Best Ways to Find an HVAC Leak

The refrigerant level in your HVAC system shouldn’t drop under normal conditions. This is because refrigerant isn’t used up or consumed – it simply moves through a sealed loop of copper tubing, absorbing heat as it goes through the evaporator coil, and releasing it outdoors via the condenser coil. If the refrigerant is escaping through an HVAC leak, a range of problems will develop, including:

Higher Utility Bills

As refrigerant leaks out, the HVAC system will have to cycle longer and burn more energy to reach your chosen temperature setting on the thermostat.

Decrease in Cooling Capabilities

A drop in the refrigerant level causes a corresponding decrease in your HVAC’s cooling capabilities. This means your home will stay feeling uncomfortably hot and humid, even after you lower the thermostat setting.

Warmer Air at the Registers

If you test the temperature of the airflow coming from your home’s A/C vents, you’ll find it doesn’t feel as cool as usual.

Odd Noises From the Coils

An HVAC leak in either the evaporator or condenser coil often causes a distinctive gurgling or hissing noise. Not hearing these sounds doesn’t mean the refrigerant level is fine, because leaks can also occur …

Why Sealed Combustion Closet is Essential for Safe Home Air

If your Peachtree City home has a gas furnace or water heater inside, you may not realize that the equipment can pose a hazard to your family’s health and safety. To ensure you have a healthy, safe home air supply, it’s vital to learn about this potential risk and why a sealed combustion closet is the solution.

Why Combustion Equipment May Pose a Safety Risk

Furnaces and water heaters are commonly installed within the conditioned envelope of a home, so they get the air needed for combustion from the surrounding room. They’re also vented outdoors to allow exhaust fumes to exit. An installation setup like this can pose two serious threats to your family’s safety:

Water heater exhaust backdrafting. When combustion air is being drawn from inside the home and expelled outdoors, negative pressure can pull hazardous fumes back down the exhaust pipe. This can lead to incomplete fuel combustion in the appliance’s burner, and send life-threatening carbon monoxide into your home’s air supply. Loss of a critical furnace safety feature. If your water heater’s vent pipe is connected to your furnace flue and it becomes blocked, the sensor in the furnace may not accurately detect the resulting increase in …

The Various HVAC Types and Their Benefits

When it comes time to replace your HVAC system, choose carefully. While most homeowners tend to get the same type of system that they are replacing, this is an opportunity to assess new technology and decide if you would be better served with a new HVAC type. Read on for a brief summary of the most popular types.

Types of HVAC Systems The most common type of HVAC system is the forced air furnace and air conditioner. Most homeowners have a split system forced air HVAC, consisting of an outdoor condenser/compressor, and an indoor air handler and evaporator coils with air delivered through ductwork. Newer central air  models can be extremely efficient, with such features as a condensing furnace, electronically commutated motor, scroll compressor, and with a smart thermostat, the ability to control temperature remotely. Heat pumps have come a long way in the U.S. market, and have won over many homeowners because they are clean (no fossil fuels are burned), quiet and efficient. Heat pumps move warm air out to cool a home, and move refrigerant warmed by outside air inside to heat a house. They also are available with scroll compressors for greater efficiency.Geothermal heat pumps won’t work on everyone’s property, …

New HVAC Unit on the Way? Our HVAC Disposal and Recycling Guide

While routine care and professional maintenance can help prolong the life of your HVAC unit, a time comes when you have to invest in a new one. So can you just throw your old unit in the trash? No, you can’t. It contains chemical refrigerant that’s harmful to the environment. Fortunately, you can use one of the following HVAC disposal options to get rid of your old unit responsibly.

Dedicated Recycling Facility

Some specialized recycling facilities recycle large pieces of equipment and appliances like HVAC units, generators, and cooling towers. Some of these companies can arrange pickups for the recyclables while others will want you to deliver the items to their location. Policies regarding fees also differ from one facility to the next. You can call nearby recycling facilities to find out their policies.

Utility Company

Occasionally, utility companies offer bounty programs to ensure safe HVAC disposal. They buy back old appliances that meet specific qualifications, such as size and working condition. If your unit meets the stipulations of the bounty program, you can go ahead and discuss drop-off or pick-up options with a company representative. Contact your local utility provider and ask about the available bounty or rebate programs.

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A Toast to Air Quality: Raising Awareness and Why It’s Important

The fact that Earth Day closely precedes Air Quality Awareness Week is no surprise. Both are linked by how important air quality is to a healthy planet and home environment. Bad air harms both. In nature, all life pays a price when air quality suffers.

Outdoor Air

Outdoors, the Peachtree City area is plagued with high humidity that makes the hot weather in the summer uncomfortable. As the weather heats up, ozone pollution builds and harms the very young and old. It’s a respiratory irritant and anyone with COPD should avoid exposure to it.

Particulate matter is another pollutant in our air that can have health consequences. Tiny particles can lodge deep into the lungs and over time, cause irritations or trigger more serious diseases.

Indoor Air

Exposure to contaminants inside your home may have a more serious consequence than those outdoors. Besides all these contaminants in the outside air that make their way indoors, you might have a mix of other pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), mold spores, dust mite waste and pollen.

While you can avoid driving during certain hours when there are pollution advisories, there are things you can do indoors to improve your air quality …