Frequently Asked Questions

As gas furnaces begin to age and are utilized in the winter months, we highly recommend that a carbon monoxide alarm be installed to monitor any dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. If levels are high, a loud sound will alert you and your family members notifying you that it is time to open windows and doors and exit the building.

Your Air Conditioner has a pvc 3/4 ” pipe that drains condensation from the system, whether it is above in the attic, basement, or crawl space; by adding a “T” valve to the line the opening exposed you can pour a mixture about half and half Clorox and water in a small container like a shampoo bottle, that will keep mold from building up and clogging the line.

We provide free estimates on replacement on Heat and A/C systems, with a written proposal good for 30 days.

Here are some signs to watch for and listen to warning you something is going wrong:

1. Unusual sounds: As a motor begins to wear squeaking or grinding noises are heard, or slow starts and stops become repetitive.

2. Strange odors coming through the vents is a sign the motor windings are beginning to burn, when this occurs, turn your system off.

3. The blower motor runs continuously, or stops completely.

In a typical 24 hour summer day, your unit runs on/off about 20 hours per day. During that time frame, it pulls out humidity of about 3 pints of water per hour per ton. For example, if you have a 2 ton system, 3 pints of water per ton x 2 tons= 6 pints per hour. If your unit runs for approximately 20 hours, then 120 pint s (6 pints per hour x 20 hours) of water is produced. In total, 15 gallons, or 120 pints,  of free water is produced in an averaged day.

Several things come to mind on what to try next before calling for service if bad weather occurred in your area check your main breakers, if not tripped, check power on/off switch at furnace, switch off then switch back on, check panel doors to furnace making sure they are engaged correctly. If all the suggestions were performed and still not working, its time to call a service technician.

Most thermostats, not all, depend on batteries to power up and run your equipment; a good reminder to replace batteries yearly is to replace on special dates in your family a birthday, anniversary, etc.

Generally, a condensate pump is used to expel water through a tube to ground level outside. Should it fail, water has to go somewhere (your floor) the solution would be installing a water drip pan under your equipment with a safety float that is electrically wired into your unit to shut system off as your pan begins to fill. See Tip #1 to help solve this issue.

1. Turn your thermostat to heat mode making sure that it is working properly, old thermostats use mercury and that can be very inaccurate
for temperature control, consider replacing with a more modern digital readout thermostat.

2. Make sure Air Supply vents and return air registers are not covered by drapes, furniture, toy boxes,etc this will help reduce the load for a more
economical operation .

3. Avoid excessive use of your exhaust fans, kitchen and bath fans will draw warm air out and thus increase energy use from your equipment
running longer.

4. Your ceiling fans have to modes of rotation CW and CCW, in winter months set your fans on the slowest speed and reverse it to gently
push air down in the CW position.

Pollutants trapped in our homes consist of dust, dust mites, cat and dog dandruff, paint, cleaning supplies, etc. Indoor air can be more polluted than outside air. Today’s homes are built to be energy efficient meaning that air is kept inside. Our homes no longer “breath” which is not good for air quality. Here are a few things we can do to improve air quality in our homes.
1. Change air filters on an average of every 3 months. Depending on our life
style such as traffic flow in/out or multiple house pets, some may have to change air filters more often than others.
2. If able, opening windows and doors are an easy and inexpensive way to improve air quality.
3. Have your duct system lines cleaned.
4. Have a fresh air ventilation system installed.

If resetting breakers is a normal event, breaker in panel could be defective, a short in equipment, furnace, air handler, outside unit, may be tripping breaker, that is not a normal occurrence and it needs to be solved before further damage occurs to equipment or wiring.

A. Is the outside unit running?

B. Is outside fan running?

C. Check Main breakers in house panel box for any breakers to unit is tripped, check outside disconnect box making sure power source is available to unit.

A. Check that outside and indoor fans are running if they are not shut system down before further damage is done

B. Check indoor filter and replace if over 3 months passed from last change

C. Low refrigerant will cause ice build up, inside, outside, and connecting copper lines.

D. If A,& B checked out and still ice is evident your system some where refrigerant is leaking out

A Same as your car needs fresh air to stay cool while driving to keep from over heating, so does your outside unit

B. When cutting your lawn avoid lawn clippings, and debris from hitting your unit

C. Cut back vegetation, weeds, and overhang branches that surround your unit a minimum of 2 feet

Whether Summer or Winter check to ensure all air supply registers and return grills are open and free flowing with no obstructions, toys, boxes, furniture, etc from blocking the air entering back to the indoor unit, or supplying the air to the structure to prevent hazardous consequences.

Summer weather brings on Ants and Bugs, for what ever reason they are attracted to the electrical components within the outdoor units. these bugs will cause the unit to malfunction or keep it from starting; to prevent these little critters from entering the unit, use a safe pesticide, spread around the base of the unit occasionally.

During electrical storms we can encounter a power surge traveling through our lines leading to our homes; a surge protector installed by a qualified electrician or your local power provider is the way to go, however if thats not affordable, go to your thermostats and switch to the off position till the storm passes, this may save the units from any spikes in line voltage.

Periodic cleaning of the outside unit is a must, when fans are clogged, air cannot circulate causing the unit to overheat creating the system to reach high pressures and temperatures beyond the name plate maximum it can cause the system to shut down, can cause compressor failure ,also wires and electrical components to possibly burn up

Here are 2 photos of what an inside Blower motor looks like when homeowners fail to change their filter, every 3 months is recommended, unless high traffic in & out occurs within the home; this family had 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 3 teenage siblings, in this case, once a month filter change is highly recommended.

We recommend during fall like weather, to have an annual gas furnace inspection by a licensed HVAC contractor; photo #1 all appears to be ok, however, photo #2 with continued inspection revealed a potentially dangerous situation for this family of 4, finally, photo # 3 after tear down, shows flue lines rusted out in need of being replaced.

I’ve been asked by my customers “How does a Heat pump differ from a gas burning furnace; in simpler terms, a heat pump both inside and outside is powered by  220 volts, gas furnace uses both 110 and 220 volts a heat pump has 2 means of heating your home, a gas furnace has only 1 source of heat. The 2nd form of heating in a heat pump is found inside the Air Handler called “Strip Heating”;(See Photo) during very cold weather both forms of heat are energized to satisfy thermostat setting; should outside unit breakdown, on your thermostat switch setting to “Emergency Heat” and only the Strip Heater will be energized to at least break the chill down till outside can be repaired.