You’ve probably read a few of our previous blog posts about a/c units producing water, and the problems this can cause without proper maintenance. The part we’ve not covered yet is how to get rid of this water! Obviously a drain is required but sometimes it can be difficult to install because of the units’ position and the difficulties posed in getting a suitable drain close by. This week alone we have attended two service calls with drain problems so, obviously, the universe is encouraging us to write about!
There are two choices when installing an indoor unit, which usually go above a ‘T’ bar ceiling. You have the choice of a sloped pipe or a pump, both of which would lead to your drain.
The pipe is the most common, mainly because it’s cheaper. If it’s a short distance to a good drain then this is the best solution but, if it’s a longer distance, the slope of the pipe has to be perfect and will need to be vented properly. This means a pipe should only be installed if a drain is easily accessible. Beware of tradesmen trying to install this purely because it is the cheapest option.
When the drain line becomes complicated either by distance or a requirement to go uphill, a pump quickly becomes the best option. The pump can be installed next to the unit, and then a hose is run to the drain. This hose can be run up to 100ft and even rise 20ft to the drain. Aside from the higher cost, the draw back to the pump is maintenance – they will need to be cleaned every few years.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area. We actively encourage feedback, comments and questions. You can leave a message here, or look us up on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you can always e- mail us too!
Why does my air conditioning always break down on the hottest day?
Hot day
It may seem like Murphy’s Law, the temperature goes up and your a/c equipment chooses that exact moment to break down, but there’s actually a logical reason for this to happen.
The hotter it gets, the harder your equipment needs to work. For example, if it’s 28°C outside and with your a/c running it’s 22°C inside, that’s a 6°C difference. Now consider when that changes to 32°C outside. Your equipment now has to make up a 10°C difference. So, as the a/c works harder any little problems will start to show….dirty filters, plugged ‘p’ traps, dirty coils, bad air flow etc will all start to affect performance.
So, if you want to keep your cool over the summer…keep all doors and windows closed when equipment is running (otherwise you’re just trying to cool your entire town!!) and make sure your machinery is well maintained and clean.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area. We actively encourage feedback, comments and questions. You can leave a message here, or look us up on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you can always e- mail us too!
This is the time of year when everything starts warming up (hopefully!) and your equipment will need to run at 100%
In the HVAC industry the first few hot days of the year are a very busy time for us. Everyone switches on their equipment, after leaving it off all winter, so everyone discovers their problems at exactly the same time. So, test your equipment NOW to be ahead of the game. If the cooling seems a bit weaker than last year, if it sounds different or there is a new noise or vibration, call in your HVAC provider and get it serviced as soon as possible.
A lot of people put this off, and find out the hard way that in the heat of mid summer it is A. the worst time possible to be without air conditioning and B. almost impossible to find an HVAC guy who can get to you any time soon (and, of course, people in high demand can also charge whatever they like). Get any little service repairs completed now and you’ll find that it will be done almost instantly and all parts for repairs or replacements will be in stock. This will not be true in another month or so!
What does a water leak have to do with a bird? Well, sometimes we get call outs to a water leak where the ceiling is full of water and it’s right below the air conditioner. All air conditioners have what’s called a ‘P’ trap and this is there to let the water drain away from the unit. It has a trapped bit of water so that air can’t come in or out of the unit (similar to the ‘U’ pipe under your sink).
Roof top air conditioning units tend to have the ‘P’ trap on the side so that it can just drain onto the roof and then use the existing drainage system. BUT, on a hot summers day, when water is in short supply, birds know that there is water in the trap. Being highly intelligent, they go collect rocks and drop them into the trap, raising the water level so they can take a drink! Over time your drain trap becomes clogged with these rocks to the point that the water can no longer drain, causing the air conditioner to fill with water and leak into your building.
A good maintenance program is essential for roof top units, and another easy fix is to put a 90 degree fitting on the end of the trap so the birds can no longer reach the water.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company serving Vancouver and the BC area. Always putting customer needs first, we constantly look for ways for you to save energy and money.
Back to basics again this month, the blower wheel is the bit of your equipment that pushes air through the ducts to heat or cool your space. There are lots of different ways of pushing air, but most manufacturers have settled on the ‘squirrel cage’ fan. This is basically just like the wheel you used to have your pet hamster run around in! In this case though a motor turns the wheel, while fins on the outside of the wheel grab the air and push it down the duct work.
No matter what kind of blower you have, it will get dirt on it and decrease the efficiency of your system. If it is not cleaned over a period of time it will eventually damage your equipment. This brings us back to last month’s blog and the importance of filters. Filters help to reduce the amount of dirt reaching the blower wheel, helping to keep your equipment in top condition.
Simple things make all the difference. Getting the basics right will save you a lot of time and money down the line.
Blower wheel
Squirrel cage wheel
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area. We actively encourage feedback, comments and questions. You can leave a message here, or look us up on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you can always e- mail us too!
This month we’re going back to basics, as some of you have pointed out that you know very little about our business and the Tip of the Month has occasionally been too technical.
So, the most basic equipment of all is the filters. All forced air heating and cooling systems must have filters installed (forced air simply means that the system uses a fan to ‘force’ the air through the space). Filters can range in price from $3 to $60, depending on the size and type of filter. Some systems need to use up to 3 filters in a row, for example in a kitchen where the exhaust air must be clean or a hospital where the filters will catch micro- organisms. Let’s focus on basic filters in common usage though. You definitely get what you pay for where filters are concerned. If you want cleaner air and need to keep out dust (in a computer server room, for example) paying a little extra for a quality filter makes a lot of sense. Where there is lots of fresh air and natural air movement (a public building with open air sections), a cheaper filter works just as well.
In most cases a middle of the road filter is a good bet. It should be checked 4 times a year, and maintenance programs can be set up to include filter changes and equipment checks at these times.
Cheep Filter
Good Filter
Here is a video of what a filter should not look like.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area. We actively encourage feedback, comments and questions. You can leave a message here, or look us up on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you can always e- mail us too!
Air conditioning is basically the movement of heat from one place to another. Heat pumps, ice rinks, geothermal systems and even your home refrigerator all use this principle.
An air conditioning system is a sealed system with refrigerant in it, which is pumped around a loop. There are 4 basic parts in the system:
1. the compressor, which is basically a pump to push the gas (refrigerant) around the loop;
2. the metering device, which is just a valve which controls the flow of gas;
3. & 4. an inside coil and an outside coil. One gets hot and one gets cold. In the case of a heat pump, the system can change which ones are hot or cold.
There are also endless lists of parts that can be added depending on your needs, but these 4 make up the basis of all systems.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area. We actively encourage feedback, comments and questions. You can leave a message here, or look us up on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you can always e- mail us too!
Does my Heating or A/C need oiling? I Hear Squeaking!
In a word – no! Many heating or cooling (HVAC) units use belts and pulleys to move the air around the building. There is a belt that goes between the pulleys on the electric motor and the blower wheel. When this belt is adjusted correctly the system will work for a long time with no problems. However, if this belt is loose, the pulleys and belt will wear much faster than they should. If the belt is too tight there is too much tension causing excessive wear on the bearings in the motor and blower. Both scenarios will produce a squeaking noise.
Newer equipment now uses variable speed motors which ramp up slowly and adjust speed depending on demand in the system. This is easier on the equipment and saves power.
Caledonia Integrated Services is an Energy Management, HVAC and Electrical company, serving Vancouver and BC area.
We actively encourage feedback, comments and questions. You can leave a message here, or look us up on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you can always e- mail us too!
HVAC technicians probably aren’t your first choice when this happens! Usually when someone sees water leaking from their ceiling they will call a roofer, assuming that rain is coming in somewhere (especially living in Vancouver!) or a plumber for a leaking pipe. It can be expensive to call out a professional, only to have him tell you that there’s nothing he can do and you need to call someone else. So, if you have an air conditioning unit here are some things to be aware of so that you can make an educated decision on who to call if this happens to you.
Think of your air conditioner like a glass of iced water, where water beads collect on the outside of the glass. In the same way, your air conditioner unit will pull water out of the air and cause it to condense. Over time, if the unit is not well maintained, the drain on the unit will plug with dirt, leaving the water with nowhere to go. It will overflow and cause a water leak.
So, make sure you have your machine regularly cleaned and checked to ensure this never happens to you.
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.
Why is there water on my ceiling?