Bob Villa, home-improvement maaven for the ages, has provided ways that you can make sure your air system is energy efficient. His site goes through the very beginning of chosing a correctly sized Air Conditioner, to what you can do to make sure your unit stays efficient.
View the original article here:
http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/EnergyWise_House_Energy_Efficient_Air_Conditioning-Air_Conditioning-A1629.html
Some of the highlights:
- Make sure your air conditioning is properly sized - bigger isn't always better. If your unit is too large, the air conditioner will turn on and off too quickly - and that wastes money and energy!
- Make sure you choose a contractor that takes the time to explain things to you. If there isn't a clear vision, or a precisely written contract - RUN the other way.
"Hiring Professional Service
When your air conditioner needs more than the regular maintenance described previously, hire a professional service technician. A well-trained technician will find and fix problems in your air conditioning system. However, not all service technicians are competent. Incompetent service technicians forsake proper diagnosis and perform only minimal stop-gap measures. Insist that the technician:
• check for correct amount of refrigerant;
• test for refrigerant leaks using a leak detector;
• capture any refrigerant that must be evacuated from the system, instead of illegally releasing it to the atmosphere;
• check for and seal duct leakage in central systems;
• measure air flow through the evaporator coil;
• verify the correct electric control sequence and make sure that the heating system and cooling system cannot operate simultaneously;
• inspect electric terminals, clean and tighten connections, and apply a non-conductive coating if necessary;
• oil motors and check belts for tightness and wear; and
• check the accuracy of the thermostat."
"If you are replacing an older or failed split system, be sure that the evaporator coil is replaced with a new one that exactly matches the condenser coil in the new condensing unit. (The air conditioner's efficiency will likely not improve if the existing evaporator coil is left in place; in fact, the old coil could cause the new compressor to fail prematurely.)"
Just some helpful hints...from Bob Villa. ;) Happy Home-making...
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