quickly repaired.

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Tips for Choosing the Right AC Installer

June 17th, 2019

air-conditioning-technician-speaking-to-homeowner-while-workingIf you’ve lived in the area for even a year, chances are that you—hopefully—have had maintenance done on your air conditioner at least at one point. Perhaps a professional performed it, and your air conditioner showed signs of improvement in operation afterward.

But when if your air conditioner is old? That is, about 10–15 years old? Even a well-maintained air conditioner is designed to last just about that long. Is it time for yours to be replaced? You can go with the company you hired for maintenance, but that doesn’t always mean they’re going to be the best folks for the job, or the best services for your specific home and needs. The right AC installer will help you make an educated decision on what type of system you should invest in (you don’t need to stick with the one you’ve always had!), how to properly size the system, and more.

So, other than this, what should you know about your AC installer?

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Water Is Leaking from Your AC? Here’s What to Do

June 3rd, 2019

close-up-of-water-on-white-backgroundWhen you see water puddling anywhere in or around your home where it shouldn’t be, with no explanation, it’s probably your natural instinct to call a plumber. This isn’t exactly the wrong move to make, but the fact is, you may be dealing with a leak coming from your air conditioner—in which case you’d want to give our HVAC pros a call.

Most homeowners don’t even realize their air conditioner uses water to operate. We’ll let you in on a little secret—it doesn’t.

Keep reading to learn more about how your cooling system operates, and to better understand why you’d see water leaking from the unit. And remember, it’s essential that you schedule routine maintenance to detect these problems early on, and schedule repairs as soon as you are alerted to their needs. A leaky water heater can be quite destructive, and end up costing you thousands to repair subsequent property damage.

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“Help! My Air Conditioner Isn’t Blowing Cold Air”

May 20th, 2019

woman-feeling-hot-and-trying-to-cool-off-using-fan

Spring doesn’t mean much, temperature-wise, for those of us in Northwest Florida. We pretty much deal with soaring temperatures the entire year. This means our air conditioners get a lot of work. As such, without proper maintenance, they can be prone to breakdowns. Even with maintenance, an aging air conditioner can experience problems.

One such problem is an air conditioning system that blows out warm air. Sometimes this can be due to a simple mistake that’s easy for the homeowner to fix, while other times it will necessitate a call to professionals for repair. Read on to learn more!

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