Do you dread your monthly bills in the summer? Have you recently learned that your air conditioning costs are much higher than those of your friends and neighbors? Cooling costs can be quite high in the summer, but if your bills are unreasonable, there are a few reasons your bills may be higher than they need to be.
Boehmer Heating & Cooling Blog: Posts Tagged ‘AC Repair’
4 Reasons You’re Paying Too Much for Your Air Conditioning
Monday, August 8th, 2016The Hot Humid Air Makes Your AC Work at Maximum Capacity
Monday, June 20th, 2016When temperatures reach their peak this summer, your air conditioner will be working at maximum capacity. Most air conditioners (those without variable speed settings) only run at one speed. They are on or they are off. So when it’s hot out, your air conditioner has to run for a lot longer to reach the temperature you’ve set on the thermostat.
Why Would Water Leak from an Air Conditioner?
Monday, May 30th, 2016How Issues with Your Condensate Array Can Lead to Leaking
Monday, September 14th, 2015If you have a traditional split system air conditioner for your home, the system has two distinct units: the outdoor unit, which holds the condenser, compressor and condenser fan, and the indoor unit, which holds the blower and evaporator coils. Depending on your home and your preference, the indoor unit may be placed in a basement above your furnace or in your attic space. In either location, the moisture the system pulls from your indoor air as it dehumidifies has to go somewhere, and this moisture gets to your sewer line from two components known as the condensate array. When the condensate array is working properly, it directs the excess moisture, in the form of water, to your sewer line; when it isn’t working properly, it can cause major leaking issues.
Should My Air Conditioner Have an Odor to It?
Monday, August 17th, 2015You expect your stove to emit odors when cooking, or even your dryer if you use dryer sheets, but there’s never a good reason for any kind of smell to come from your air conditioning system in Mt. Lebanon, PA. In fact, if you are detecting an odor coming from your AC system, whether through the vents or from a component, it’s time to call your Boehmer Heating & Cooling expert for help.
Why Isn’t My AC Cooling?
Monday, July 27th, 2015It’s the dog days of summer, the time when you most need your air conditioner to work. It is also the common time of air conditioner malfunction and breakdown, because the hottest days are the ones during which your AC works the most. If you wake up to a warm house, or come home to one, you may be wondering: why isn’t my AC cooling? The trained AC experts at Boehmer Heating & Cooling can help you with this.
Why Is There Frost on My Air Conditioning Coils?
Monday, May 4th, 2015Spring is fully underway and with it, summer can’t be far behind. The Pittsburgh, PA area experiences bouts of high heat and humidity throughout the summer months, which means that homeowners need to have their air conditioners fired up and ready to go. One of the most obvious signs of trouble is the appearance of frost on your coils, something that most laymen would see as normal. The air conditioner is supposed to make things cold. Why should a little frost raise an issue? In point of fact, however, frost on the air conditioning system represents a serious problem, required professional service to correct. “Why is there frost on my air conditioning coils?” you ask. Because your refrigerant is likely leaking.
Ways to Avoid Air Conditioning Repair This Summer
Monday, April 13th, 2015If we could offer you an air conditioning system that was guaranteed never to break, we’d do it in a Pittsburgh minute. We can’t do that because such an air conditioning system doesn’t exist, but what our experts can offer you are some great tips on how to avoid air conditioning repair and reduce your incidence of repair.
Pittsburgh AC Repair Question: Why Is My Air Conditioner Not Cooling?
Monday, May 7th, 2012Designed for one to two decades of life, your Pittsburgh air conditioner is able to run virtually trouble free with just a little maintenance annually. If these little things like changing the air filter and cleaning the drain are not done regularly, the neglected units can really lose their cooling power.
The Basic Course
Through a process which involves the rapid evaporation and condensation of chemicals called refrigerants, air conditioners use compounds that have properties that allow them to change rapidly from gas to liquid and back again at low temperatures.
Heat is absorbed when the liquid evaporates and transforms into gas, making the space around it cooler. Compressing it tightly together again, the heated gas condenses back into liquid with a residue of unwanted moisture that must be released and is vented usually to the outdoors.
The newly cooled air is distributed through the house by means of ductworks, pushed by fans driven by electric motors. As the air moves along, it passes through a filter and can be further de-humidified.
Problems in the System
If the filter is clogged, movement of the cooled air is slowed to the point we might think the unit is broken. If the condensate drain is plugged, the motor can get damaged and stop producing. Regular maintenance performed by the home owner or as a service of Boehmer Heating & Cooling can avoid or eliminate these simple aggravations.
When the heat builds, however, and cool relief seems nowhere near the air ducts, it may be time to call a professional to dig deeper to find the reason and suggest solutions.
Back to Cool
If not serviced regularly, the amount of refrigerant in the coils may decrease over time or the coils themselves could get clogged and impede the evaporation/condensation process. A leak in the coils could drain the system, rendering the unit useless and wholly unproductive.
There are belts on each of the two separate fan motors which may be worn or loose, causing the fans to blow less efficiently. The motor may need to be oiled or have a broken part that doesn’t allow it to push the air at all.
Most of the time, these fixes are relatively minor and do not threaten the life of the air conditioning unit. Schedule an annual inspection and service from a certified Pittsburgh HVAC company like Boehmer Heating & Cooling to take it off your list and stay cool.