HVAC information for Homeowners

Good businesses thrive on customer feedback.

Even negative feedback can be instructive, because sometimes customers run into issues that are otherwise unknown to the business owner.

I have a close friend who runs an Etsy store. He sells a variety of merchandise ranging from clothes to coffee mugs, posters, rugs, tapestries, and other decorative items you often find around the house. He uses his own designs and then signs a contract with a manufacturer overseas who creates the products and then drop-ships them to customers. There was a time when one of his coffee mug designs was botched by the company creating the mugs. Unless a few of his customers had given him negative feedback, he would have had no idea that his mugs had massive spelling and grammar errors on them. From that point on he requested all of his product to be shipped to him first, at which point he would fulfill orders with his many customers. Those negative reviews had a substantial impact on improving his entire business. My heating and cooling contractor is extremely vocal about what makes a good air conditioner versus a bad air conditioner when you’re shopping for a new system. They have had unhappy customers in the past after putting in new air conditioners for them. They realized that because they weren’t explaining the importance of SEER ratings before selling air conditioners to clients, their clients weren’t factoring those numbers into the equation. The SEER rating tells you how efficient your air conditioner is at cooling your home with whatever energy it pulls from your home’s electrical grid. A higher number means the a/c can get your air colder using less electricity.

 

ductwork sealing

I had to watch a lot of tutorial videos to figure out how to use my new smartphone.

It utilizes a completely different kind of operating system than what I’m used to.

I went from using an iphone to using an android. Despite the learning curve, I am so happy to finally be done with IOS. The operating system restricts you in countless ways and is a serious headache if you own a Windows PC instead of an Apple computer. I’m also done with using hardware dongles because a bunch of “genius” engineers thought it would be a “bold” statement to get rid of the headphone jack. Not to mention, the cameras on some of these new android phones rival those of their competitors. They’re great phones all around, even if you don’t get access to every single app in the IOS store. The most recent app I downloaded allows me to control my heating and cooling system at home with my smartphone, anywhere I have a data connection. Not only can I turn the system on and off and control the temperature setting, the application also gives me usage data, outdoor temperatures, length of cooling cycles, tips on increasing energy efficiency based on my own usage, and much more. It’s nice to monitor my air conditioner use while I’m away on vacation. It’s hard to set it and forget it with an air conditioner in a hot climate. If you turn it too high, the a/c won’t turn on enough to prevent the moisture level from climbing to levels where mold growth starts. But if you turn the air conditioner too low, you end up using a lot more electricity in the process, which costs more money.

 

Programmable thermostat

In fact, a suffocated air conditioner can break down over surprisingly short periods of time if the filter becomes so clogged that it totally deprives the system of any kind of air flow

Even if it seems trivial, never go long periods of time without changing the oil in your car. I had an old car in college that survived for as long as it did because I kept the oil regularly changed. I also checked the dipstick constantly to make sure there was always enough oil inside. My close friend Matt was also driving an old car at the time. He went for weeks with no oil in his engine and eventually the whole motor blew up while he was sitting in the parking lot at school waiting for someone to meet him at his car. He had only just started the engine when he started to hear loud popping noises as plumes of smoke rose from the hood of his car. His family towed it to the closest mechanic who determined that the engine was basically destroyed. Unfortunately, Matt had to get a different car to drive, which was within his parents’ budget thankfully. It was a lesson for all of us who were around when it happened. In fact, it caused me to go and check my oil dipstick later the same day to make sure I had enough oil. Recently almost caused a similar issue with my air conditioner by going for months without changing the filter. Some people think that your air quality is the only thing that suffers from a lack of frequent filter changes. In fact, a suffocated air conditioner can break down over surprisingly short periods of time if the filter becomes so clogged that it totally deprives the system of any kind of air flow. Thankfully, I remembered while taking a shower last night and quickly changed the filter when I got out. Just like I suspected, the air conditioner filter was extremely clogged.

Cooling representative

After moving out of tornado alley into a state along the gulf coast, I don’t know what’s worse.

We have the impending threat of hurricanes for four to five months out of the year, and the size and intensity of these hurricanes only grows with time. I was smart enough to buy a house that is supposedly rated to withstand winds equal to or greater than a category 5 hurricane. My coworkers tell me that I shouldn’t worry and that my house should be fine if we were ever hit by a massive hurricane. But I’ve seen some of the storms that hit other areas along the gulf coast in the past four years, and some have completely leveled homes like mine. When hurricane Michael hit Mexico Beach in Florida, the only house left standing was owned by a couple that told their building contractors to fortify the structure so it could withstand the strongest imaginable storm. This meant going beyond existing building code and preparing for something like a super hurricane, but in the end their house still stands. Even if my house is safe from most storms, I wasn’t sure about my HVAC condenser unit. It sits outside in a vulnerable place if a huge storm ever managed to make landfall in this area. It was put to the test recently with a category 3 hurricane that hit a portion of the state just miles north of us. Because of the size of the storm, it was almost like getting a direct hit regardless of the placement of the eye of the hurricane. I was ecstatic when the HVAC condenser was still safely attached to its massive concrete block after the storm passed. These are made for hurricane strength winds and worked exactly as advertised.

More info here

When my wife was doing laundry, she told me it was becoming overheated there.

I thought that was strange because it never became hot there before when she was doing laundry.

She said that maybe we could get a portable A/C unit to use in there so she wasn’t roasting to death while trying to do the laundry. I told her that was probably not necessary and it would only increase the cost of the energy bills. She said we had to do something and that’s when I let her know I would look at it. She wanted me to look at it right away too because she was in the process of doing laundry and it was way too uncomfortable inside of there. She even said she felt like the air quality was bad. So I checked it out and she was right, the air quality had suffered and I was thinking there had to be an issue with the ventilation. I checked behind the dryer and immediately discovered that the duct was disconnected from the back. I reconnected it and secured it tightly and the problem was solved! I told my wife, “See we don’t need a portable A/C unit in here, but it might not hurt to have a portable air purifier.” She thought the air purifier sounded like a good idea so I picked her up one from the hardware store. It’s a pretty nifty little air cleaner and it has made the air quality so much better in the laundry room. Also there is no more issue with it being overheated in there which I’m glad to know.

 

Cooling and heating provider

Something that I love more than anything is gardening.

I have always gardened for as long as I could remember when I used to help my mother with her gardening.

I have a nice little garden and I even had some greenhouse tents hooked up. Those helped a great deal with my plants but it sure would get pretty hot in those tents! My husband said that he wanted to hook up a ductless mini split to my greenhouse tents, but I said that wouldn’t be necessary. I didn’t even think he was qualified to install an HVAC system and the idea sounded ridiculous to me. I also didn’t think that I would actually need a climate control system for my garden, but he was saying that eventually he wanted to upgrade my greenhouse so that I could do gardening through the winter. I had to admit that I was severely tempted by that because that would be a dream come true! It would be so fun being out there in my garden while it’s actually snowing outside, but I thought it might be a huge waste of energy. He said that was non-sense because he looked forward to the fruits of my labor like having fresh peppers, green beans, and even raspberries. So I gave him the green light to upgrade my greenhouse and then hook up an HVAC system. I wasn’t sure that he could do it, but he actually made it look easy. When I asked my husband if he was secretly an HVAC technician, he explained that it was a DIY ductless mini split which doesn’t require the assistance of an HVAC professional. I didn’t know an HVAC system like that existed, but it’s really nice and energy efficient.

 

a/c set up

I will be the first one to admit that I am not a very good cook.

I can do a little bit of grilling but that’s probably true of all men in the world.

I have never been good in the kitchen. When my wife was telling me that she was tired, she asked if I would cook dinner for the night. It was actually too cold to grill outside and I frowned at that. Then I remembered that I had a George Foreman grill and that would work. I only used it one time and it actually worked pretty well, I didn’t know why I didn’t use it more often. I hooked that baby up and started grilling some steaks in the kitchen! The cool thing was that the whole kitchen didn’t overheat either. I actually had a portable cooling system ready for when my wife was doing heavy cooking. The kitchen would just become uncomfortably overheated sometimes with all that cooking, but the portable A/C unit helped a lot. I honestly didn’t even need the portable cooling system. Hell, I didn’t even need to open the windows to let in some chilly air. The steaks turned out to be delicious and my wife also noticed that the kitchen didn’t overheat. She was telling me that I would have to cook far more often because of that. I honestly don’t like the sound of that because I love her cooking so much, but I guess I can pick up some of the slack with cooking. Part of me wishes I never found that Foreman grill though.

Electric heating

I never actually used HEPA air filters before either, I always figured they were too expensive.

I was incredibly disappointed when I couldn’t find any air filters at the hardware store. They are usually stocked to the brim but evidently people rushed to get air filters at the same time. There were actually a few air filters left, but a size that my HVAC system would not take. I briefly considered the possibility of cutting one to size and somehow rigging it to fit in my HVAC system, but then I thought that was probably not a good idea. I ended up going to a few other places and still couldn’t find the size of air filter I needed. Then when I went to the corner store to pick up some cigarettes, I was shocked when I saw a sign that said HEPA air filters were on sale. I went to look at the HEPA air filters and they were the right size for my HVAC system! I ended up buying a bunch of them and I was really happy when I was able to change my old nasty air filter. I never actually used HEPA air filters before either, I always figured they were too expensive. They were surprisingly still expensive while they were on sale and I figured that’s why most people didn’t buy them. I was just desperate to have my air filter changed though so the price didn’t bother me too much. I was telling that guy at the gas station that I went all over looking for air filters and the last place I expected to find air filters was at the corner store. He smiled and said he was happy to be able to help me out.
Heat pump

I actually play along with the whole thing too

It’s funny because my son always wanted to be a superhero. I always told him when he was young that he could be anything and that’s what he always told me. I played along with his dream of becoming a superhero until he was much older. When I would ask him what he really wanted to be, he still said the same thing. I thought he was a little too old to be talking about becoming a superhero, but he still insisted on that like it was some sort of a game. Later on I learned that he was planning on becoming an HVAC technician. He finally explained the plan to me and he said he was going to save people from horrible situations. The situations he was referring to was people who might freeze to death with a non-working heating system. He was also talking about saving people who were roasting to death with no cooling system during heatwaves. When I really thought about that, it seemed to fit the definition of a superhero. That’s basically somebody who works to keep the people in the community safe from harm. He wasn’t going to be battling super villains or anything unless he was dealing with some terrible competitors. I guess we’ll see how his journey goes, but I honestly hope everything works out for him. I actually play along with the whole thing too. When people ask me what my son is going to for his career, I tell them that he is going to be a superhero. I sometimes get laughs and other times I get funny looks, but it’s something that is actually true in my eyes.

a/c representative

I was in this intense video game session playing this battle royale style game.

I had a bunch of close wins, but I didn’t quite make it.

I was actually starting to sweat and I realized that I felt a little bit overheated. It was strange because I knew that I had set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature and it was working just fine. I actually went to check out the HVAC unit and I couldn’t hear it working at all. I felt the air from the HVAC vents and I felt nothing there either. Then I went to have a look at the thermostat. I saw there scratching my head for a minute wondering why the screen was blank. I was wondering if my thermostat was broken. Then I did an online search to find out what was going on and came to learn that often the batteries just needed to be replaced. I opened up the thermostat and I saw which batteries I needed and put in fresh ones. The thermostat lit right back up and it started working just fine. The whole system engaged again and suddenly I was being doused with comfortable air conditioning. After thinking about everything, I actually wondered why I didn’t decide to go check the thermostat first before I went down to the basement to look at the HVAC unit. I actually remembered that when I had the HVAC technician over last, he went to check the thermostat first, and I figured there had to be a good reason for that. The thermostat is what controls all the functions of the HVAC system afterall…

Local service provider