Four Tips and Tricks we Learned From the A/C
Guy!
Our downstairs A/C (heat pump) went out the night of a pretty
good July thunderstorm. Next morning we called our local Trane A/C repair
company and they (thankfully) made it out here in only about 3 hours. That
was the good news. The bad news was that the A/C compressor was burned
out, probably from voltage drop during the storm.
Anyway... He had to replace the compressor and would not be back with the parts
until the next morning. Even though the compressor was under warranty (thank you
Trane for the 10-year warranty on the compressor) it still cost over $900 for
the two service calls, the 2nd one being about a half-day. Here are some
interesting facts we learned from Walter, the A/C guy.
How to tell if your heat pump is cooling correctly.
This trick is a good way to keep an eye on
the health of your heat pump without expensive spring/fall service calls.. With
clean
air filters and on a normal
day with respect to heat and humidity, place a cooking thermometer in the A/C
vent and give it a couple minutes to come to temp. Write down that temp
and then put the thermometer in the air return vent and, again, give it a couple
minutes. Subtract the temperature of the cold air coming out of the vent
from the warmer temp of the air going back in the air intake. The
difference should be in the range of 15-18 degrees. For example, the air out of
the vent is 58 and the air temp at the return is 73, you have your 15 degrees of
difference.
Note: Some of the newer high efficiency systems have a
smaller difference - they move more air to cool the same amount.
Overall, your cost per degree of cooling is still lower.
If you do this test monthly and begin to notice a decrease in the
temperature range, first check your filters. (an even better way to always test
with NO filters in place). If, after replacing or removing the filters, you
still do not have the normal amount of difference between incoming cool air and
the return air,
you may be starting to get low on refrigerant. If a couple more tests over
the next couple days confirm a drop in temperature difference, shop around and
find someone who can top off the refrigerant and check for leaks.
Note:
Your normal temperature difference may be 14 degrees, it may be 19 degrees.
What is important is to understand what is normal and to monitor it for a change
that may indicate a problem.
Why expensive, high
efficiency air filters reduce cooling and cause your system to wear out quicker.
Anything that restricts the free flow of air in your heat
pump system ( the type of whole house cooling most people use) reduces
efficiency, drives up your electric bill and produces additional strain on the
system, causing it to wear out more quickly. High efficiency filters that
fit in the air return vent trap a lot more pollen and dust, but they cut air
flow significantly. Heat pumps were made to cool or heat your house, not
be a air cleaner. The purpose of a filter is to keep too much dust
from building up inside the ducts, on the fans or coils.
Walter advised
staying away from the cheapest blue fiber filters and go one step up to the ones
that are generally white. I think they are made from spun fiberglass. Rather than spend $7 or $12 on a
filter every month, buy 2-3 cheap filters and change them as often as every two
weeks. Not only will you save money on filters, but you will reduce your
electric bill and repair costs.
If you have a dust problem,
an odor problem from pets or smoking, or
if you have allergies; use the money you save to buy a real air filer. Let the heat pump do
the job it was designed to do; and buy an air purifier like ones from
BlueAir to clean
the air. The air will be both cooler (or warmer) and cleaner if you do.
If the AC guy comes to do an annual check of your system,
take the filters out, or make sure you have brand new filters installed.
On Walter's initial service call, I asked him to take a quick
peek at the upstairs unit to make sure it had a good charge of refrigerant.
(Since I had just paid him $105 to tell me there was nothing he could do that
day and he would have to come back) I was concerned because the upstairs
temperature would creep up during the day from 74 to 80 degrees, despite the A/C
running non-stop with the thermostat set to 74. He check it and it was
fine. During his visit (but after the A/C check) I removed all the filters
from the return vents to see how much different the system would run without my
$7 allergen and pollen filters.
The next day when he returned he replaced
my compressor and (for some reason) checked refrigerant in both systems. To my
surprise (less his) the system was 1lb low on refrigerant. The difference
was due to the restricted flow in my air filter. I say all that as
background for my comment that you need to remove or replace filters before you
have the refrigerant checked or you may be low and not know it.
How to maximize cooling efficiency if your heat pump is
having a hard time keeping the house (or upstairs/downstairs) cool .
This is pretty simple: Keep your filters clean (airflow =
cooling) and leave the fan running do not put it on auto. Running your fans all
the time is often better than putting them in the auto position for several
reasons.
- It keeps the air mixed, reducing hot./cold spots
- Its actually less wear and tear on the fan motor in
hot or cold weather to keep the fan running than having it constantly
starting and stopping.
- It also takes lot less electricity to keep it
running than to get it running.
The proof is in the pudding, as they say. I
mentioned above that our upstairs unit could not keep up with the heat load
during the hot summer months. Since I replaced the fancy (and
expensive) air filter and left the fan running around the clock, its been a
constant 74 degrees upstairs. Thank you Walter!
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