It may be cold now, but warmer weather is just a few weeks away. Most people are getting their homes ready for the summer heat, even if they’re dealing with freezing conditions at the moment. If you’re looking to install a new air conditioner in preparation for the summer, there are a couple of things you need to consider first. Not every air conditioner is ideal for every home, and installing the wrong kind could cost you a lot of money and time. Make sure that the air conditioner you pick is the best for your needs by taking note of the following.
Carney All Seasons Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Air Conditioning’
If You’re Installing a New Air Conditioner, Keep These Things in Mind
Monday, April 3rd, 2017Why Size Matters with Your Air Conditioner
Monday, May 30th, 2016If you’re looking for a new air conditioning system for your home, there are a lot of different factors that you need to consider. One of the most important factors to consider is size. The size of an air conditioner has a huge effect on how effective it is, how long it lasts, and how often it’s going to develop problems. Let’s take a look at why your air conditioner needs to be the right size.
How Dust and Dirt Affect Your Air Conditioning System
Monday, September 7th, 2015Dust and dirt are so common it may seem like they shouldn’t have a big impact on your air conditioning system; unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Just as getting sand in your smart phone can cause you endless problems, dirt and dust can have the same effect on your whole home AC. The problems may not be apparent at first, but if dust and dirt are left to accumulate on your system, you will start to see the effects, and they won’t be positive ones.
Reduce Stress on Your Air Conditioner with the 20 Degree Rule
Monday, July 20th, 2015This is the time of year when we really feel the heat and humidity, prompting many people to find relief in their whole home air conditioners. While it is your AC’s job to keep you cool, it’s important to be smart about temperature setting. Keeping your air conditioner at 70s degree when it’s over 90 degrees outside can really push your system to the limit for a long period of time. Your best approach to reducing stress on your AC while also maintaining indoor comfort is to use the 20 degree rule.
Common Misconceptions About Air Conditioning Costs
Monday, April 27th, 2015With summer on the way, residents of Bucks & Montgomery Counties, PA, are gearing up for heat and humidity. That means keeping your air conditioning unit maintained and ready to go, but it also means keeping an eye on costs. We all want a cool comfortable home in the summer months, but we also want to avoid paying an arm and a leg for it. Sadly, common misconceptions about air conditioning costs can be quite pervasive, and while you may think you’re saving money, the opposite may actually be true. Here’s a brief list of some common myths to be aware of.
Have You Scheduled Your Air Conditioner for Maintenance Yet?
Monday, April 6th, 2015Spring gives homeowners a window of opportunity to get their homes ready for summer, and part of your spring cleaning should always include scheduling a maintenance appointment for your home’s air conditioning system. Why? The wear and tear from last season, coupled with potential debris and dirt that may have accumulated over the winter, provides ample opportunity for your system to perform poorly or malfunction. The air conditioning experts at Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling are scheduling spring maintenance appointments now for Doylestown and the surrounding areas, so call us today and get your AC system ready for summer.
Why Schedule Maintenance?
Maintenance for your air conditioner isn’t a quick visual review of the system; it’s a full tune-up that entails cleaning, adjusting, lubricating and small repair, plus a thorough inspection of the system. Checks are performed as well as performance testing. Why is this appointment so involved? To provide you and your AC system with the following kinds of benefits:
- Better energy efficiency – your air conditioner was made to operate at a specific level of energy efficiency, but when maintenance isn’t performed annually, your system can lose up to 5% of this efficiency every year.
- Improves comfort – when your system is in optimal shape, as it will be after a maintenance appointment, it will be better able to achieve your set temperature.
- Helps prevent repairs – the reason your technician thoroughly inspects your AC system is to discover any developing or existing problems. This helps get you ahead of potential repairs.
- Extends life of the system – keeping your system in good working order means that your system doesn’t operate under stress. This helps extend the life of your air conditioning system because it reduces and/or eliminates premature aging, which can contribute to malfunction, breakdown and early replacement.
Always Hire a Professional
To gain the benefits maintenance has to offer, it’s always best to hire a trained expert to perform the work. The professionals at Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling have been helping customers with their ACs since 1976, so call us today and schedule your spring maintenance appointment!
Ways to Avoid Paying Too Much for Air Conditioning This Summer
Friday, April 18th, 2014Spring is here and that means summer can’t be too far behind. In Lansdale, air conditioning systems are an absolute godsend in keeping high temperatures at bay. But because you will probably use your air conditioner every day, monthly bills are apt to be higher than normal too. That’s to be expected of course, though the high temperatures might hide some unnecessary waste in the bill. You’re already paying a lot, so you shouldn’t have to pay any more than is absolutely necessary. Here are some ways to avoid paying too much for air conditioning this summer.
- Schedule a maintenance session. Air conditioning systems build up dust and debris over time, which can increase friction and wear and tear on moving parts. Loose fittings, low refrigerant levels and unclean filters can also interfere with your air conditioner’s ability to do its job. A maintenance session can address all of that, improving efficiency and helping your unit perform at its very best.
- Consider a cost-saving upgrade. Smart thermostats and zone control systems can help you cut down on monthly costs considerably, the first by analyzing your cooling habits and helping you make the most of them and the second by allowing you to turn off the cool air in parts of the house you aren’t using. Over time, the savings could very well pay for the cost of the upgrade.
- Add insulation. Most people think of insulation as something that keeps the heat in, but the same principle works for keeping heat out as well. If you can, add more to your home before summer hits. You’ll be surprised how much you can save.
This comes on top of more straightforward ways to avoid paying too much for air conditioning this summer, such as dressing in light clothes and setting the thermostat for a few degrees warmer than you otherwise might. Here in Lansdale, air conditioning maintenance and upgrades can be performed by the experts at Carney Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. Give us a call to make an appointment and let us show you what we can do!
Why You Need Regular AC Maintenance
Friday, April 11th, 2014Here’s something you should have on your spring “to do” list: “Schedule regular air conditioning maintenance.” An annual inspection and tune-up for your air conditioner is vital for it effective and efficient operation, and the best time to have it done is during the spring. That way, the AC is prepared for the upcoming change to summer, and you can take advantage of the slower time of the year for HVAC technicians to schedule a convenient time for uour maintenance visit.
In Blue Bell, PA, air conditioning maintenance from Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling will make sure your AC is ready for summer, and that you receive the maximum value from the system. Our air conditioning technicians are all EPA-certified and have the necessary skills to make sure your cooling system is operating at maximum efficiency.
Why Regular AC Maintenance Is a Necessity
- Catch potential repair needs: A key part of maintenance is prevention. Many faults inside an AC will not make themselves immediately obvious to you, but maintenance technicians know how to spot them. The technician will discover places where wear and tear in the system is developing into a problem and notify you of it so you’ll have time to fix it before it becomes worse—or before it causes the system to break down entirely and require more expensive repairs.
- Increase system efficiency: As an air conditioner runs over a season, it will pick up dust and dirt. This will cause the AC to gradually run less and less efficiently, since it will strain to keep your home cool. This will mean higher bills. Here’s something to keep in mind: the average AC system in Bucks and Montgomery County runs for approximately 2,000 hours a year… more than enough time to build up plenty of dust and dirt contamination and deterioration on parts. Unless you have the system regularly tuned-up and adjustments and cleaning done, you can expect a continual decline in energy efficiency.
- Ensure long system lifespan: Any air conditioning system comes with a manufacturer’s estimated lifespan, which is often in the 12–15 year range. However, this lifespan is only possible if the system receives regular maintenance. If you neglect routine visits to tune-up the system, all those 2,000 hours of work each year will shorten the AC’s lifespan. This is the biggest expense you can encounter with a cooling system: needing to prematurely replace it with a new one.
Sign Up for Maintenance Today!
When you sign up for a Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling maintenance plan, you will get more than regular visits that protect your AC’s operation. You also receive “Front of the Line Service” to assure that during busy times of the year, you’ll receive priority emergency service from your technicians. Our technicians can handle all AC brands, makes, and models. Put your trust in us for your air conditioning maintenance in Blue Bell, PA.
Air Conditioning Guide: Signs of an Overloaded Compressor
Monday, September 9th, 2013You may have heard mention of the “compressor” in your air conditioning, but what does it actually do? In simple terms, the compressor is the “engine” of your AC. It compresses the refrigerant that comes from the indoor evaporator coils before it travels to the condenser coils, making the refrigerant both hot and highly pressurized. This is an essential part of the cooling cycle.
If your compressor overloads, it can cause serious trouble for your system. In this post, we’ll run through a few of the signs that your compressor is working too hard and possibly heading for a burn out. For Lansdale, PA air conditioning service, trust Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling for expert knowledge:
- Noisy operation: You turn on your AC, and instead of the whir of soothing white noise you expect, you hear a strange buzzing or clanking sound. Although a number of components in your unit can cause unusual sounds if they aren’t working properly, these specific sounds often point to the compressor.
- Increased electrical bills: You probably know what to expect on your energy bills during a season—so if you notice an unexplained uptick in what you’re paying for electricity during the month, it may mean that the compressor is draining too much power to do its job. The compressor requires the most energy of any part in your AC to run. Getting the compressor repaired can not only prevent failure, but also save you money.
- Circuit breaks and blown fuses: A compressor that is working too hard can cause a power surge that may trip a circuit breaker. This will happen soon after the compressor starts operating, so if you experience trouble with circuit breaker or blown fuses not long after you switch on your AC, the compressor is the likely culprit.
It is a smart idea to call in an HVAC technician to deal with an overworked compressor. Trying do-it-yourself tactics can not only damage your AC, but pose the danger of electrical shock. A professional can safely perform the diagnosis and help determine if your compressor needs repairs or replacement. When you need this work done, call Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling’s Lansdale air conditioning experts—we’ll give you the service satisfaction you need to keep you cool.
What is an Expansion Valve?
Wednesday, August 21st, 2013When discussing air conditioning systems, you may her the term “expansion valve” used from time to time. It plays a vital role in the process of cooling your air, but you may not be familiar with its particular function. In New Hope, PA, air conditioning systems are a serious concern, since Pennsylvania summers can be hard with all the heat and humidity. The more you understand about components like the expansion valve, the better your grasp on how air conditioning works.
At the heart of your air conditioning system is a closed loop system that circulates refrigerant. The expansion valve plays a key role in this loop. The refrigerant arrives at the value in a highly pressurized liquid state. The valve is connected to the system’s evaporator coils. When the refrigerant enters the coils, it evaporates, absorbing heat out of the nearby air in the process. A blower then pushes the cool air into the ductwork, where it travels throughout your home.
The valve regulates the amount of refrigerant that is let into the evaporator coils. As the liquid moves from a high pressure state to a low pressure state, it evaporates and absorbs the heat from the surrounding air. Only a precise amount of refrigerant will work properly, so the valve’s purpose is extremely important. And naturally, when the valve become clogged or damaged, it can wreak havoc with the AC unit’s ability to cool the air. If refrigerant can’t enter the coils, no cooling will take place. If it enters in the wrong proportions, it will cause problems with the pressure leading to too much or too little cooling, and possibly damage other components as well.
Repairing or replacing an expansion valve is the purveyance of trained professionals. They can ascertain the problem, effect a repair, or replace it with a new valve while ensuring that it fits in with the surrounding components the way it should. Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling can address problems air conditioning units in New Hope, PA and throughout eastern Pennsylvania. Call us today to set up an appointment.