These are condensed versions of the Radio Program

04/06/05

The weather’s starting to get warmer, and folks are asking air conditioning questions. Here are a few.

When I replace my old 3-ton unit, I want to put in a 3.5-ton unit. The bigger air conditioner will make my house more comfortable, right? Maybe, but if that 3-ton equipment was chosen for the right reasons, you can cause a lot of problems by over-sizing. More capacity means more air flow because the air handler is bigger. That results in more air blowing out of the vents (or registers) and can result in temperature swings in the living space. An over-sized air conditioner tends to “short-cycle”. That results in a real loss of comfort and does not allow for the proper amount of humidity to be removed from the home. It also doesn’t remove all the moisture from the coil and that makes it a great environment for mold to grow. Short cycling also uses more energy. If your unit is too small, you run into a whole different set of possible problems that we’ll get into at another time. Here’s another a/c question.

What’s the best temperature to keep the thermostat on when we’re cooling? Wow! That’s not an easy one to answer. As regular listeners and readers may recall, we’ve explained before that a swing of even just 1 degree can be the difference in whether someone is comfortable or miserable. The simplest and best answer is to keep that air turned up as warm as you can stand it when you’re cooling and as low as you can stand it when you’re heating. The government’s suggestions are 68 in the winter and 72 in the summer. Just remember that each degree you move the thermostat can make as much as a 3% to 5% difference in energy costs.

04/13/05

  Spring is in the air! Let’s answer some allergy season questions. The only defenses many of us use against all the allergens are anti-histamines and tissues. But,

What else can we do? We all inhale pollen, dust mites, animal dander, and other pollutants. Those of us with allergies really suffer when these irritants trigger the release of our bodies’ histamine chemicals. Histamine causes tissues to swell. Mucous to build, and that all around misery felt each spring. The only real solution for allergy sufferers is to avoid the allergens that cause these reactions. How do we avoid these allergens?

Keep windows closed at night. Run the a/c to dehumidify your home. Drive with the windows up. Wear a mask when mowing and doing yard work. What about just staying indoors? We bring these allergens in with us all the time. They collect on our clothes, skin and hair. Showering and changing clothes often will help, but these allergens are everywhere. Things like pollen, mold and fungal spores, viruses, bacteria, smoke, and gas combustion by-products are very hard to avoid completely. What are some solutions to these problems? There are three main ways we can help.

They are Source Control, Ventilation, and Air Cleaning.

Sometimes, any one of these will help a great deal. Sometimes it takes everything we can come up with.

Here at Quality Service, we are not medical doctors, but you can think of us as Air Doctors. We know air, we know filtration, and we know ventilation. We can install a system that fits your family’s needs and budget. If you feel you have indoor pollution issues and want to find out more, call us at 635-3452. We’ll be back next week!

Change your filters!

04/20/05

  It’s getting warmer, but we have questions today about heat pumps! Why does it cost less to heat my home with a heat pump than regular gas or electric heat?

Simply put, a heat pump moves heat from the outside to the inside, (like a room air conditioner in reverse). It saves money because it costs less to move heat than to create and then move heat. What if it’s too cold outside to heat the house? All heat pumps come with supplemental (auxiliary) heat sources that make up the difference. That extra heat is usually electric heat or gas.

Are there different kinds of heat pumps? Yes, there are three basic types.” Air source” is the most common, there’s also “Duel Fuel” systems that are electric and gas. There are basically two furnaces and you can actually switch between electric heat pump and gas heat. The third type is “geothermal”. This type of heat circulates water between an underground network of pipes and heat pumps located inside the home. They work efficiently because the temperature underground is always around 57 degrees. These are least common (especially around here) due to the difficulty and expense involved with installation. How does a heat pump cool my house? When operating in air conditioning mode, there is no difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner. You realize the extra benefits of owning a heat pump, mostly when heating.

If this may be the summer you need a new system, a heat pump may be an excellent choice for you. Contact your local power company for details on their TVA or self-sponsored heat pump loan programs. The rates are incredible through the summer, and you may save more in operation than the payment. Change your filters! 

04/27/05

  Can ceiling fans really save money on the utility bill?

Yes, but only if used properly. In the spring and fall, when it’s not too hot, you can use the fans to help keep comfortable instead of turning on the AC. Fans use less energy than AC, so you save a few bucks. When it is seriously hot, the air blowing on your body increases the rate of evaporation of the skin’s moisture. That process of evaporation is how we naturally keep cool. Remember, that the fan has to be blowing directly on you so that you can turn the AC up and save money. Without turning the thermostat up, you are just using more energy for nothing. A fan does not cool the air, it does not cool a room, it only cools people. It makes you feel cooler when it blows directly on you. You are actually no cooler.

Aren’t the fans good to just circulate the air?

You should treat fans like your parents taught you to treat the lights. When you go in a room, turn it on. When you leave the room, turn it off. A ceiling fan in an empty room only uses more energy and will actually cost more because the motor is creating heat that the AC will have to remove. There is another theory that ceiling fans save money in the winter, too. By reversing the flow of air, the fans suck air up and push it around, theoretically pushing the warmer air at the top of the room down where the people are. If it causes the air near the thermostat to stay warmer, then it will cause the heater to run less and that would save money. We aren’t aware of any research that actually proves this works in the real world. Please change your filters once a month, and we’ll be back with more “Ask Mike” next week.

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