Touchstone Heating & Air Inc. Blog: Archive for the ‘Air Conditioning’ Category

3 Air Conditioning Problems That Require Immediate Repair

Monday, April 13th, 2015

No air conditioning problem should be left alone, once discovered. The longer a problem with your air conditioning system is allowed to continue, the worse it’s going to get. However, there’s a difference between problems that need to be addressed as soon as possible and those that need to be fixed right now. There are some problems that, if allowed to continue for any appreciable length of time, could cause catastrophic damage to the air conditioning system. The following are 3 of those problems.

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3 Ways to Evaluate Whether You Need to Replace Your Air Conditioner

Monday, April 6th, 2015

With summer fast approaching, now is the time of year when homeowners start to get their air conditioning systems ready for the season. There comes a time with every air conditioning system, however, when maintenance and repairs simply aren’t good enough. At that time, the only thing left to do is replace your air conditioner. As this is the perfect time for new air conditioner installation, you should take a hard look at whether your current air conditioner can make it through another year. What follows are 3 ways that you can tell whether or not you need to replace your system.

Operating Cost

If you’ve kept your system in pretty good operating condition over the years, you probably have a good idea of how much it costs to operate it from month to month. If you notice that costs start to increase over the course of a few months, it might mean that your system is wearing out. The wear and tear that all systems accumulate over their lifetimes will eventually cause yours to steadily decrease in efficiency. That forces it to operate for longer to achieve the same results, which costs you more money.

Repairs

Another good way to tell whether or not you need to replace your air conditioner is to keep track of how often it requires repairs. Normally, you shouldn’t need to have your system repaired more than once or twice a year. Older systems have many more worn out parts, however, which are liable to fail much more often. If you have to have your air conditioner repaired every few months, it’s a good sign that it is ready to be replaced.

Age

The average lifespan for an air conditioner is between 15 and 20 years. It is possible for an air conditioner to operate well past that point, but oftentimes the problems that begin to occur at that age are enough to warrant a new system. If your air conditioner is older than 15 years, you might want to consult a professional about replacing it.

If you think it may be time for a new air conditioner, call touchstone Heating & Air, Inc. We provide air conditioner installation services throughout Gainesville, FL.  

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Why Consider a Ductless AC System?

Friday, March 27th, 2015

Spring has brought some very warm weather with it this year, and if you are in the market for a new air conditioner, we have a suggestion for you: why not consider the installation of a ductless AC? Ductless air conditioners have become very popular for a number of reasons that we’ll get into more detail about below, but gaining the benefits a ductless system has to offer is very dependent on good installation. The experts at Touchstone Heating and Air Inc., can offer you and your home in Lake City comprehensive ductless AC services, so if you are considering going ductless, call us today!

How a Ductless AC Works

The main components of a ductless system are the outdoor unit, which contains the compressor and condenser, and the individual indoor blowers, which contain a small fan, a small set of coils and a small air filter. The indoor blowers connect to the outdoor unit via a conduit and a single outdoor unit can support up to 4 individual blowers. When a blower is turned on, the refrigerant begins to flow, cueing the cooling cycle to begin. The system will operate just as a traditional AC system, accept that the cool air is delivered through a single blower (or as many blowers as are on) instead of ductwork.

Benefits of a Ductless System

There are several benefits a ductless AC can offer that are worth considering:

  • No need for ductwork – with a ductless AC system, it is possible to offer whole-home cooling without the significant expense of adding ductwork.
  • Customized comfort – the individual blowers of a ductless system allow you to cool only what you need to and at the exact temperature you want.
  • Better energy efficiency – unlike a ducted system that cools all or nothing, a ductless system allows you to cool only the areas you want cooling, which can save you energy.
  • Can work with a heat pump – a ductless system that has heat pump technology can offer your home both heating and cooling.

If a ductless system seems like a fit for your Lake City home, call the experts at Touchstone Heating and Air Inc., today and schedule an appointment for ductless AC services.

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How a Whole-Home AC System Helps Control Humidity

Friday, March 13th, 2015

Air conditioners are interesting systems. Many people believe that they cool by blowing cool air into warm air, but this isn’t actually what’s happening. Yes, cool air blows in, but more importantly, air conditioners remove the heat and humidity from your living spaces and release it, then use this air to cool your home. It’s all part of the heat release/cooling cycle, and one of the benefits of this cycle is that humidity is also removed. How does your Lake City air conditioning system do this? Let’s take a look.

How Humidity Is Removed

Air conditioners use refrigerant to help facilitate the transfer of heat to the outside. The cycle starts with the heat from your return ducts being absorbed by the refrigerant. The refrigerant travels to the compressor where it is pressurized; as the pressurized refrigerant leaves the compressor to enter the condenser, the heat is released and the refrigerant starts to cool. The refrigerant travels from the condenser to the evaporator, where warm air from your home is blown over the evaporator coils that now contain cooled refrigerant. When hot air meets cool air, condensation is formed, and this condensation is removed via the condensate array of your air conditioning system. This is how your air conditioning system helps remove the excess humidity in your home.

Benefits of Removing Humidity

Humidity holds heat, which is why a humid day at 70 degrees feels much more uncomfortable than a dry day at 70 degrees. But excess humidity does more than make you feel uncomfortable – it can lead to mold and mildew development, dust mite populations and create rot. When you install a whole-home air conditioner, you gain the benefit of dehumidification along with improved comfort.

Get Ahead of Humidity with a Whole-Home Air Conditioner

Today’s air conditioners are some of the most energy efficient around, and can offer your home cool, comfortable air for years to come.

If you’ve been struggling with indoor comfort because of heat and excess humidity, call the experts at Touchstone Heating and Air Inc., today.

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Is Your Commercial AC Ready for Summer?

Friday, March 6th, 2015

Having a comfortable atmosphere in your business space is critical to your business’s daily operation, and with spring almost here, it’s time to schedule commercial AC maintenance for your Gainesville business. You may be saying to yourself that your system just had a maintenance appointment this fall, but it’s recommended that commercial systems are scheduled for maintenance bi-annually. Why? Commercial HVAC systems are large and complex, and many systems perform both heating and cooling. Plus, you don’t want to risk experiencing poor performance from your system just because you didn’t schedule maintenance. Only trained commercial experts should work on your commercial HVAC system, so call the experts you can trust: Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc.

What Are the Benefits of Maintenance?

Maintenance is a full tune-up of your commercial HVAC system, so there are a number of benefits to scheduling AC maintenance:

  • Better energy efficiency – staying on budget with heating and cooling costs can be tough, but maintenance helps your system to work optimally, which reduces the system’s energy usage.
  • Better comfort – the cleaning and adjusting your system receives during a maintenance appointment allows it to achieve your set temperature without a problem, ensuring that your office space will be comfortable.
  • Prevents repair – during a maintenance appointment, the technician will closely inspect your system and its working parts to make sure there are no existing or developing problems. Should a problem be discovered, you’ll be alerted.
  • Extends life of the system – each year your system goes unmaintained, it loses 5% of its energy efficiency; conversely, following through with bi-annual maintenance keeps your system operating within 5% of its original efficiency level. Keeping your commercial AC in good working order year after year helps extend its life, which is great for you and your business.

Always Call a Commercial Expert

Commercial HVAC systems are very different from residential ones, so it’s important to always call for a commercial expert when needing any kind of work for your business’s HVAC system.

The commercial experts at Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., have the commercial experience needed to perform any kind of commercial HVAC work, so call us today!

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Options for Air Conditioning Replacement

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

It wasn’t too long ago that your option for whole-home air conditioning was limited to a single type of system. These days, homeowners have multiple choices, and knowing which one will be the best fit for your home takes some research and help from a trained expert. It may seem like you should wait until the warm weather hits before installing or replacing an existing unit, but the truth is that off-season installation can often be better than waiting until the warm weather comes. The experts at Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., can help you with your air conditioning installation or replacement in High Springs, FL, from start to finish, so call us today.

Available Options

Here are the air conditioning options available from Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc.:

Traditional Split System

Traditional split system air conditioners are one of the most common types used in homes. A split-system AC has an outdoor unit that contains the compressor and condenser and an indoor unit that contains the evaporator unit and blower. Ductwork is needed to disperse the air with this type of system.

Heat Pump System

Heat pumps do not generate cool air; instead, they move heat from one place to another with the help of refrigerant. Heat pumps look very similar to traditional systems in that they have an outdoor unit and an indoor blower, however, heat pumps can also offer heating thanks to a component called a reversing valve. Heat pumps can be part of a ducted or ductless systems.

Geothermal System

Geothermal systems use a ground-source heat pump, so they can also offer heating and cooling. However, the set-up is different. Geothermal systems use a ground loop buried below the frost line to transfer heat back and forth, with the help of an environmentally-friendly fluid inside the loop. During winter, the latent heat in the ground is absorbed and transferred into your home; in summer, the heat from your indoors is absorbed and transferred to the ground loop and absorbed by the surrounding ground, known as a heat sink.

Ductless System

Ductless air conditioners have an outdoor unit that contains a compressor and condenser and individual indoor blowers that deliver the cool air. The blowers are about 35” long and connect directly to the outdoor unit via a conduit in an exterior wall. Ductless blowers operate individually, which allows you to use only the amount of cooling you need.

As you can see, there are a number of choices available for your air conditioning replacement in High Springs, FL.

Call Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., today and schedule an appointment with one of our installation experts.

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Finding the Most Efficient System for Air Conditioning Installation

Thursday, January 29th, 2015

Every whole-home appliance uses energy which is why it’s important to review the energy efficiency of a given system before installation. There are different rating systems for appliances and whole-home systems; for instance, heating systems use a rating called AFUE. When it comes to air conditioners, the rating to review is called SEER. Energy efficiency can, and should, be an important factor for any air conditioning installation in Lake City, and we’ll explain more about this below.

What Is SEER?

SEER stands for seasonal energy efficiency ratio. SEER is based on a scale of 1 to 23; the higher the SEER number, the better the energy efficiency of the unit. SEER tells you how much cooling a particular AC will provide for every unit of energy it uses.

SEER Minimums

In 2006, federal law mandated that all air conditioners have a minimum SEER of 13; prior to this, the minimum SEER was 10. If you are replacing an outdated system, you may see a significant savings from your new system because each SEER point higher can save you up to 10% on your annual cooling costs.

How SEER Works

SEER doesn’t tell you that one unit will cool your home better than another; what it tells you is that if you have two comparable units, and one has a SEER number of 13 and the other has a SEER number of 16, the unit with the SEER of 16 will cost you less to cool your space versus the unit with the lower SEER number. As such, the unit with the higher SEER number will save you more money by being a more energy efficient unit. However, a more efficient unit can cost more initially, so it’s important to balance between the monthly savings a particular unit can cost you and the initial costs.

Confused about SEER? Working with a trained expert can help ensure that you choose and install an air conditioner that has the energy efficiency you want for your home.

Contact Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., today and schedule an appointment with one of our experts.

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How Can I Tell When It’s Time for AC Maintenance?

Thursday, January 22nd, 2015

If you’re like most homeowners, you probably don’t think much about the state of your air conditioner until it finally breaks. And once that repair bill is in your hands, you may begin to wonder: is there something I could have done to prevent this? In some cases, common AC issues are easily preventable if you schedule annual maintenance. While AC maintenance doesn’t guarantee that your AC won’t need repairs through the year, it certainly reduces your chances of a major breakdown. Ask yourself the following questions to decide if it’s time for maintenance.

  • How long has it been since you last had a technician check over your system? You may have looming repair needs that you simply cannot detect just yet, but these can be caught early on with a maintenance visit. Most experts recommend scheduling a visit once a year at least.
  • How much are you spending on monthly energy bills? Does it seem to have increased over last year’s bills? If so, some minor adjustments may restore some efficiency to the unit.
  • Can you afford a sudden repair need in the next few months? A maintenance visit is less expensive than most repair calls and may prevent parts from failing throughout the year.
  • Have you noticed your air conditioner struggling lately? If so, this is a sign you should call for AC repairs instead of maintenance. Making repairs right away is key to keeping the problem from worsening.

The Steps of Maintenance

The maintenance process is thorough enough to target the areas of your unit that can cause the most trouble.

  • Inspection: First, technicians inspect the entire unit, inside and out. They’ll let you know if anything seems off and tell you if a major repair is necessary so that you can schedule it now before a breakdown.
  • Adjustment: Any other adjustments are made on the spot, such as straightening bent coils, screwing in loose bolts, and tightening electrical connections.
  • Cleaning: Finally, the technician will clean the parts of your system that can contribute to inefficiency if dirty, including the inside and outside coils.

At Touchstone Heating and Air Inc. we know how to help you get the most from your air conditioning system year round with complete AC maintenance service in Fort White. 

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Can Geothermal Cooling Save Me Money?

Monday, September 15th, 2014

Geothermal cooling and heating has been around for decades, but it’s only been over the last few years that it has become a more popular choice for residential properties. Our Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., experts get a lot of questions about geothermal systems, and one of the more common ones regards the savings a geothermal system can offer. To understand how geothermal cooling in Lake City can help save you money, it’s important to first understand how the system works.

How Geothermal Systems Work

A geothermal system harnesses the Earth’s natural, steady temperature just below the frost line (between 55-61 degrees) to heat and cool. Using a ground loop and a heat pump, warmth is absorbed from the Earth during the winter months and transferred into your home via the ground loop; the heat pump then disperses the warm air into your home. In the summer months, the heat pump removes the heat and transfers it to the ground loop, where the heat is “sunk” into the ground. Geothermal systems do not use any fossil fuels and the heat pump uses a small amount of electricity to operate.

Ways Geothermal Systems Save Money

There are a few ways in which geothermal systems can save you money:

  • Lifespan of the equipment – geothermal systems have a long lifespan: the ground loop is made to last up to 50 years, and the lifespan of the heat pump is 20-25 years. With these kinds of numbers, it is possible to have a geothermal system last a full generation before needing to replace certain components. This can result in considerable savings.
  • Energy efficiency – the energy efficiency of a geothermal system averages between 300-400%; when you consider that the average combustible appliance can’t go any higher than 100%, you can gain a lot of efficiency with a geothermal system.
  • No fuel costs – with a geothermal system, you eliminate the need to pay for fossil fuels. Energy.gov estimates geothermal systems can you up to 70% in annual energy costs.

The one item to note about geothermal systems is that the upfront installation costs tend to be more expensive than those of standard air conditioning systems. But there are tax credits and grants that can help reduce the initial costs, and it takes only an average of 6 years to recoup the cost of installation via energy savings.

If you are considering geothermal cooling in Lake City, call the team of geothermal experts at Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., today!

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3 Common Heat Pump Repair Needs

Tuesday, August 26th, 2014

Heat pumps are very energy efficient and have a long life span – usually 15-20 years when they are well-maintained – but they will still require repair at some point during your ownership. While many parts of a heat pump are similar to the outdoor unit of a traditional air conditioning system, there are some heat pumps repairs in Jacksonville that are different from traditional systems. It is important to hire professionals who have experience repairing heat pumps, which is why you want to call a company like Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc., for all your heat pump repair needs.

Common Heat Pump Repairs

Following are three common heat pump repairs our technicians see frequently:

  • Issues with the reversing valve – heat pumps can heat and cool because they are equipped with a valve, known as a reversing valve, which allows you to switch between heating and cooling. This valve can become stuck in 3 different positions: heating, cooling, or in between. In certain instances, the valve can be repaired, but sometimes replacement of the valve is required.
  • Low and high pressure – among the major causes for heat pump problems with low head pressure are defective compressor and evaporator issues. When it comes to high head pressure, it is usually due to contaminated condenser and overfeeding of refrigerant in the unit.
  • Refrigerant leaks – refrigerant leaks affect how the cooling and heating process in your system works. Leaks can occur anywhere in the system, and can be difficult to locate. In addition, a person needs to be certified to handle refrigerant, so it’s important to call a professional to handle any issues you may experience with refrigerant.

Heat pumps are great options for homeowners, especially those looking for a single device to provide both heating and cooling. Because heat pumps run year-round, it is important to have reliable, qualified help when problems occur.

Take care of your heat pump repairs in Jacksonville, FL with a company you can trust: Touchstone Heating and Air, Inc. Call us today.

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