The warm weather is finally upon us so here are a couple of ideas to make sure your air conditioning is energy efficient…

•  Keep all doors and windows closed if you are running air conditioning. You don’t want to try to cool the entire city!
•  Don’t try to program your settings too low. If you put the temperature lower than around 68 °F the machine will ice up, stop working, and cost you HVAC call out fees.
•  Program your a/c to come on a couple of hours earlier, just for the warm spell. That way staff will be coming into cooler temperatures and are less likely to mess around with the thermostat (see above!)
•  Make sure your filters and coils are clean for optimum efficiency. All that cotton wood last month will play havoc with your equipment if you haven’t had it serviced.

Stay safe in the sun – and have a wonderful July.

Can you smell gas?

A friend of mine gave me the shocking answer to this question the other day. There were some workmen in her apartment, completing a small 15 minute job. Although she could smell gas she assumed it was something they were doing and ignored it. After they left she could still smell it so she opened her balcony door and all the windows, and also switched on a fan. She then sat in the apartment (she works from home) for 4 hours until her husband came home and was met with a very strong smell of gas. The gas stove had been knocked slightly at some point during the morning and had been leaking gas for the rest of the day! And, here’s the thing, my friend had sat in it for so long that she could no longer smell it.

Luckily this story has a happy ending….they left the apartment as quickly as possible to air it, and took the opportunity to have a coffee date! However, things don’t always turn out so well so, if you DO smell gas take the following steps:

Leave as quickly as possible.
Do not use anything that could cause a spark ie a cell phone, light switch etc. Absolutely DO NOT SMOKE!
Once outside call the gas company.
Even if you have stopped the leak (stove burner on or similar) still get out of the building until it has had time to disperse.

Well the sun has started to shine and the temperatures have started to rise….and now is the perfect time to think about getting your air conditioning installed or serviced.

What is energy management?

This is a phrase that you hear a lot these days….but how many people actually know what it means? We hope this helps!
Energy Management is the control of your energy usage. It can be as simple as a sticker on a light switch, telling people to turn off the light when leaving the room; to a fully computerised building control system.
Any equipment that’s running is consuming power. Anything that is not  required to run 24/7 can be controlled by a system and automatically turned off.
Alarms can be added to let you know when there is a problem that needs your  immediate attention.

What is a heat pump?
This is a question I get a lot! Most of us have been in this trade for so long that we take it for granted that everyone knows but let’s step back and try to answer the question…

 
The simplest answer is a heat pump is an air conditioner that can run backward. This means that in the winter the outside coil will get cold and the inside coil will give off heat, and vice versa in the summer. It is a very versatile and energy efficient piece of equipment that would benefit most homes and workplaces.

Did you know….?
The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty to protect the earth’s ozone layer and phase out the production and importation of ozone depleting substances. As of January 1st 2010 the next phase out took effect, from now on, no new R-22 equipment can be manufactured or imported, and the annual allowable amount of HCFC’s is reduced by 75%.
What is R-22?
R-22 is a gas, which is the main refrigerant used in air conditioning equipment.
What does this mean to you? Does your equipment use R-22?
95% of the Air Conditioning equipment in use today is using R-22.
What can you do?
Maintain your equipment properly and professionally, use some of the many energy management ideas to cut down on run-time with, and reduce the load the best you can (i.e. keep windows and doors closed etc).

Season’s greetings!

Christmas is almost upon us and, as an early Christmas gift, we are offering a great deal on furnace services. For just $119.99 we will service your equipment and make sure you are safe and warm for the Yuletide season. This offer will end on 22nd December, so make an appointment fast and you’ll have one more thing ticked off your Christmas list!

Still 10% off furnaces – offer ends soon.  Read October and September for details.

Thinking of a new furnace? Here’s what you need to know before buying.

With new furnaces there are three main variables to the cost:

• the efficiency percentage
Old furnaces are 60% to 80% efficient. The high efficiency furnaces are 95%+ efficient because they take more of the heat out of the gas. This cools the gas so much it can be vented with plastic (PVC) pipes out the side of your house.

• the choice of gas valve
With the old, mid efficiency furnace, the gas valve opened 100% until it got warm, and then the blower motor came on. Unfortunately, during this time, all the heat goes up the chimney! Newer furnaces will fire on a low/high or on a modulating gas valve (at 25%), which will save a lot of gas, and therefore money during the heating cycle.

• the type of blower motor.
The new blower motors, which move air around your house, are now variable speed ECM motors. This means they will ramp up and down slowly, providing quiet and efficient air distribution whilst reducing overall utility consumption.

With our years of experience and our eyes on costs, we are beating competitors on services and price.

And, even though the cold weather is now upon us, we are still offering 10% discount on all service and installs. (see September’s posting below for more details). Make sure you don’t miss out on this great offer.

So call now and ask questions, get a quote, or make an appointment.