Why Your AC May Overheat and Stop Working

June 11th, 2018

compressor-in-ac-unitYour air conditioning system works hard on hot days—that’s what it’s there for, after all! But even an air conditioning system can get too hot, causing its motors to trip the circuit breaker to the system. You can reset the breaker, but it’s likely to happen again and again and again. Not an inconvenience you want during the summer!

An air conditioner is designed to handle extremely hot days, but malfunctions can cause it to overheat and trip a breaker. We’re going to list the most common malfunctions that create this problem and what you can do to help prevent them.

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Do I Need a Dehumidifier When I Have an AC?

May 28th, 2018

flushed-man-before-fanIf you’ve lived through a summer here in Louisiana, you understand that humidity is a serious problem for comfort. Even mild warm days can feel like a blistering 90°F when the relative humidity level is high enough. The reason for this is that the higher moisture levels in the air trap heat inside the body, making it harder for it to release the excess heat through perspiring. Humidity causes other troubles as well: encouraging mold and mildew growth and causing water damage to surfaces.

But you have an air conditioner in your home, so that should take care of the humidity problem, right?

Well, not really. You may have heard that air conditioners are natural dehumidifiers, but there’s more to it than that.

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What Is Refrigerant—Really?

May 14th, 2018

air-conditioning-condensers-on-risersIf you looked up the word refrigerant in a dictionary, you’d probably come across a definition like this:

re·frig·er·ant: noun 1. A substance used for refrigeration.

Not terribly informative or helpful, is it? If you’re curious about what the refrigerant in your home’s air conditioning system is, how it actually provides cooling, and why it’s so important, we’re here to give the dictionary a bit of help.

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Replace Your Old AC with a High-Efficiency Unit!

April 30th, 2018

air-conditioner-money-saverYou’ve had your current air conditioner for more than ten years. Maybe more than fifteen or twenty. It’s just not working as well as it used to, or it’s started to run up astronomical bills each summer. Maybe it’s breaking down frequently and needs repair to keep it hobbling on. Or you might feel it’s time to retire it before all of those things start happening.

That’s great! Replacing your old air conditioner can significantly improve your life during summer, not to mention keep your electrical bills under control. You also have some excellent new options for air conditioners that are better than your old system was even when it was new. We recommend you look into a high-efficiency air conditioning unit.

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Summer Problems You’ll Avoid Thanks to Spring AC Maintenance

April 16th, 2018

service-markerWe always encourage our customers to schedule spring air conditioning maintenance with us. We don’t want to be a pest about this, but it is extremely important to have these inspections and tune-ups done each year before the big summer heat and humidity arrives. There are many reasons why air conditioning maintenance is such an important job, and we’re going to look at a few specific problems an AC that doesn’t have spring maintenance done might run into.

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Duct Cleaning Makes Allergy Season Much Easier

April 2nd, 2018

allergy-season-plantsSpring cleaning covers more than just sweeping up dust in a house after the winter is over. One vital cleaning job you should consider scheduling this spring if you haven’t had it done for a number of years is air duct cleaning. A clean ventilation system improves the performance of your air conditioning system (and your heater as well when it gets back to work in fall), lowers the amount of dust inside the system that can cause repair needs, and prevents steep drops in energy efficiency.

But duct cleaning also helps with allergy season—which is already here! If sneezing, sniffling, dry eyes and nose, and other spring allergy reactions are making life in your house unpleasant, one way to improve the situation is duct cleaning.

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The End of Winter: Is Your Old Furnace Ready to Retire?

March 19th, 2018

furnace-gas-with-pipesWinter officially ends this week, and we hope you already have plans for your air conditioning maintenance. Early spring is the best time to do it!

But do you also have plans to scrap your old furnace? You just went through another winter with it, and depending on how well it performed, you might be debating having a new one installed before the next winter arrives.

If you feel a bit hesitant about making a decision about replacing your furnace, that’s fine. Installing a new furnace is a large investment, and you don’t want to jump into it unless it’s the most cost-effective option. We’re here to help! You can call on us for assistance in determining if you’re ready for a new furnace, or if furnace repair in Shreveport, LA can keep it working effectively for a few more years.

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Checking the Furnace Flue: It Could Be a Lifesaver!

March 5th, 2018

gas-furnace-flames

Safety is a vital part of all the jobs we do for our customers. When we fix a natural gas furnace in a house, we don’t just ensure that it will come on, provide heat, and operate at energy-saving levels. We also make sure it runs as safely as possible. Although gas furnaces are built with the same priority on safety that we use in our work, it is possible for the combustion byproducts from the furnace—which include carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide—to accidentally enter living spaces. These are toxic gases and create many serious, life-threatening health hazards.

You’re probably aware of what high concentrations of these gases do. But the safety concerns aren’t only about a large amount of combustion byproducts flooding into a home. There’s also the risk of chronic exposure to low levels. The symptoms aren’t as obvious, but over the long-term can be just as dangerous, especially to infants and the elderly. The main reason for the low-level presence of combustion byproducts is a furnace that is venting poorly.

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Why Does My Gas Furnace Keep Shutting Down Early?

February 19th, 2018

question-mark-badgeHas this been happening to you? You set your thermostat to turn on your gas furnace (or you have a program that turns it on at a specific time), and it turns on but shuts down only a few minutes later—long before your house has a chance to get warm. As you can guess, this isn’t normal. Your furnace is supposed to remain on long enough to reach the temperature setting on the thermostat and then gradually cycle off. Something is amiss, and you may need to call professionals in Haughton, LA for heating repair to get it fixed.

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What Is the Best Air Filter and Air Purifier Combination?

February 5th, 2018

air-fliter-cuFebruary isn’t too early to start thinking about the spring. The start of spring means allergy season, although it doesn’t always wait for the official first day of spring. It can strike as early as this month. As soon as the weather warms up a bit, pollen-bearing plants start to bloom and the pollen count spikes. That means sniffles, sneezes, asthma, and worse!

If you’re worried about allergy season, or about just staying healthy in general in your house, it’s a good idea to have indoor air quality improvements installed in your HVAC system. Air filters and air purifiers are the most common methods of removing allergens and other aggravating particles from circulating around a house. Usually, IAQ experts pair a filter with a purifier. Filters are a standard way of air cleaning, and they’re useful for almost any home. Since some smaller particles can work through a filter’s mesh, an air purifier serves as the second line of defense.

But there are many types and strengths of air filters, and just as there are many types of air purifiers. How do you find the best combination for great air quality in your home?

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