Dog Days Of Summer...
An office that's air-conditioned and blissfully cool is truly one of life's "creature comforts," especially in the humid, sticky days that lie ahead. So finding out your AC unit isn't working properly can leave you — quite literally — hot under the collar! What to do?
Here are some common reasons an AC unit might be wasting energy, working ineffectively, or not working at all:
Faulty ducts that leak air: Duct work has been identified at the #1 waste of energy in homes. Because there is no building code for duct work, shoddy workmanship can easily go undetected. Leaking duct work causes two problems: One, it wastes valuable cooled air. Two, it brings unwanted contaminants into your home — moisture, mold, odors and allergens.
Dirty coils: Air conditioners don't work by adding coolness to air, but rather by sucking heat out of it. The AC electro-mechanically and chemically (with a refrigerant) absorbs heat from your office and rejects that heat outside. To absorb heat, coils have to be cold and slime free. Even in the cleanest of homes, there are bacteria, pollutants and airborne contaminants and when this mix hits the wet air conditioning coil, it turns slimy. That slime is a great insulator, which means the AC can't absorb the heat from your home.
A broken condenser fan: The fan works in conjunction with your air conditioners coils, and works to expel air outdoors. A coil is like the radiator on your car. If the fan needs isn't running at peak and performance to push air across it, you'll overheat. And if the fan can't reject heat efficiently, your energy bills will be sky high, and your AC performance will be unacceptably low.
TXV issues: Think of the thermal expansion valve as a modulating unit inside your AC. It's like a needle moving back and forth to regular the amount of refrigerant that passes through the unit, depending on how much heating or cooling is needed. If it's not moving properly, it can either flood the system or restrict the flow — either way, it's not good. How would you know? Again, your air conditioner's performance would be low and your energy bills high.
The age of the unit: Even the best air conditioning units don't last forever and neither do their thermostats.
The good news? It is quite easy for a trained, competent technician with the right diagnostic tools to make a battery of tests and quickly ascertain if corrective action is needed. Regular maintenance is also key: it will not only prolong the life of your unit, but help you keep your cool.
Guardian offers a variety of building maintenance and repair services to provide you with trained and experienced personnel to implement services and achieve cost savings. Request a quote and have one of our technician's get to work for you ASAP!
#GuardianEngineering #GuardianHVAC # GuardianSoultion
An office that's air-conditioned and blissfully cool is truly one of life's "creature comforts," especially in the humid, sticky days that lie ahead. So finding out your AC unit isn't working properly can leave you — quite literally — hot under the collar! What to do?
Here are some common reasons an AC unit might be wasting energy, working ineffectively, or not working at all:
Faulty ducts that leak air: Duct work has been identified at the #1 waste of energy in homes. Because there is no building code for duct work, shoddy workmanship can easily go undetected. Leaking duct work causes two problems: One, it wastes valuable cooled air. Two, it brings unwanted contaminants into your home — moisture, mold, odors and allergens.
Dirty coils: Air conditioners don't work by adding coolness to air, but rather by sucking heat out of it. The AC electro-mechanically and chemically (with a refrigerant) absorbs heat from your office and rejects that heat outside. To absorb heat, coils have to be cold and slime free. Even in the cleanest of homes, there are bacteria, pollutants and airborne contaminants and when this mix hits the wet air conditioning coil, it turns slimy. That slime is a great insulator, which means the AC can't absorb the heat from your home.
A broken condenser fan: The fan works in conjunction with your air conditioners coils, and works to expel air outdoors. A coil is like the radiator on your car. If the fan needs isn't running at peak and performance to push air across it, you'll overheat. And if the fan can't reject heat efficiently, your energy bills will be sky high, and your AC performance will be unacceptably low.
TXV issues: Think of the thermal expansion valve as a modulating unit inside your AC. It's like a needle moving back and forth to regular the amount of refrigerant that passes through the unit, depending on how much heating or cooling is needed. If it's not moving properly, it can either flood the system or restrict the flow — either way, it's not good. How would you know? Again, your air conditioner's performance would be low and your energy bills high.
The age of the unit: Even the best air conditioning units don't last forever and neither do their thermostats.
The good news? It is quite easy for a trained, competent technician with the right diagnostic tools to make a battery of tests and quickly ascertain if corrective action is needed. Regular maintenance is also key: it will not only prolong the life of your unit, but help you keep your cool.
Guardian offers a variety of building maintenance and repair services to provide you with trained and experienced personnel to implement services and achieve cost savings. Request a quote and have one of our technician's get to work for you ASAP!
#GuardianEngineering #GuardianHVAC # GuardianSoultion
Comments
Post a Comment