an easy-to-understand guide to all your hvac questions

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Page 1: An Easy-to-understand Guide To All Your HVAC Questions

An Easy-to-understand Guide To All Your HVAC Questions

Before getting into HVAC, educate yourself. Follow th tips presented in this article to improve yourknowledge. Take the time to read the article and you will do well.

Before you contact people to assist you in getting your system fixed, know what kind of systemyou're working with in the first place. Write down what brand your system is along with the modelnumber and, if they're available, maintenance records. This will ensure that you can give your newcontractor all the information they need.

If you struggle with your HVAC, try touring your home before calling a professional. Make a list ofthe temperatures in each room and whether they are hot or cold. Figuring this out will thecontractor to diagnose the issues and quickly get to work on fixing it.

Understand what you want before talking to a contractor. It will be hard for a contractor to give youa price estimate over the phone if they have not seen your current system. It will be even harder ifyou cannot explain what you have done. Thus, it is worthwhile to have this knowledge ahead of time.

Clean the condenser coils and fan at the beginning of the year to help the unit run efficiently. Alwaysmake sure you shut off the power before you do any work on the unit other than superficial cleaning.If you see debris, get rid of it.

Be sure to clean external condenser units regularly. Things tend to pile up around these units,especially after storms come through, which could cause problems to your system. It can also causeit to overheat.

As the trees around your home lose leaves, it can cause your HVAC unit trouble. The grill on the fancan become cluttered with debris, which will cause a serious operating deficiency. An obstruction,such as a leaf, prevents the maximum amount of cool air from entering the system.

Find a place that is shaded for your compressor. When it draws in air for cooling, it will be moreefficient because it will not need to work as hard to cool down the air.

If you want things to be more efficient, get new units outside or have your current one moved intothe shade. This will ensure cool air is sucked in, meaning less cooling must be done by the unit.

Make sure you have your HVAC system checked at least twice a year. This should be done in the falland again in the spring. Whether you know of problems or not, good maintenance will help you toavoid future issues.

Shut off the air conditioning if nobody is home. By raising the temperature from, for example 78 to80, your house will be warmer, but only up to 80 before your AC kicks in. If you decide to set thetemperature to 82 or 83 or so on, your AC won't go on until it reaches that temperature. Obviously,if you leave your air conditioning set at a low temperature all day long even if you're not home, you'llbe paying to maintain that low temperature.

Don't allow your home to overheat. A simple AC unit will usually only cool the home around 20degrees within a short period of time. So, if your home temp reaches 100 degrees, your airconditioning will only bring that temp down to about 80 degrees. Depending on how humid it is, this

Page 2: An Easy-to-understand Guide To All Your HVAC Questions

isn't really that safe for a person to sleep in when it's really hot.

You should always review the experience and history of an HVAC specialist before hiring them.Obviously, a company with a longer history and a positive reputation is the better choice. If youchoose to hire a new contractor, you may be risking things.

Go to people that you know and ask for recommendations when it is time for you to hire an HVACcontractor. If they know a good contractor, they will surely guide you right. This will prevent youfrom getting scammed.

An online search will give you further information about any contractor you are considering. Manyonline review sites provide an avenue for this information. This is a great way to find people youwant to work with and those you don't want to work with.

All contractors charge differently for their services, so get at least four or five quotes before hiring aparticular person. Getting several quotes will ultimately help you save lots of money. In an idealsituation, you can estimate a reasonable rate by getting quotes from up to a half-dozen individualcontractors or businesses.

It's not too tough to get into HVAC once you have information like what you read in this article. Youjust have to apply yourself to learning a bit about the subject. Good luck and hopefully now thingswill start to work fantastically for you well into the future!