Want to Pay Less to Cool Your House This Summer?

April 19th, 2021

MoneySummer weather means higher electricity bills for your house. There’s no way to avoid a rise in costs because the compressor that allows an AC to provide cooling draws on a great deal of power when it runs. The average central air conditioning system uses around 3,000 to 3,5000 watts an hour, adjusted up and down depending on the AC’s size. How much this costs you is predicated on the price of electricity in your area.

As a comparison, if you run the AC in “fan only” mode where the compressor does not turn on, it uses 750 watts an hour on average. This will give you an idea of the increase in electrical use that is part and parcel of running an air conditioner.

However, you might be paying more to cool your house than you should. In fact, you likely are, because there are many ways you can pay less for central cooling that don’t mean having to sacrifice your comfort and sweat it out all summer. Below are a few ways to cut down on the high cost of summer cooling.

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Battling VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) in Your House

April 5th, 2021

clouds-in-skyWhen you think of harmful or irritating particles in your home’s air, what comes to mind first? Probably dust, dander, bacteria, viruses, and mold spores. These are all problems for indoor air quality and we recommend using air filters or a special air purifier in Alachua, FL to combat them.

But one common pollutant may not be on your list: volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It’s a big term, and one worth knowing because VOCs are major problems for indoor air quality. We’ll explain more below.

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Why an AC Might Cool—But Not Cool ENOUGH

March 22nd, 2021

heat-and-family-before-fansWhat do you expect from a central air conditioner in a house? The answer is simple: you want it to make the house cool and comfortable when the weather is hot. If the AC can’t do that, what good is it?

Unfortunately, it’s possible to have a central air conditioning system that, while it sends out cool air, doesn’t make a house cool enough for comfort. That’s not something you should tolerate! Instead of spending the summer with the family gathered around the room vents to get closer to the cool air supply like you’re huddling around a dying fire in winter, call us for the air conditioning service in Alachua, FL that will solve the problem. We can find out what’s wrong and see that you have a comfortable home all summer.

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The End of Maintenance? You May Need a New AC

March 8th, 2021

ac-units-scrapyardIn our past two posts, we wrote about the importance of having regular AC maintenance each spring. We could post plenty more about this topic, since it’s that important—you can have most of your potential AC problem vanish thanks to keeping up with maintenance. There is one AC problem you can’t avoid this way, however, which is that the time will come when your air conditioner must be replaced. Maintenance will postpone that day, but no cooling system can last forever, no matter how much care it receives.

This year might be the year. You schedule maintenance with our technicians, we examine the AC, and explain that it’s not likely to last much longer unless it has expensive repairs—repairs that won’t be worth it compared to replacing it with a new AC.

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What Can Go Wrong With an AC That Isn’t Maintained

February 22nd, 2021

old-acOur last post was our annual reminder about scheduling air conditioning maintenance every spring—or a bit before spring for Florida because of the way our seasons work. But we aren’t finished with all we have to say about AC maintenance yet. It’s important enough for a second reminder as well as some more in-depth information about what makes maintenance so critical.

So we’re going to go into “scary mode” in this post. We’re not alarmists, but when it comes to air conditioning in Alachua, FL, we’re experts who have seen what can go wrong when an AC isn’t given regular professional care. We want you to avoid these problems, so putting a bit of a scare into you is healthy. It’s much better than being trapped with no AC on a 90°F + day!

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Maintenance for the Air Conditioning—It’s Time Again!

February 8th, 2021

time-service-clockIt’s not yet officially spring. That doesn’t happen until the third week of March. But Florida weather is Florida weather, and we have to be ready for hot spells at almost any time, and the season for air conditioning seems to start earlier each year. We’re sure you’ve used your AC a few times during the last couple of months, which is when people in many other parts of the country have their furnaces going full-blast through the day to fend off below-freezing temperatures. 

What we’re getting at is that now is a time to plan for your regular air conditioning maintenance to get ready for the coming hot weather. 

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Explaining the Electric Furnace Efficiency Rating

January 25th, 2021

money-saving-houseInstalling an electric furnace in Macclenny, FL is a good choice for home heating. Electric furnaces can handle the heating requirements of the mild Florida winters without much trouble, and they’re good for homes without a connection to a gas main. 

We want to address something that’s often misunderstood about electric furnaces in this post, which is their energy efficiency, or specifically their energy efficiency rating. This can help you understand the benefits and disadvantages of using an electric furnace, as well as assist in the future when you’re making decisions about HVAC installations.

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Is an Air Purifier Necessary If I Already Have Air Filters?

January 11th, 2021

air-filterBefore we go further in answering this question, we want to make sure we know what you mean by “air filters.” If you’re referring to the air filter on your HVAC cabinet, the one you’re supposed to change every one to three months, then you don’t have an actual air cleaning system of any kind in place. This filter isn’t in place for better indoor air quality but to protect the interior of the HVAC system from dust and debris. The type of air filters you need for improved indoor air quality are specialized air filtration systems, and that’s something you can call us for. These filters are the best place to start when you’re looking to improve indoor air quality for your house.

If you already have a set of these types of filters, then it does make sense for you to wonder if they’re enough. Maybe you need an air purifier in Alachua, FL for the best IAQ.

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Why Is My Heating System Making My Home Too Hot and Stuffy?

December 28th, 2020

temperature-gaugeHeating a home in Florida during our mild winters is a bit of a juggling act. We don’t need our heating systems to run every day, through most of the day, as in a cold northern state where the weather is routinely below freezing. We’ll need our heaters on certain occasions and run them long enough to keep away the cool chill of days that are in the 50s. This makes it easy for a heater to get a house too hot and stuffy when it runs. 

If you’re currently having trouble getting your house to the right balance of comfort on colder days because it always seems like rooms are getting uncomfortably warm, then you may need heating repair in Macclenny, FL. There are several possibilities for why you’re having this stuffy, overheated house problem.

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If Your Furnace Isn’t Working, Here Are Some Steps to Take First…

December 14th, 2020

ThermostatBefore we go further in this post, we want to be clear: we are not recommending you attempt to repair your furnace on your own. There is a big difference between the troubleshooting steps outlined below and actually taking out tools and tinkering around inside your furnace. Anything more complicated than the steps we recommend is something to leave to a certified HVAC professional. Not only will the professional know how to accurately diagnose and repair the furnace, they’ll be able to do it safely. Amateur work of any kind on a furnace can lead to dangerous situations.

Now that we’ve got that cleared up—what can you do when your furnace isn’t working before you call us for heating repair in Alachua, FL?

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