May Articles

May 2005 Articles

These are condensed versions of the Radio Program

05/04/05

You may have heard about the government’s new efficiency requirements for air conditioning manufacturers. Today we try to explain it and tell you what it means for you. What is the new requirement and when does it go into effect? Starting next January, the minimum SEER rating for equipment will be 13 where it’s currently 10. SEER ratings are a measurement of efficiency just as miles per gallon measures efficiency in vehicles. The last jump was from 8 to 10 SEER, and this one is a HUGE deal. What does it mean for the average homeowner? The bottom line is that it’ll soon be costing you a LOT more to put new AC equipment in your home. Why? Material costs-13 SEER condensers are bigger. Steel, sheet metal, copper and aluminum have already seen huge price jumps recently, and bigger equipment uses more of these materials. Shipping costs-Transportation costs will soar!

Fuel, insurance, and vehicle costs have been rising for years, and 13 SEER equipment will be about 30% larger. That means more trips in more trucks with more drivers to deliver the same number of units. Handling and storage costs- Larger units are harder to handle and take up more warehouse space. More labor will be needed and more space will have to be bought or rented to store equipment. Installation costs-13 SEER takes longer and costs more to install. Plus, 13 SEER equipment will not match with old evaporator coils, so people will have to replace both where they could many times only replace the condenser. If it’s getting close to time to replace your system, you might think about doing it now; before the increases hit. 13 SEER will cost less to operate and be great in the long run, but will cost more up front. Change your filters and call us w/ questions!

05/11/05

Last week we discussed SEER ratings. Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating is a measuring system very similar to miles per gallon in vehicles. The government is increasing the minimum SEER from 10 to 13. The change takes effect in January 2006. The bottom line of our discussions has been that this jump in SEER will affect everyone’s prices on air conditioning. Prices will go up! Although manufacturers can produce the 10 SEER products until January; many won’t. Even after the 13 SEER change goes into effect, the 10 can still be sold. The prices for the 10’s will probably go up but remain under the price of the 13’s. On the bright side,

The change will greatly reduce energy usage and save individuals a lot of money in utility bills-eventually. It will still be much more expensive on the front end and many people will have a hard time paying for them. We’ll see many people spend more trying to keep older, inefficient equipment running, where the easy logical choice before would be to go ahead and replace. If it’s getting close to time to replace your home comfort system, you may want to give serious consideration to doing it sooner rather than later. Now…questions! Are there hard numbers that really show how valuable proper maintenance is? There certainly are. Our maintenance program checks everything you’re about to read. A recent North Carolina study showed the following.

90% of the units tested exhibited some sort of energy wasting problem. 50% had improper refrigerant charges. 40% failed to meet minimum airflow criteria-a deficiency of 20% airflow reduces SEER by 17%, and a 15% return air leak from a 120-degree attic can reduce a 12 SEER unit to a 6 SEER! Change your filters! Back next week.

05/18/05

We recently sent out our newsletter called HomeSense to our family of customers. We send it to our friends (Our customers ARE our friends) twice yearly and get quite a positive response. The information it contains is too important to keep to ourselves, so we’re going to share some highlights with you today. One of the best articles was about the governments Energy Star program. It’s designed to help protect the environment through superior energy efficiency in appliances and household products. This also means great savings for us as consumers. Here are some of the appliances and the savings for those with the Energy Star label. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of energy saved.

Air conditioners and furnaces. Energy Star AC units have a higher seasonal energy efficiency rating than standard models, which make them 20% or higher more efficient! Furnaces save about%15 or more over standard. These are other Energy Star appliances and how much they save over standard models. Clothes washers use50% percent less. Computers use 70% less. Compact fluorescent bulbs use 60% less energy than incandescent bulbs (and last about 10 times longer.

Energy rated Televisions use 25% less energy, and rated ventilation fans use 65% less energy. These are appliances and items used everyday by almost everybody. Of course, proper installation and use is a complete necessity to achieve all the savings, and the more efficient items will tend to cost more than the standard models. They will make up for it and pay off sooner than later. If you’d like a copy of HomeSense, we’ll be glad to mail you an extra while they last. Just call us at 635-3452. Change your filters!

05/26/05

We have an awesome question for this week. How do I decide which company should install my central home comfort system? The easiest answer is just to call us at Quality Service! But here are some things to ponder. Just because you get a cheap price, that’s not reason enough to go with a particular contractor. Remember what your folks always told you, you get what you pay for. There’s a reason their price is cheap. Maybe they operate without the cost of insurance. They have no insurance on their employees, maybe not even worker’s comp, so their overhead remains real low. Never mind the fact that YOU can be held responsible if there’s an accident on your property while they’re working. Of course, if they have no insurance, you would have to pay or any property damage to your home an accident might cause. Maybe they’re cheap because they don’t purchase the required permits and/or licenses the government wants them to carry. They may be cheap because they sell inferior equipment that they don’t even know how to service after the sale. Maybe they are cheap because there’s no office personnel to handle paperwork and billing and warranties. Maybe there’s no office at all and no warranties at all. Another sign may be when the contractor asks for half or more of he money up front. That can certainly be a flag because many of those folks have to have your money up front so they can run somewhere with it and buy equipment to install in your home! Now, if he has no insurance, and accidentally throws your central unit out of the back of his pickup onto the highway and totals it, who gets stuck? At Quality Service, Inc., we are fully insured and licensed. We ALWAYS buy any required permits and inspections. We carry top of the line equipment and accessories and offer the industries best warranties. Our service department can service any brand and we usually have the parts on our trucks! We have a full time office staff here everyday to assist you, and we won’t ask for a dime until after your equipment is installed and you are comfortable. Thanks for the question, and come see us! Call 635-3452.