June Articles

July 2005 Articles

These are condensed versions of the Radio Program

07/08/05

We get questions often about financing. At Quality Service, Inc., we have financing available. We do not provide the financing ourselves, but we have several sources that provide financing for our products and services to qualified customers. What financing do you offer? Far and away, most of our financing is done through the government’s Energy Right Program. It is administered through TVA and your local electric provider. Some providers (Ripley Power and Light, for example) use the same guidelines and procedures as TVA, but provide the loans themselves. Who is eligible for these loans? Any TVA customer can apply. Whether you get your electric from Ripley Power and Light, Forked Deer, Southwest, Gibson, or whomever, you are a TVA customer and can apply. What are the requirements? First, The TVA Program only finances heat pumps. The whole goal of the program is to increase efficiency. When heating, heat pumps use much less electricity because they move heat rather than making then moving it. There are also standards about insulation, weather stripping and ventilation, but none are too difficult to accomplish and all save even more energy. Why do most of your customers use the TVA financing? We can’t speak for them, but the rates are very attractive (currently just 7%), and the terms are pretty easy. (Up to 120 months) That can easily mean that when a customer has a heat pump installed and financed through TVA (or Ripley P&L), many times they will save as much or more in energy dollars as the payment for the new equipment. We have manufacturer programs available for financing too. If you’re interested, please call us at 635-3452. Change those filters!

07/15/05

How does air conditioning work? We love this question. It can be difficult to explain in print, but here goes! The basic operation of any air conditioner is to remove heat from the conditioned space. That’s the way a refrigerator works. Just as the absence of light is dark, the absence of heat is cool. An air conditioner takes the heat out of air and then returns that air back into the house. How they do it is simple yet complex. Inside, there is an evaporator coil and outside there is a condenser. A pump, called a compressor, moves the heat transfer liquid (refrigerant, Freon, etc.) back and forth between the two. When the refrigerant evaporates at the indoor coil, it picks up the heat from the inside air. The gas carries the heat to the condenser coil outside, where it turns back to a liquid. When it returns to a liquid state, it releases the heat, which it is blown away through the condenser fan. Then the liquid is pumped back inside to the evaporator coil to start the whole process over again. It is a continuous cycle with no beginning or end. If any part of the process is out of whack, the effectiveness of the air conditioner is compromised. If the refrigerant gets too low, pressure drops and the air conditioner will operate as a smaller air conditioner. That process will continue until the air conditioner won’t cool any more at all. The good news is that with proper maintenance, like that provided by the Quality Service Maintenance Program, the loss of pressure in your system shouldn’t be a problem. Call us if you are interested in the program, or if you have a question about your home comfort system. Please “Change your filters” and visit our website at www.qualityserviceinc.com.