Air conditioners today use about 50% less energy than they did in 1990. This is great news for all of us that live in hot climates. However, it is important to maintain your HVAC system, or you might as well go back to a time before 1990. The efficiency and longevity of your commercial air conditioning system is nearly entirely dependent on how well you maintain it. There are a lot of different models and a lot of different prices on AC Units. Additionally, while energy efficiency can definitely be kind to your wallet in the long run, you want to make sure that your commercial air conditioning unit is within your price range when you first buy it. Here are 4 tips on buying a new air conditioner.
First, look at the seasonal energy efficiency ratio, or SEER. This numerical value is an objective way to evaluate the efficiency of an AC unit. However, stick to budget. While a 21 SEER air conditioning unit might work extraordinarily well and be very efficient, it’s also going to cost you several thousand dollars more than something in the 14 to 16 range that really is going to get the job done. The second part of buying Energy efficient cooling systems is the size of the unit itself. Recognize that a “ton” is used to measure AC cooling power, similarly to the size of the engine in your car. Price is a hard point to talk about because similarly to buying a car, it depends on what make, model, brand, etc. Finally, it’s important to choose an HVAC contractor that you trust. This is the person that’s going to be installing it and you want to make sure it’s done correctly so that you don’t have any problems down the road.
Now that you’ve gotten your shiny new air conditioner, it’s important to know some at home residential AC repair tips. So the most important maintenance test that you can perform on your AC unit is changing or cleaning the air filters. This will help improve the efficiency and the length of life of your air conditioner. If you have a 1 inch pleated filters, it’s important to replace them approximately once a month. It’s important to note that if your AC unit is used constantly, if it’s exposed to a lot of dust, or if you have pets, you may need to change your filter a little bit more frequently. If you don’t know where air conditioners coils are, now would be the time to find out. The purpose of the coils is to collect dirt over time, but if it never gets cleaned it can cause trouble down the line. The dirt will reduce airflow as well as reduce the ability to absorb heat, so your AC unit won’t be pushing out as much cold air as it could be.
Exterior condenser coils can be a serious problem if the outdoor environment is unclean or if there is an excessive amount of leaves or other foliage near it. Make sure that your AC unit is free from debris. This might seem like a no brainer but a lot of people just don’t do it. Things like leaves, dirt, grass, etc. can build up on your air conditioner. This can impede airflow to your commercial air conditioning unit, which can be very dangerous to the unit itself as well as to your family.
Lastly, and this one’s a doozy, make sure that the coil fins are straight. These fins get bent easily, resulting in blocked airflow. This is something you may not want to do on your own and is probably best left to the professionals. If you need any type of AC installation or air duct cleaning, it can be tricky business and is best left to your local commercial air conditioning specialists