WINTER MAINTENANCE

There is still plenty of time to call and set up a maintenance on your system. Give our office a call and we will explain our Action USA (Ultimate Savings Agreement) Service Agreements. Choose one that fits your budget. We service and repair all makes and models.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics, click here to visit our website

HEAT PUMP DEFROST CYCLE/MODE

When the weather is colder, we get a lot of call from our customers stating that they saw smoke coming out of their outside heat pump condensing unit and there is ice on the unit. My first question to them usually is, "Is it ICE, or is it FROST?" Then they usually respond that it is frost. So I explain to them that the heat pump is in the defrost cycle/mode and it was steam, not smoke, that they saw and NOT to turn the system off because this is a normal function of the heat pump system.

When a homeowner sees a puff of steam coming out of their heat pump condensing unit, and it is a cold day, the heat pump is probably in the "defrost cycle/mode". The defrost cycle/mode is a normal function of a heat pump system in colder weather. Icing/frosting on a heat pump condenser is normal in cooler weather. The outdoor unit, which is normally an air conditioner, reverses the process and becomes a heater. In the heating mode, the outdoor coil becomes cooler than the outdoor air in order to absorb heat from the outdoor air and pump it indoors. The heat pump has a defrost cycle/mode that will reverse the heat pump back to the air conditioning mode when it detects ice/frost on the outdoor coil. In the cooling mode, the outdoor coil is hot from the heat absorbed from the indoor air. The hot outdoor coil melts the ice and then the defrost control returns the heat pump to the heating mode. During the defrost cycle/mode, the indoor coil is cold, so the auxiliary heat is used to temper the cooler air.

If you see ice (about a 1/4" thick), turn your thermostat to the auxilary/emergency heat mode and call your service provider.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics, click here to visit our website.

Air Scrubber Plus: Air Purification System

Applicable in homes, hospitals, schools, offices, and more, the Air Scrubber Plus® with ActivePure™ technology cleans, freshens, and purifies the air using specialized germicidal UV light waves along with a proprietary catalytic process that creates enviroscrubbing molecules of oxygen and hydrogen. It cleans the air and surfaces of a home or building, reducing up to 99 percent of surface microorganisms and a dramatic amount of airborne contaminants and allergens, said the manufacturer. The system works via a combination of UV light, oxygen, and water molecules reacting together and passing through the honeycomb cell coated with a proprietary formulation of non-nano titanium dioxide and other highly reactive metals. The oxidation process produces superoxide ions, hydroxyls, and hydrogen peroxide, which in turn cleans the air and surfaces in the indoor environment. It has a simple installation process that allows it to be incorporated into virtually any indoor heating and cooling system according to the company.


Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics, click here to visit our website.

SLICK LOCKS

Welcome to 2014. We hope you had a very nice Christmas and continue to have a great New Year.

Along with homeowners protecting their equipment, we in the service field also have to protect our investments. Below is an article we found that is quite interesting.

The commercial vehicle locking system, Slick Locks, is a no-drill puck lock security system. The system’s patented blade bracket design uses stainless steel hasps that pass between a vehicle’s doors and easily bolts to existing factory mounting points. According to the manufacturer, work vehicle security is a major issue for contractors, tradesmen, and fleet managers, due, in part, to remote job sites and valuable equipment that is stored inside the trucks. The locking systems install rapidly and are a cost-effective way to meet a truck fleet’s security needs, said the company. The Slick Locks locking systems are available for work vehicles, including the Ford Transit Connect, full-size Ford Econoline, and Chevy Express in both sliding and 60/40 hinged-door models.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Indoor Air Quality and other HVAC topics, click here to visit our website.