Before you make your decision to install a cooling system, be aware of the power that each device draws. A medium capacity window air conditioner is generally rated 1.5 kW, an air cooler usually draws 150 W, and a ceiling fan’s rating is usually 60 W. So, a single air conditioner is equivalent 15 coolers and 25 ceiling fans. Study your cooling requirements first and then make a decision based on your budget. Talking in money terms, if you use an air conditioner, you are going to spend 25 times more than a ceiling fan and 15 times more than an air cooler, provided the time of operation remains the same.

Air conditioners contribute nearly 45–50% to the monthly electricity bill for homes and non-industrial commercial installations. So, should you invest in an air-conditioner? I’d say yes. If you use it efficiently, it could easily turn out to be a well-justified and fruitful investment.

Here are a few guidelines that will prevent your electricity bill from shooting up.

Keep Your Air Conditioner Well-Serviced & In A Good Condition

Getting your air conditioner serviced at regular intervals helps to bring your bills down. To keep your air conditioner well maintained, remove and clean its dust filters once every two months. If you live in an area with high particulate matter in atmosphere, do it once a month. When you notice some issue with your air conditioner’s cooling, seek professional help immediately. Note that an air conditioner is a power intensive appliance; every fault can be a potential source of fire. Hence do not delay to get your air conditioner suitably serviced in case it develops some trouble. Do not attempt to service it yourself because of heavy currents involved.

In case you have been successfully using your air conditioner for a long time, consider replacing it with a new one. Investing in a new air conditioner makes sense because of better technology and more efficient cooling available which can bring your electricity bills down by about 40%. Do not forget to make sure that the product you buy has appropriate ratings, such as Energy Star ratings provided jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – such ratings certify that the product is energy efficient product that helps to save money and protect the environment.

Never cool more than necessary

Cooling can be adjusted through the thermostat provided – which can be analog, knob type or digital and remote controlled. The thermostat is perhaps the most important tool in your hands towards efficient use of your air conditioner. You can save a significant amount of energy by choosing the right degree of cooling – set the thermostat as high as is comfortable to you. Remember, more the difference between ambient temperature and the desired temperature, more work your air conditioner needs to do, and hence higher is the energy consumption. I cannot give you a simpler yet more efficient tip than this. Once the space has been cooled sufficiently, avoid introducing any source of heat such as high wattage electricity lamp into the cooled space.

Do not let cooled air escape or leak

It is essential to keep all outlets – and escapes too – of air such as doors, windows, ventilators, chimneys if any, etc. tightly closed for an air conditioner to cool quickly. Doing so would also keep your space cool for longer. A little personal discipline may also come in handy – avoid entering and exiting the cool space too frequently. This is not only energy efficient; it also protects you from falling ill due to frequent temperature variation. Make sure that no cool air is leaked from the cooling ducts of your air conditioner. Inspect once a month and get it serviced or replaced in case you find an escape route for cool air.

Use blinds or curtains to minimize strong, direct sunlight

Simply stop any more heat from entering your cool space, and you’ll be minimizing the effort your air conditioner needs to make towards cooling it. To prevent direct strong sunlight, curtains, drapes, shades or blinds may be used. Covering your windows from outside can also help. Grow shrubs out of your windows, so that only indirect light enters your space. Prevent heat generation within the cool space by keeping all unnecessary electrical appliances off and avoiding use of any heat generating appliances like ovens, toasters, electric irons, etc.

Besides these tips, you may also want to place a shade over your air conditioner. An air conditioner under direct, strong sunlight will consume about 5-10% more energy. Use your air conditioner intermittently – this is generally facilitated by the thermostat. While an air conditioner is definitely an energy-intensive appliance, how you use it is as important towards minimizing your monthly electricity bill.

Air conditioner not turning “ON”

In case your air conditioner does not turn on when the temperature inside is well above the thermostat setting, it can be either because of thermostat or because the circuit breaker has opened leading to loss of supply. Make sure that your thermostat is set for cooling function and the preset temperature is below the room temperature. In case your thermostat settings are fine, verify the health of the electrical supply cable, and look at fuses and circuit breaker to find out if any of them have blown or opened. If yes, replace the fuse or close the circuit breaker. This should turn on your air conditioner. In case it doesn’t turn on, seek help of HVAC professional.

Troublesome Blower Unit

For a troublesome blower unit, cleaning it thoroughly is a good idea. Make sure that the entire air duct too is cleaned thoroughly. In case the air speed seems diminished, check the health of blower blades. If broken, they usually cannot be repaired, so replacing the blower may be the only option.

Strange Sounds?

If the air conditioner makes a strange sound, especially at higher fan speeds, it is most probably due to obstructed air filters. For such problems, cleaning the air filters usually solves the problem. If they are very old or a source of unpleasant odor, replace air filters.

Compressor servicing

In case the air conditioner doesn’t cool enough, it may be either because the compressor needs service or because it doesn’t have enough refrigerant. Make sure that the compressor doesn’t heat up much in day to day operation. Problems of such nature are generally not fixable at home; it would serve you well to seek professional help in such cases.

Water accumulation

If you see accumulated water near the unit, it means that the condensation drain tube is stuck. To solve such cases, make sure that the tubing is freed from obstructions and cleaned.

Other Problems

Besides these, there can be other problems generally caused due to environmental factors. For factors like voltage fluctuations and under-voltage conditions, use suitable solid state voltage regulators. If inefficient insulation of refrigerant tubes is the problem, make sure that thick rubber insulation is used. Allowing cool air to leak through doors, windows, ventilators, etc, is another major cause of low cooling, so make sure that you retain the cool air as much as possible by not allowing it to escape. Keeping your air conditioning unit under shade, away from direct, strong sunlight and do not introduce or use sources of heat in the cooled space.

Electro-mechanical devices used to transfer heat from a point at lower temperature to another at higher temperature are known as heat pumps. The point from where excess heat is transferred is known as a source while the point where this heat is transferred to is known as sink. Heat pumps are widely used in extreme climatic conditions to keep the temperatures inside a building comfortable by drawing heat either from atmosphere or from under the ground.

A heat pump drawing air from atmosphere is known as an air source heat pump while the one drawing heat from under the ground is known as a geothermal heat pump. Depending on how it is used, and contrary to its name, a heat pump can be used for both heating and cooling.

The basic principle of operation of all heat pumps, including refrigerators, air conditioners and space heaters remains the same – transferring heat from a source at lower temperature to the sink at higher temperature while drawing little power.

Need of periodic Maintenance

Heat pumps are usually more energy efficient than alternative devices like air conditioners and electric furnaces. However, just like other appliances, they also need periodic maintenance and service.

A functional knowledge of basic components of a heat pump can prove to be handy in easy identification of heat pump problems. A heat pump essentially consists of a compressor, an evaporator – which is basically a circulating fan, valve to reverse the air flow, refrigeration unit also known as condenser.

Troubleshooting

Here are a few guidelines which would serve you well in fixing minor problems in your heat pump. Before you initiate heat pump troubleshooting, make sure that electricity supply to it is turned off.

1.    If no heat is transferred, check the main power supply. In case it is fine, check whether the compressor motor is overloaded. If yes, pressing the reset button should start the motor. In case it doesn’t work, seek professional help.

2.    If sufficient heat is not transferred, check for the obstructed air ducts. Other possible causes can be a lower setting of the thermostat or presence of dirt on air filters. Set the thermostat properly and clean the air filters for smooth operation.

3.    Another reason for insufficient heat transfer is either low pressure refrigerant, compressor damage or an unclean evaporator. Likewise, high refrigerant pressure is usually caused due to excess of refrigerant and an unclean condenser. Check these systems regularly to make sure that heat pumps continue to work without trouble.

4.    Heat pump freezing is another common problem caused either due to insufficient blower speed or clogging of evaporators or filters. To fix such problems, defrost your heat pump if possible. If such option is not available, seek help of HVAC professional.

5.    If your heat pump makes strange sounds during daily operation, check air ducts and mechanical parts of the heat pump like belts, wheels and the like. Fix the causes as necessary and check if such sounds are done away with.

Some additional servicing guidelines to prevent heat pump problems include cleaning fan blades, air ducts and air filters regularly.

Electric Furnace

Herewith a short description on the working of an electric furnace which is an important appliance used to keep homes warm in cold countries.

An electric furnace is basically used to keep houses and other buildings warm by blowing warm air into the space inside. This is done with the help of a blower fan that blows warm air from the electric furnace into a building. The temperature of the warm air being blown inside can be controlled through a thermostat.

Mechanism

Thermostat is a simple electrical appliance that is used to sense and measure temperature, though differently than a clinical thermometer.

When the air temperature inside the space falls below the preset temperature, the thermostat springs into action and switches on the heating coil and the blower of the electric furnace, generally housed either outside or under the house. A heating coil is nothing but a wire made of resistive material that is coiled and spaced closely to pack sufficient length into a small space. Electric current when passed through this coil of resistive wire generates considerable heat uniformly across the length of the wire. This heats up the air inside the furnace, which is then blown into the house or the building with the help of a blower fan to keep it comfortably warm.

This sets the air in circulation – the furnace sucks relatively colder air from outside the furnace, this air gets heated up and is blown into the house. Thus, the entire space begins to warm up, and so does the air feeding the furnace. This is an energy efficient practice where heated air is being re-circulated, and it helps to bring down the monthly electricity bill. In order to keep the air inside the house or building fresh, outside air can also be used. However, the outside air being cold enough cannot be warmed up in a single pass over the coil, and the furnace needs to work longer to bring the temperatures to comfortable levels, thus increasing the energy consumption.

When the air inside is sufficiently warm, the thermostat shuts off the electric furnace until the temperature again falls below the preset level. The cycle thus continues.

To conclude, an electric furnace is the most efficient, clean, non-polluting and economical space heating appliance. It operation and temperature regulation is easier than its alternatives like coal, wood or fossil fuel based furnaces. Moreover, because it is electric, it can be subjected to modern electronic control and automation which can greatly help in optimizing its use and making electric furnaces more energy efficient.

Roswell Air Conditioning

Our Roswell air conditioning repair team is always open to new ideas on how to better serve our commercial and residential clients. Air conditioners and heat pumps are under a lot of strain right now. Most days of July and August have been hot: way over 90 degrees on most days. Therefore, we are very busy. We will make room for you, so be patient. Settling for another contractor, especially one you’ve never heard of, will usually lead to regret.

Our Phones are Busy

Our call canter is working as hard as possible. STAY ON THE LINE. We’ve added personnel, so the wait will just be a few more seconds.