Touchstone Heating & Air Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Lake City’

If the AC’s Compressor Fails, Do I Need to Get a New AC?

Monday, October 18th, 2021
compressor-in-ac-unit

You may have heard that a failed compressor in a central air conditioning system means the whole system needs to be replaced. Compressors are critical for an AC’s operation—they’re responsible for circulating refrigerant and putting it under pressure so it can move heat out of the home and cool the air. Compressors are also large and powerful components that are expensive to replace. Since compressors often fail in older AC’s, it makes sense to replace the AC rather than pay just to replace the compressor.

However, a failed compressor doesn’t automatically mean a central air conditioner must be replaced. Not in all situations. Below we’ll look at four different outcomes for a failed compressor. This can help you make the choice about whether to have an AC replacement or an air conditioning repair in Lake City, FL, but please consult with our HVAC professionals to help you make the final decision.

Continue Reading

Is Late Summer Too Late for AC Maintenance? No!

Monday, August 23rd, 2021
ac-technician-washing-unit

Did you forget to have maintenance done for your home’s air conditioning system in the spring? You may think that if you missed that window, you might as well skip it for the rest of the year. After all, it’s late summer, and if the air conditioner has already gotten this far… 

We’re glad we’re here to stop that train of thought before you put off AC maintenance for a whole year. It’s late summer, but that doesn’t mean AC maintenance is a dead issue for the year. What might end up dead is your air conditioner, and far earlier than you expect, if you let maintenance slide. Spring is the best time to have a professional tune-up and inspect your air conditioner because it prepares it for the entire warm season, but if you get it done later it’s much better than never. 

Continue Reading

Ways to Tell Your AC Is on the Way Out…

Monday, August 9th, 2021
old-ac-unit

We’re now in the second half of the summer, and your home’s AC has put in an enormous amount of work already cooling down the house. It still has a ways to go too, since the Florida summer heat can last long into fall. You shouldn’t have too much to worry about when it comes to your AC, provided you arranged for routine maintenance at the start of the year. ACs are designed to last for many years against extremely hot conditions.

Of course, no AC is designed to last forever. At this point in the summer season, you may detect signs that your air conditioning system is beginning to fail—headed for a last breakdown that will require you to schedule an AC replacement in Lake City, FL. The best way to avoid getting trapped with a failed AC is to pay attention to the warnings the system is on the way out. Below we’ve listed a few major signs.

Continue Reading

Does My AC Have a Cooling Limit?

Monday, May 3rd, 2021

sun-and-snowflake-badgeYour house is getting warm on a hot day, so you set the thermostat to switch on the air conditioning system. Soon, your house begins to feel comfortably cool, and the AC runs for as long as necessary. 

At least, this is home cooling is supposed to work. If your air conditioning in Lake City, FL was professionally installed so it has the right cooling output to provide comfort to your house, then you can expect to have few problems staying cool during the summer. 

But you might wonder if there’s an upper limit to your air conditioning system, a level of heat that it can’t beat. You look at the thermostat and see the lowest setting is 60°F, which is pretty cold and not a temperature you’d normally want to be at during the summer. But it does make it seem like the AC can always get the house down to that low a temperature if necessary.

It’s not true, however. Yes, your AC has a cooling limit because of its temperature differential. Understanding this can help you better manage settings for the air conditioner during the summer.

Continue Reading

Let’s Do Some Forward Thinking About Your Home Cooling

Monday, October 5th, 2020

air-conditioning-with-flowersFall is one of the best times of the year to start thinking about your Lake City, FL, HVAC system. And not just the heating system, which you don’t rely on nearly as much as your air conditioning system in the Florida climate. This is a good time to consider the future of your home’s central cooling system because it’s much easier to make changes during the upcoming cooler weather, and you’ll be under less stress regarding the heat.

So let’s work together and think ahead, not just to next summer but the summers after it, and see what we can do for the best central cooling for your household.

Continue Reading

Warning Signs of Motor Problems in an AC

Monday, September 7th, 2020

compressor-in-ac-unitYour air conditioning system runs from a variety of motors. Trouble with any of these motors will affect your AC’s performance, lower your home comfort, raise your electrical bills, and may lead to a complete system breakdown. When you have trouble with an AC motor, the best solution is to call our technicians for air conditioning repair in Lake City, FL. We’ll repair or replace the troublesome motor.

Continue Reading

How Phenomenal Aire Can Help Your Home’s Air Quality

Monday, August 24th, 2020

man-relaxing-in-chairThe air quality in your home is probably worse than you would like it to be. We know this because most homes in the US suffer from poor indoor air quality. How bad is it? The air indoors is two to five times worse than the air outside on average. Your home’s air may be filled with bacteria, mold spores, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), allergens such as pollen and dander, odor molecules, and much more that you don’t want.

There are several ways our indoor air quality professionals can help you enjoy fresher and cleaner air in your house. One of our favorite methods is to install Phenomenal Aire in Lake City, FL homes. This is an affordable, safe, effective, and long-lasting air purification system that removes the most harmful pollutants from a house.

Continue Reading

Why You Should Upgrade Your Thermostat

Monday, July 13th, 2020

modern-thermostatYour thermostat is the part of your air conditioning system that is going to control everything that your system does. This means if something is wrong with your thermostat, it is going to impact your air conditioner’s operation. Likewise, having an updated and effective thermostat will have a positive effect on your comfort.

Take a moment to think about how old your thermostat is? Or how well it is really working. Your answer to that question may tell you what you didn’t want to know–it is time for an upgrade. If you are looking to invest in a  best thermostat, we’d like to offer our help getting it installed. It’s a job for the pros after all. The main question is, is an upgrade really worth it?

Continue Reading

How to Stop AC Drain Clogs

Monday, May 4th, 2020

washing-an-air-conditionerYou might see the words drain clogs in the title and think, “Wait, Touchstone isn’t a plumbing company.” True, but we’re air conditioning professionals with a long history of helping people stay cool in Florida weather, and so we know all about a specific type of drain clog: the air conditioning system drain clog.

Continue Reading

Why Your AC May Be Having a Rough Start to Spring

Monday, April 6th, 2020

tulips-in-springAir conditioners get a head start on the summer in Florida, so you’ll already have your air conditioner running on a routine schedule during the spring. But what if your air conditioner doesn’t seem to be up to the task? Why does it seem like it isn’t able to do the job it once did? Why is it starting to give you trouble?

A faulty AC in the spring is nothing unusual, unfortunately. It can be a leftover problem from the end of the fall, or something that developed during the stretch the air conditioner wasn’t working regularly. It can also be due to lack of maintenance.

That last one is the most important, so we’ll start with it…

Continue Reading