Late August: a time of back-to-school sales and some pretty bad movies getting dropped into theaters. It’s also a time when your air conditioner is going to face the hardest fight of the year. It’s the true “danger zone” for air conditioning equipment, as we’ll explain.
Hall's Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Blog : Archive for the ‘Air Conditioning’ Category
The AC Danger Zone: Why This Time of Year Is Rough for Your Air Conditioner
Monday, August 22nd, 2016
Does Turning My Thermostat Down Lower Cool the House Faster?
Monday, August 15th, 2016
The simple answer to this question: No, turning the thermostat as low as possible won’t speed up cooling your home.
This is a common misunderstanding people have about both thermostats and air conditioning systems, and it results in an unfortunate waste of energy and additional strain on ACs that can shorten their lifespan and make repair needs more frequent. We could just tell you to maintain a higher thermostat setting in the 70s (78°F is recommended for general comfort) and leave it at that, but we believe that informing our customers helps both them and us. So below we’ll explain in greater depth why setting the thermostat too low is unhelpful and can backfire on you.
I Need Help: My AC Keeps Tripping the Circuit Breaker!
Monday, August 1st, 2016
Even if you don’t know much about electricity or how the appliances in your homework, you know that they shouldn’t be causing the circuit breakers in the electrical panel to trip when they turn on. You especially don’t want your air conditioning system to start tripping its circuit breaker during the summer, since it will cause the AC to stop working and leave you without the cooling you desperately need.
How to Choose the Right Air Conditioner
Monday, July 25th, 2016
If your current AC is not working just as promised, or you find yourself in need of a new model installed from scratch, then you’re probably looking for answers. What type of AC would match your home’s needs? What do you need to do to make sure that you choose wisely this time and don’t waste your dollar on an inefficient system? Do you want a system with ducts or ductless? It’s best to get in touch with a professional early on in the process. But here are some things to start thinking about.
It’s a Scorcher Summer: Will Your Air Conditioner Survive the Heat?
Monday, July 18th, 2016
It’s going to be a long hot summer! If you’ve looked at the upcoming weather forecast and gotten nervous about all those days that will clock in at 100°F and above, well, you’re not alone. If you have a durable air conditioning system to manage the temperatures in your house, you can breathe a lot easier, however…
But wait… what if the AC can’t handle all that heat? What if it overheats and breaks down?
Should There Be Ice on My AC’s Evaporator Coil?
Monday, July 11th, 2016
Is It Better to Run the AC All Day Even When I’m Not Home?
Monday, July 4th, 2016
You’ve probably heard this advice before regarding the best way to run an air conditioning system: you should set your air conditioner to stay on all day (at a high temperature, such as the upper 70s) while you’re away from home, rather than leave it off and turn it on only when you get back home. The logic behind this piece of advice is that this 1) makes it easier to quickly cool down the house when you return, and 2) uses less energy, because an air conditioner drains more power at start-up than when running regularly.
But is this actually true?
Make Sure You Keep the Area around Your AC’s Condenser Clear
Monday, June 27th, 2016
We’ve written before about some of the maintenance jobs that you can do on your own over the summer to take the best care of you air conditioning system. The most important is to always schedule a professional inspection and tune-up for it during the spring. Another is to regularly change the air filters to prevent clogging from harming the air conditioner’s energy efficiency. In this post, we’re going to address another job for the summer that will protect and benefit your AC: keeping the outside condenser clear of debris.
Why Is My Air Conditioner Having Trouble Keeping the House Cool?
Monday, June 20th, 2016
The heat has definitely arrived for the summer, with temperatures during the last week rising over 90°F. The humidity isn’t helping, with relative humidity levels much higher than 60%—the point when the extra moisture in the air makes it much more difficult to stay cool. You’ll certainly be relying on your air conditioning system a great deal to keep your home livable.
A Few Details about Your AC’s Air Filter
Monday, June 6th, 2016
Two weeks ago, we wrote a blog post to address one of the questions we hear frequently from our customers: “How often do I need to change my air conditioning system’s air filter?” The answer ranges between 1 to 6 months, depending both on your household and the type of filter in the HVAC system.
