Government Regulations

What does it take to change your unit out now in 2011. This is a complicated question. We will try to explain the process that you as a consumer and us as a contractor has to go thru to get cold air in your house. To understand this we have to start at the beginning. So keep checking back as this story is told. Also keep in mind that my opinions will creep in to this story from time to time, I will try to keep it as factual as possible.
Central heating didn't start being installed until the early 1900's. Most homes had only fire place to heat the house. Up until the 1940;s only the rich could afford a central heat system.When WWII ended is when they began to install central systems in most homes. In the fifty's home builders would offer a air conditioners as an add-on to the home sale.Up until this time heaters were installed by plemmers. There really was not an  air conditioning industries until now. Most air conditioning mechanics were plumbers. This is why you will still see a lot of company's that do both plumbing and air conditioning. (Most plumbers don't know that water flows down hill and this is why Air Conditioning technicinian get a bum rap, a lot are plumbers.) (My Opinion). We'll stop here.
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dcouch@thermalcool.com

Operating Cost

How much does it cost to operate an air conditioning unit. Every summer customers complain that there electric bill is so high there must be something wrong with there A/C. Well when your looking at your electric bill the thing you want to look at is the wattage used. You are billed by the amount of watts you use. Then you need to look at the temperature and compare it to the days and temperature of last year. I find that the usage is the same with a given temperature, just the cost went up. Here is a web site that you can use to figure how much your unit cost to operate.
http://www.hvacopcost.com/
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If you have questions you can email me at  dcouch@thermalcool.com

Why NATE

NATE (North American Technician Excellence) is a certification that technician get, that requires they complete a certain amount of training. What good is this for the consumer? Will it gives them a certain amount of confidence that they will get a qualified tech to fix the problem right.
For more information you can go to http://www.natex.org/ to fine a contractor in your area. If you are in the Inland Empire then we hope we are your first choice. All our technicians are NATE certified.
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Furnaces

The AFUE is the most widely used measure of a furnace's heating efficiency. It measures the amount of heat actually delivered to your house compared to the amount of fuel that you must supply to the furnace. Thus, a furnace that has an 80% AFUE rating converts 80% of the fuel that you supply to heat -- the other 20% is lost out of the chimney. The US Department of Energy (DOE) determined that all furnaces sold in the US must have a minimum AFUE of 78%, beginning January 1, 1992. Mobile home furnaces are required to have a minimum AFUE of 75%. If you have more  questions email me at dcouch@thermalcool.com

Safety First this Thanksgiving

I am going to stray away from the energy savings subject this week and talk about safety in regards to your home.
As a service tech with 30 plus years service experience, I have seen a lot of safety violations when it comes to heating your house. I have found people turn on all the burners and stove to heat there house because the heater broke. Please if you do this , STOP! a gas range is not vented so the flue gas which has high concentrations of CO (carbonmonoxide) will build up inside of your house. If left on long enough you could die from CO poisoning. If you use your stove to cook with you should always turn your kitchen hood vent on to help exhaust the CO. Do not bring the Bar-B-Que in to the living room to heat your house. Do not bring any open flame appliance into your house to heat it. If your heater breaks call a reputable service company out to fix it. If you can't get some one out soon enough get a hotel room or stay with friends. Always have your heated check and serviced before using it each season.
Have a happy Thanksgiving, be safe and you can e-mail me with any questions you may have about your air conditioning and heating system at dcouch .@thermalcool.com
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Air Conditioning SEER Ratings

When buying a new Air conditioning unit you want to get the highest SEER rating you can afford.(Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) The higher the number the higher the efficiency. The minimum is 13 SEER, they go up from there. A high efficiency unit installed on a poor undersized leaky duct system will not give you the savings you would expect, so have your ducts tested before you buy.
www.thermalcool.com http://www.science.energy.gov/sbir/awards_abstracts/sttr/cycle4/phase2/abstract/3.htm

Duct Leakage

One place you can save a lot of energy is in your duct system.The U.S. Department of Energy says that (The typical duct system loses 25 to 40 percent of the heating or cooling energy put out by the central furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner)If your house was built before the 1980's Its a good bet that you could benefit by having your ducts tested. Even if it were built after the 1980's chances are you have leaky ducts and could benefit.
If your heater is located in the garage and your platform is leaking you could be sucking chemicals from the garage into the house.
WARNING: Do not try to seal up your duct system if you have not been trained. Their are test that should be done before and after the duct system is sealed to make sure that there is not a combustion safety problem. This should only be done by qualified technicians.
Any questions about any heating or cooling e-mail us at dcouch. @thermalcool.com
www.thermalcool.com

Air Filter Vs Air Cleaner

This is a good question. There is a big difference. Air filters do exactly that, they filter, and are mainly there to protect the system, not for air quality. They do not remove air contaminants or odors. Depending on your house, and life stile you should change your filter sooner than later. (At least 2 times per year). The dirtier they get the more it cost to operate your system and the worst the performance of your system. If you notice that your system is not heating or cooling properly, the first thing you should do is replace your filter.
Air cleaners on the other hand are designed to clean and remove air contaminants. Here is a good source for information on air cleaners. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/airclean.html  Before you buy an air cleaner do your home work. There are a lot of claims and some, flat aren't true.
Bottom line to save energy change your filter.
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www.thermalcoolinc.com 

Thermostats

Programmable thermostats are a good way to save energy. It is not recommended turning off your thermostat. The amount of energy it takes to cool or heat your house after the system has been off for 8 to 10 hours, is more than the amount of energy it takes to maintain the temp at 82 to 84 degrees. If the thermostat is programed to 78 degrees during occupied time the recovery time and the energy consumption is less, saving you money and giving you better comfort.www.thermalcool.com
http://www.thermalcoolinc.com/thermostats.asp You can find the thermostat here for the one that works best for you

This is our first attempt at blogging. We hope to give advice and tips on keeping your air conditioning system and house energy efficient. We'll give a weekly tip of how to to keep your equipment operating efficiently and safe. We will answer any questions you have about your heating and air conditioning system air quality, duct cleaning, whole house fans, or what ever is on your mind about your house.www.thermalcool.com