Serving the Communities of North Central Florida since 1998
The “no cool” is the most common air conditioning emergency call we get. Our technicians are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to rush out to help with whatever has caused and AC to stop doing its job.
There are several reasons for an air conditioner to stop working. A common one we’re going to look at today is a problem with a contactor. What’s a contactor? That’s as good a place to start as any …
Mid-summer heat can be tough to bear in North Central Florida. The combination of high temperatures and high relative humidity means sweat and plenty of it. Fortunately, if your house has a quality central air conditioning system able to handle the high temperatures, you’ll have a fantastic oasis to escape from the worst conditions of the summer.
Unless…
And that unless is why we have this post. You may discover your air conditioning system can’t keep up with this summer’s heat and humidity. You can hear it running, feel cool air coming from the vents, but it’s just not enough. The house is too hot and stuffy. What’s going on?
What’s the best way to lower how much you pay to run your air conditioner during the summer? That’s an easy one to answer: run the air conditioning system less often!
That’s a bit easier said than done, but if you remember to raise the thermostat to higher levels (such as around 78°F during the day when people are home), you’ll see a noticeable drop in your cooling costs.
However, this post isn’t focusing on saving money by using the AC less often. It’s about the health benefits of running your air conditioner less often.
The time is here once again—time to schedule your air conditioning maintenance in Lake Butler, FL or elsewhere in North Central Florida. If you’ve signed our Energy Savings Agreement, then you’re ready to go! Just call our office to set up your maintenance appointment. If you haven’t signed up yet, then you’re almost ready to go! Just call our office to sign up, and we’ll take it from there.
Spring AC maintenance is usually straightforward. Our techs inspect your cooling system, clean and adjust it, and then inform you about anything they’ve noticed that may require repair work (such as a loss of refrigerant to leaks). However, if you have an air conditioning system that’s in the 10 to 15-year range (or older) and/or you’ve noticed it isn’t working as well as it once did, we recommend asking the tech a few questions about the AC’s future. It may be time to have it replaced.
Humidity is obviously a big issue in Florida. It can make a moderately warm day seem stiflingly hot, and a hot day pretty miserable. The reason for this is that the higher levels of moisture make it harder for the body to release heat through perspiration. More heat is trapped in the body, and this makes the temperature feel hotter. On our occasional colder days during the winter, humidity is often welcome—but it’s still not something you want inside your home, since it promotes mold and mildew growth and can cause building damage.
But what about your home’s air conditioner? It helps with the heat, of course, which it does by removing heat from inside the house and exhausting it outside. Does it also help with humidity control? It’s a tricky “yes-but-more-like-no” answer which we’ll get into below.
When your home’s air conditioning system is running during the hot and humid Florida summers, you’ll occasionally hear a sound of water dripping inside it. This is a normal part of the AC’s operation: it’s the sound of water falling from the evaporator coil and going down a condensate drain.
So hearing water in the AC is no big deal. But if you see water dripping out of the AC in your house, something’s wrong and you may need to have professionals repair the system.
The modern air conditioning system is a complex piece of refrigeration equipment. Actually, electromechanical air conditioning has always been complex: newer systems have added on more computerized parts and taken away refrigerants that are toxic or explosive, so although you aren’t likely to cause an explosion by tinkering with an air conditioner on your own, you’re likely to make whatever is wrong with it much worse. You want only licensed and trained HVAC professionals to handle any air conditioning repair in Newberry, FL.
Have you noticed your air conditioner turning itself on and off every couple of minutes this summer? If so, you have a big problem. That behavior is called short cycling, and it places a huge amount of stress on the system. If you don’t call for repairs right away, you may end up replacing your air conditioner years sooner than you otherwise would. Read on to find out what causes short cycling, and the damage it can cause.
The more you use your air conditioner, the more strain the system is going to be put under. So, summer is going to naturally be a more stressful time for air conditioning systems. You should be especially vigilant for warning signs that your air conditioner is in need of repairs during this time of year. One of the most common signs that your system needs repairs is strange noises coming from it during operation. Let’s go over some of those strange noises now.
One of the worst possible problems that can happen to your air conditioner is a refrigerant leak. Refrigerant is the lifeblood of any air conditioning system, and without it the system starts to suffer. Low refrigerant can cause all sorts of problems, up to and including breakdowns. With this in mind, you should keep a close eye out for various signs that your air conditioner is leaking refrigerant. If you do spot any of these signs, call a professional to look at it as soon as possible.
