Frequently Asked Questions Q. WHAT IS SEER? (What do rating numbers mean?) A. To help consumers make informed choices, the U.S. government requires an efficiency rating of all air conditioning and heating equipment. The rating is meant to reflect the percentage of energy used efficiently. A high rating indicates high efficiency. There are various names for the efficiency ratings of varying types of equipment. Air conditioning equipment is rated by the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating, or SEER. A SEER of 10 means for one watt you get 10 BTUs moved out of your house. A BTU is the heat of about one match. So we get 10 matches of heat sent out of the house at a cost of one watt. If we have a 12 seer unit we get 12 matches moved out of the house for the same cost of electricity. High SEER saves money! Heat pump equipment is rated by the heating seasonal performance factor, or HSPF. Gas furnaces are rated according to their Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, or AFUE. Q. Can I work on my own air conditioner? A. Yes of course! Your air conditioner is the biggest investment in machinery you have in your home. Keeping your coils outside clean, the filters replaced every month, even preventing ants from living around your outside unit are very important chores you need to do. When you have energy efficiency questions, want to know how to get savings on your utility bills, and repair or replacement needs, Mr. Air is there to answer all of your air and heating questions. Q. How often should filters be cleaned or replaced? A. Filters should be replaced or cleaned once a month. We recommend using replacement filters (throw-a-way) with filter dressing sprayed on the filter to make them "pick-up" dirt better. Electrostatic permanent filters, in our experience, have caused problems and we do not recommend their use. Pleated filters are wonderful, but a little expensive. You should dress this type filters too. Disposal filters should be replaced with filters of the type and size as the original filter. Q. Should outdoor units be covered in winter? A. No. Air conditioners that operate seasonally are built to withstand an outdoor environment. There is no advantage to covering an air conditioning unit during off seasons. In fact, rain helps to keep the unit clean. Ruud heat pumps operate year round and should never be covered. Q. Can I cover my outside unit to keep the sun off. A. Please don't. Unless you can put the cover 7 feet in the air, don't try to sunshade the condenser (outside unit). The cover blocks the units ability to get the hot air out. If the unit gets the hot air it just got rid of right back into it .... it overheats and cost much money for you. It could damage the unit too. Q. Should a thermostat be set to “auto” or “on”? A. When the thermostat is set to “auto,” the fan operates only when the temperature requires it. This is the most used setting. Using the fan in the "on" setting causes the water on the inside coil (evaporator) to go back into the air. This increases the humidity in the house. However, there are advantages to using the “on” setting. First of all, the air in the house is constantly filtered through the unit’s air filter. Secondly, the constantly circulating air results in an even temperature throughout the house. We recommend only using the "ON" setting in the heating mode. Q. Can shrubs and flowers be planted around an outdoor unit? A. Yes. However, we recommend that plants be no closer than 18 inches from the unit. This allows plenty of room for air circulation in and out of the unit. Without this room for air circulation, the unit could overheat, resulting in a premature need for service. Q. If an outdoor unit needs replacing, should the indoor unit be replaced, too? A. It is a requirement for HIGH Efficiency that a new style evaporator be installed when replacing the outdoor unit. It is a good idea to replace the Indoor Coil when the outside unit fails. That’s because air conditioning and heating units are designed to operate as a complete, matched system. The efficiency rating is based on the entire system. To gain the maximum benefit of new, highly efficient technology, the entire system should be replaced together. This ensures the system is reliable and efficient . Q. How do you know what size system a house needs? A. Which system is best for a particular application is best determined by your Mr. Air. There are many variables to be consider......type of windows, insulation of the house, number of people in the house, etc. We will consider the factors in making a recommendation. Q. Why choose Mr. Air? A. Just as you would choose any contractor, you should ask someone who has had a system installed, ask them whether they’d recommend Mr. Air. Check with the Better Business Bureau. Ask us to visit your house and give you an estimate. Ask for references. Use us if we inspire your confidence.
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How does an a/c work? An air conditioner is able to cool a building because it removes heat from the indoor air and transfers it outdoors. A chemical refrigerant in the system absorbs the unwanted heat and pumps it through a system of piping to the outside coil. The fan, located in the outside unit, blows outside air over the hot coil, transferring heat from the refrigerant to the outdoor air. Basic Operations Most air conditioning systems have five mechanical components:
Most central air conditioning units operate by means of a split system. That is, they consist of a "hot" side, or the condensing unit—including the condensing coil, the compressor and the fan—which is situated outside your home, and a "cold" side that is located inside your home. The cold side consists of an expansion valve and a cold coil, and it is usually part of your furnace or some type of air handler. The furnace blows air through an evaporator coil, which cools the air. Then this cool air is routed throughout your home by means of a series of air ducts. A window unit operates on the same principal, the only difference being that both the hot side and the cold side are located within the same housing unit. he compressor (which is controlled by the thermostat) is the "heart" of the system. The compressor acts as the pump, causing the refrigerant to flow through the system. Its job is to draw in a low-pressure, low-temperature, refrigerant in a gaseous state and by compressing this gas, raise the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant. This high-pressure, high-temperature gas then flows to the condenser coil. The condenser coil is a series of piping with a fan that draws outside air across the coil. As the refrigerant passes through the condenser coil and the cooler outside air passes across the coil, the air absorbs heat from the refrigerant which causes the refrigerant to condense from a gas to a liquid state. The high-pressure, high-temperature liquid then reaches the expansion valve. The expansion valve is the "brain" of the system. By sensing the temperature of the evaporator, or cooling coil, it allows liquid to pass through a very small orifice, which causes the refrigerant to expand to a low-pressure, low-temperature gas. This "cold" refrigerant flows to the evaporator. The evaporator coil is a series of piping connected to a furnace or air handler that blows indoor air across it, causing the coil to absorb heat from the air. The cooled air is then delivered to the house through ducting. The refrigerant then flows back to the compressor where the cycle starts over again. |
