Will Your Ductless Mini-Split System Use a Lot of Energy?

If you’re in the market for a new heating or cooling system for your home, consider installing a ductless mini-split system. These units can function efficiently at temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit or more, making them an increasingly popular option for households across the nation. However, with the high electricity price, you may wonder if this type of system will use a lot of energy. What Is a Ductless Mini-Split System? Depending on the season, a ductless mini-split system uses heat pump technology to deliver hot or cold air throughout your home; unlike traditional HVAC systems, this system does not need ductwork. Instead, it uses multiple indoor air handler units. Each unit is equipped with its own blower components that work to pull in stale air from the room. The air gets filtered and brought up to the appropriate temperature and then returned to the room. It’s important to note that each indoor air handler unit will work independently of the others. This means you could set your living room temperature at 70 degrees and your bedroom temperature at 67 degrees. All indoor air handler units will be connected to the main outdoor condenser via copper refrigerant lines. Its...

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Does Cold Weather Affect Air Quality?

The arrival of fall and then winter leads to cold weather. With it comes a series of situations that tend to worsen indoor air quality. Some of the effects are very direct, but others are secondary effects tied to changes in our behavior during cold weather. If you’re worried about indoor air quality during cold weather, then you need to prepare your house and its HVAC to handle the situation. Here are some of the indoor air quality problems that come with cold weather, the common issues that accompany each and how to address them. Reduced Airflow in the Home The reduction in airflow in the home is the top indoor air quality problem during cold weather. People close windows and doors more often to conserve heat. While the instinct to save on your heating bills is a good one, it does come with the negative effect of reducing airflow. Several problems tend to arise from reduced airflow. Foremost, a lot of unhealthy things will accumulate more as your house exchanges less air with the outside. Allergens tend to accumulate more in the winter because there’s nothing to blow them out of the house. If you have even one pet,...

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Do I Need to Cover My AC Unit in the Winter?

When we transition from the hot summer months into the colder and shorter days of fall, many of us are spending more time at home. As your concerns shift to preparing your home for the upcoming winter season, your AC unit will likely be on your mind. Many homeowners are still unsure whether they need to cover their AC units during the winter months. Here, we’ll give you everything you need to know to decide. Why Would You Need an AC Unit Cover? Your outdoor condenser unit has a compressor pump, condenser coil, and blower components that are responsible for circulating and removing heat from the refrigerant and dispersing it outdoors. Because these units are specifically designed to withstand the outdoor elements, you may wonder why you need an AC cover. The whole point of an AC cover is to prevent unwanted items from entering your air conditioning unit. For example, it’s very common for leaves and twigs to blow around during the fall months. Some of these items can end up inside your unit if it doesn’t have a proper cover on it. This debris can interfere with the AC’s functioning when summer rolls around again. A cover over...

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How Often Should Your Heater Receive a Professional Tune-Up?

Like any mechanical system, residential heaters require regular tune-ups to maintain their efficiency and performance. Most homeowners opt for professional services, given the expertise and relatively low cost involved. This guide explores the importance of routine tune-ups, how often you should schedule them, and common issues that maintenance can resolve. Why Tune-Ups Are Important The common expectation of heaters is that they will keep your home comfortable; the chief concern is how much it will cost. Heater tune-ups aim to make your home more reliably comfortable while reducing the cost of doing so. Reduced Expenses Regular heater tune-ups offer significant savings on monthly heating expenses. By ensuring the system runs efficiently, tune-ups help reduce energy consumption and prevent the need for frequent, costly repairs caused by wear and tear. Additionally, routine maintenance extends the lifespan of your heater, minimizing how often you will need to invest in a new system over the years. It’s also worth noting that many manufacturer warranties require regular tune-ups to remain valid. Staying on top of maintenance ensures your warranty will cover repairs for any manufacturing defects, reducing out-of-pocket expenses. Improved Comfort Routine tune-ups play an essential role in enhancing your home’s overall comfort. Ensuring...

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What Are Air Cleaners and How Do They Work?

As your family prepares to spend more time indoors throughout the winter months, you may be thinking about your air quality. One of the best ways to help enhance the quality of air inside your home is to invest in whole-home air purification technology. Read on to learn more about the benefits of this technology and what to consider when choosing a system for your home. Why Is Indoor Air Quality Important? Indoor air quality can have a huge effect on you and your family. When your air is of high quality, it helps to improve your overall cognition and productivity throughout the day. It works to decrease the spread of airborne diseases and greatly reduces the amount of environmental triggers for conditions like allergies and asthma. When transitioning from poor-quality air to good-quality air, you’ll likely experience less fatigue and fewer headaches. Discovering Your Indoor Air Quality Level One of the best ways to understand where the quality of your indoor air sits is to have an indoor air quality assessment. An HVAC professional will walk throughout your home and test it for concentrations of various pollutants. These include things like known allergens, radon, and mold spores. Whenever any...

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Warranties and AC Repairs: What’s Covered and What’s Not

Do you have an AC that is still under warranty and suddenly not working as it should? Although AC warranties typically cover all components, there are many times when your warranty still won’t pay for necessary repairs or replacement parts. That’s why it’s important that you understand what things an AC warranty covers so that you can know whether or not you have grounds to file a warranty claim. An Overview of Standard AC Warranties and What They Cover Almost all new air conditioning equipment comes with a manufacturer’s limited warranty. The terms of this warranty can vary based on the manufacturer and the type of equipment, but most equipment comes with a basic five-year warranty on the compressor and either a one- or five-year warranty on all other parts. On most units, you can then receive an extended 10-year warranty as long as you register the unit with the manufacturer within a certain number of days of it being installed. In most cases, the time you have to claim this extended warranty is 90 days from the date of installation. The majority of AC manufacturers only provide a limited parts warranty on their equipment. That means if any part...

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How to Test and Monitor Indoor Air Quality at Home

Whether you have asthma or simply want cleaner air, there are a few simple ways you can improve the air quality in your home. Even in the cleanest house, the air can contain allergens, mold spores, and chemicals. Unfortunately, these hazards can linger in the air and continue harming your family’s health. Luckily, there are indoor air quality (IAQ) products that can clean the air. You can purchase an IAQ test and see what the air is like in your home. If there is an issue, you can easily install a purifier to remove harmful contaminants. Why Monitoring Indoor Air Quality Is Important Throughout the world, indoor air quality is a major issue. Whether you have short-term or long-term exposure to indoor pollution, you may develop a variety of different health problems. Indoor air pollution can contribute to cognitive issues, respiratory diseases, cancer, and heart disease with long-term exposure. Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can typically be updated with filters that can remove harmful contaminants from the air. Through an improved HVAC system, you can achieve the following goals. Limit Mold and Bacteria Humid environments are more likely to develop mold and bacteria. These issues can lead...

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What is the Most Common HVAC System?

From window air conditioners to simple baseboard heaters, there are lots of ways to regulate the temperature in your Mesa, AZ, home. However, few are as efficient or as popular as the split-system HVAC. Supported by central ductwork, split systems have indoor air handlers and outdoor condenser and compressor units for cooling. Air conditioners are frequently paired with furnaces that supply warm air when outside temperatures plummet. Read on to learn all about your options in residential heating and cooling systems and to find the right equipment type for your household. Air Conditioning in Mesa Residents of Mesa have year-round climate control needs. Although triple-digit temperatures are the norm in summer, winter regularly brings near-freezing conditions. The region is far too hot from June through October to make do with low-efficiency window ACs, overhead ceiling fans, or standing fans alone. Residences require fixed, whole-house cooling solutions to ensure safety and overall habitability. As such, most new homes in the region are built with central ducting included. Apart from an increasingly scant selection of historic homes, most properties either have central AC or the ability to support it. Many modern houses have AC or heat pump condensers in their back or...

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AC Installation: What to Expect

In a region like Mesa, AZ, having install an AC system is an essential part of living comfortably during the hottest months. Few projects are as simple as dropping a unit into place and switching it on. Even if there was a previous installation in the house, a new one may require some adjustments to make the system work. Homeowners should expect the following when they order an AC installation. Initial Assessment Before you can even select a unit, our technician needs to know the homeowner’s needs and wants. The most basic part of the assessment is calculating the cubic footage of the house, at least the area that needs air conditioning. Using this calculation, our technician will then determine the amount of needed cooling capacity for the house. Right-sizing the AC installation is critical because an overly small unit will run for more cycles and an overly large one will inefficiently draw too much energy during each cycle. The assessment also needs to look at the supporting systems in the house to ensure that everything is ready for the desired AC setup. Our technician will compare the manufacturer’s specifications to what they know about the house. Then, we can...

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Do I Need a Heat Pump in Mesa, AZ?

If you own a home here in Mesa, AZ, there’s a good chance you’re interested in having the most efficient HVAC system possible. They can both heat and cool your home, eliminating the need for a separate furnace and air conditioner. If you’ve gone looking for one, there’s no doubt you’ve come across heat pumps. However, heat pumps are often misunderstood, and plenty of misinformation about them is circulating online. That can lead you to question whether or not a heat pump is a good HVAC solution for your Mesa home. So, here’s everything you need to know about heat pumps to make a well-informed decision on whether or not to buy one as your home’s next HVAC solution. What Is a Heat Pump? Although it may seem like heat pumps recently appeared out of nowhere, they’re far from new. Heat pumps date back to the mid-1850s and have served various buildings and homes’ heating and cooling needs since then. Of course, they didn’t gain much traction among American homeowners until the energy crisis in the 1970s made HVAC energy efficiency a priority for most people. The problem was that heat pump technology wasn’t yet sufficiently advanced to make heat...

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