Boehmer Heating & Cooling Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Air Conditioning System Installation’

A Guide to Your Pittsburgh, PA Air Conditioning Installation Options

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

Choosing the right air conditioning system for installation in your home can be a more challenging endeavor than you may suspect. Many homeowners in the market for a new AC are taken aback at just how many options are available to them. It can be tough to sort through them all with confidence. When you schedule your air conditioning installation in Pittsburgh, PA with a qualified professional at Boehmer Heating & Cooling, you can be sure that you’ll get all the information you need in order to ensure that you are 100% satisfied with the decision you make. The same can be said regarding your satisfaction with the quality of the service you’ll receive.

Split central systems remain the standard for whole house cooling systems. Using an outdoor condenser unit along with a system of ductwork which distributes cooled air throughout your home, split central air conditioners have proven time and time again that they are an excellent home cooling option. Of course, not all homes can accommodate the bulky ductwork that they require, nor do all homeowners want to deal with the project of a ductwork installation.

For homes with too little space for ductwork installation, ductless mini splits are a great option. As you can probably guess by their name, ductwork is completed eliminated from the equation with a ductless mini split air conditioning system. Individual, wall mounted blowers are connected to an outdoor condenser unit by a simple conduit. Within this conduit are the refrigerant and power lines of the system, as well as drain lines where necessary. By distributing air directly, ductless mini splits are a great option for zone controlled cooling enthusiasts.

Heat pumps are another cooling system to consider. With a heat pump installation, you can keep your home comfortable throughout the year while using less energy than ever before. This is because heat pumps transfer ambient energy into or out of your home to keep it comfortable, rather than depending on the consumption of fuel for conditioning air. Only a small amount of electricity is used in the process. This makes for very efficient heating and cooling.

To learn more about the air conditioning installation options in Pittsburgh, PA, give Boehmer Heating & Cooling a call. We are happy to discuss all the different air conditioning systems we offer for installation in your home. Contact us today to schedule service.

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What is the COP and Why Is It Important? A Tip From McKeesport

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

If you’ve been researching air conditioners in McKeesport, you’ve probably seen all sorts of numbers associated with each model. One of these numbers is the Coefficient of Performance (COP). While it’s good to gather as much data as you can before you make a purchasing decision, you also need to know what that data means if it’s going to help you make the best selection possible.

Measuring COP

Calculating the COP for any air conditioning model is relatively simple. The number you see displayed on the box is the ratio of energy input to cooling output. For the most part, the air conditioners you’re probably been looking at have a COP of between 2.5 and 4.0, although newer models are beginning to appear with COPs of up to 5.0.

The higher the COP, of course, the more efficient the air conditioner, so it makes sense to take this number into account when you’re making your purchase. You should also keep in mind, though, that the COP is not a constant measurement. The warmer it is outside, the lower your unit’s COP will be. However, this is standard across all units, so a relative COP comparison is still a viable evaluation method.

If you’re not sure what COP you should look for or whether a lower number will be effective for your home (especially if you only need to cool a small space), you should talk to a professional who can help you match the right COP level to your particular living space.

Improving Efficiency

While it’s always a good idea to get an air conditioner with the best energy efficiency ratings possible, that’s not the only thing you can do to reduce your energy usage and keep your cooling costs down. For instance, there are plenty of ways to keep your home naturally cooler without even turning on the air conditioner.

Even when you do need to flip it on, anything else you can do to reduce the indoor temperature will make it easier for your air conditioner to keep your house comfortable. So put up some awnings, run the ceiling fan and close the blinds to block out that harsh afternoon sun. The more you can do to reduce your indoor temperature naturally, the less your air conditioner will have to do, and the lower your cooling costs will be. If you need more information, contact a professional.

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Why Install a Ductless Air Conditioner? A Question From Bethel Park

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

As you explore your options in terms of a new home air conditioning system, you will probably have to decide whether you want a system that uses ducts to get the cooled air around your Bethel Park house or one that is considered ductless. Each type of air conditioning system is appropriate in certain situations, so it is important to understand the benefits of each before you can make a decision.

Duct air conditioning systems are the more traditional type on the market today. They generally consist of an outdoor compressor and condenser unit and an indoor air handler. The outdoor unit passes the cooled air through ducts to the air handler, which then takes over circulating the air through the house and back out to the condenser again.

It makes sense to install this type of air conditioning system if you have a large house or if you have ducts already in place. Duct air conditioners can cool a moderate to large sized house quite effectively and they can also be coupled with zone control systems to give you multiple climate zones within your house.

Ductless air conditioners, as their name suggests, do not rely on a system of air ducts to get cooled air distributed throughout your house. Instead, these types of systems use refrigerant lines to transfer coolant from the outdoor compressor to the indoor, wall mounted units. Each of these indoor units can take care of cooling one or two rooms, but in order to cool an entire house with one of these systems, you will need to install multiple indoor units.

However, these multiple indoor units can all be connected to the same outdoor compressor, and they can also be controlled independently. That gives you much greater control over which parts of your house are cooled and how much energy you are using to cool areas that may or may not be occupied.

Ductless air conditioners are generally more energy efficient than ducted ones, but their real advantage comes from the facts that they can be installed even in places where air ducts do not exist or cannot go. If you do not already have ductwork in your house, installing a duct system will add considerably to the price of installing a ducted air conditioning system. In a case like this, a ductless system is much easier and cheaper to install and certainly makes more sense.

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What Size Air Conditioner Will Fit My Home? A Question From Brentwood

Monday, August 15th, 2011

When you are trying to determine what size air conditioner to get in Brentwood, the first thing you need to know is how large the space you want to keep cool is. Air conditioners come in a wide variety of sizes and each is appropriate for a particular type of space. So once you know how big the space is, you will be able to compare that to the capacities of the various air conditioners out there to find the right one for your needs.

The cooling power of air conditioners is actually measured in British Thermal Units, or BTUs. Each BTU rating corresponds to a particular square footage which that air conditioner should be able to cool properly and efficiently. For instance, a 10,000 BTU air conditioner can cool a room that measures between 400 and 450 square feet, and so forth. The higher the BTU, the larger the area the air conditioner can acceptably cover.

It is pretty easy to see why you would not want to pick out an air conditioner that is too small for the space you need to cool. The system simply would not be able to keep the space cool enough and it would use a lot of energy trying.

However, that does not mean that the bigger the air conditioner is the better. In fact, you will do just as poorly to purchase an air conditioner that is too big for the space you want to cool than one that is too small. This is because air conditioners do more than cool the room. They also remove humidity as they cool the space.

An air conditioner that is too large will cool the room quickly, causing it to switch on and off frequently. Not only is this annoying because of the noise that the air conditioner makes, but it also increases the wear and tear that the unit must endure. An air conditioner that is too big will also not be able to remove humidity as efficiently because the room is cooled so quickly. Plus, it will use much more energy than necessary to do a sub-standard job.

With these types of calculations, it is relatively easy to pick out a single room air conditioner. However, if you are trying to purchase a whole home air conditioning system, you will probably need a professional to help you figure out exactly how powerful you need the system to be to keep your home comfortable and cool all summer long.

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