Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

Month: April 2015

We all love freebies; there is no getting around the fact that receiving something, especially something that you really need, free of charge is a great feeling. However, it is generally wise to enter into any such deals with a healthy degree of skepticism. There are certainly great opportunities to be had by thrifty homeowners out there. Often, though, hidden caveats detract from the actual value of the deal at hand. This is our feeling regarding the free thermostat offer from the city that you may have heard about. If you are in the Fort Collins, CO area, consider this information from Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning before taking the city up on this offer.

No one here is contesting that you will get precisely what the offer states should you accept it: a free, internet-enabled thermostat. There are some strings attached, though. As power companies have a difficult time supplying sufficient energy to homes throughout the area during peak times of demand, such as very hot summer afternoons, they look for ways to cut down on demand. One way in which they do so is by adjusting your free thermostat themselves when they are reaching their peak output capacity.

Ultimately, it seems that the utility company is going to be enjoying the most savings as a result of this free thermostat program, rather than their customers taking them up on the offer. Your AC must run at least 10 minutes in order to really hit its stride and run at peak efficiency levels. If your air conditioner is running throughout the day in very hot temperatures, you do not want the utility company cycling it off, reducing the efficiency with which it operates once it gets going again.

If you are serious about cutting down on energy costs, without sacrificing the level of control that you have when cooling your home, then we suggest that you simply schedule routine air conditioning maintenance services with a member of our staff. We can also evaluate your system to ensure that it is of the right size for your home and that its installation was completed properly. A finely tuned, expertly installed AC, paired with a quality thermostat of your choosing, will keep you cool with the efficiency that you deserve. If you have any further questions regarding the AC services that we offer, or about our reluctance to endorse this free thermostat offer, just give a member of the Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning team a call today.

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Having too much or too little humidity in your home can lead to a number of issues for your comfort, the quality of the air in your home, your health, and even the condition of your property itself. If you suspect that the humidity level in your home is anything short of ideal, then you need to contact an IAQ professional immediately. Our staff can determine precisely what your home needs in order to maintain a healthier humidity level in your living space. We install and service both whole-house humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and we will make sure that yours is operating optimally. Contact Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning today to take control of the humidity in your Fort Collins, CO home.

Problems with Low Humidity

Living in a home filled with very dry air can dry out your body rapidly. You may find that your throat is often sore, or you may even suffer from frequent nosebleeds. Allergy sufferers may notice flare-ups in symptoms, and your skin will become dry and itchy. The problems don’t stop with those of your body, though. Increased static shocks can put your electronics at risk, paint may chip while wallpaper cracks, and you may even discover wooden floorboards or fixtures splitting. By using a whole-house humidifier in order to inject the right amount of moisture into the air filling your home, you can alleviate and avoid such symptoms and problems.

Effects of Very Humid Air in the Home

Having too much humidity in your home’s air is no better than having very arid air surrounding you. Humid air is more difficult to cool effectively, and will leave your home feeling muggy and uncomfortable. It can put unnecessary strain on your air conditioning system, and biological pollutants, including mold and bacteria, can thrive in humid settings. Wood rot is not uncommon in very humid households, nor is water staining and damage. A whole-house dehumidifier allows you to dry out the air in your home to an acceptable humidity level with great convenience.

Why Use a Whole-House Humidity Control System?

Portable and standalone humidifiers/dehumidifiers may be fine for treating a small dorm room or a specific area of the house. However, they are not ideal for resolving pervasive issues with humidity throughout the entire household. You won’t ever have to fill a whole-house humidifier with water, nor will you have to move your units around from room to room. If you are ready to invest in your comfort and health, schedule your whole-house humidifier and dehumidifier services with a member of our exceptional staff.

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Once the summer heat really hits, Fort Collins, CO can rapidly become an uncomfortably hot place to be. Of course, you can live in great comfort throughout even the hottest time of the year these days, so long as you have a dependable and effective air conditioning system set up in your home. If this is not the case, though, you may be wondering what your next move should be.

Many operational problems with home cooling systems are repairable, provided that you hire trained professionals to do the job. In other instances, though, your system may be beyond repair. It is not always clear cut, unfortunately, as to whether repair or replacement is your best option. That is why we have put together some information for you to consider. Contact Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning today to learn more about your AC repair and replacement options. 

If you have a relatively new air conditioning system, and it has broken down or is just not performing as you’d like it to, then you are probably going to opt to have it repaired. Any number of problems may affect the performance of an air conditioner, so it is necessary for an experienced professional to assess and repair your system. When inspecting matters, your AC technician may find that the problems are more pervasive than thought at first. Should your system be very new, it will likely make more sense to move ahead with repairs, though they may be substantial, as this probably still more cost effective than investing in a new AC.

In other instances, though, especially if repair needs are frequent, the cost of completing repairs may not be justified. With the money that you could save in both reduced repair needs and in increased efficiency, you can offset the initial cost of a replacement system over time. You must remember that you don’t have to wait for your system to break down entirely in order to justify a replacement, nor are all systems inherently worth repairing, even if they may still be repaired.

Finally, don’t be afraid to invest in a new air conditioner even if your old system is technically still operating proficiently. If you have an old system that is still capable of cooling your home effectively, but it does so with considerable energy expenditure resulting in high cooling costs, then replacing that system with a higher efficiency model may be preferable to continuing to run and maintain this older, inefficient model. As you can see, the decision to repair or replace an air conditioner is considerably trickier than you may have realized. Your best bet is to contact a skilled professional with the knowledge to offer his or her input on a case by case basis. Call us to do so.

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Modern day air conditioning systems are more reliable and efficient than ever before. Customizing your air conditioner in order to best suit your needs is a great way to get an even better overall performance from your AC. One of the most common ways in which homeowners throughout the Fort Collins, CO area choose to upgrade their home cooling systems is by incorporating zone control capabilities into them. With a zone control system, you can take greater control over the way in which you cool your home than you may previously have though possible. Below are a few reasons as to why you should consider the installation of a zone control system in your home. Contact Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning today with any questions that you may have regarding zone control.

 

  • Improved Control Over Your System: A zone control system utilizes a set of electronic dampers installed directly into your air ducts in order to further regulate the operation of your air conditioner. The home is broken up into temperature zones, and each zone is controlled by an independent thermostat. This allows you to cool different areas of your home to different temperatures.
  • Reduced Energy Usage: When you have no choice other than to cool your entire home, including unoccupied and rarely used areas, to the same temperature, you are likely going to expend more energy than you’d like in order to do so. By using a zone control system, though, you can cool only those areas of your home that you wish to, when you wish to. This can help you to boost energy efficiency in your home without sacrificing comfort.
  • Decreased Wear and Tear on Your AC: Your air conditioner is going to be put in heavy rotation throughout the hottest time of the year. The harder that your AC works, the more wear and tear it is subject to. Even reducing its workload by a small amount can help to keep your air conditioner in better condition, and that is possible when you utilize zone controlled cooling.

If you think that a zone control system is right for your property and your personal preferences, just give us a call. Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning can answer any questions that you may still have. Work with us to cool your home precisely as you want to.

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Among the greatest difficulties when heating and cooling one’s home is not only doing so effectively and efficiently, but doing so while also maintaining high levels of indoor air quality. Many modern homeowners seek to seal up their homes as tightly as possible in an effort to minimize any energy waste that may occur due to air leaks and other issues. The problem with this is that it negates the appropriate levels of natural ventilation which you need in order to keep the air in your home fresh.

By using an ERV or HRV in Fort Collins, CO, though, you can heat and cool your home efficiently while also allowing for sufficient ventilation, keeping the quality of the air in your home high. Here is some information to consider regarding such systems, courtesy of the IAQ experts here at Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. If you decide that an HRV or ERV is right for you, then just give us a call.

ERVs (energy recovery ventilators) and HRVs (heat recovery ventilators) are both mechanized ventilation systems, and both operate fairly similarly. In order to vent old, stale air out of the home without wasting the energy that you used in order to condition it, the ERV or HRV passes this air stream by the incoming air, which is not conditioned but is fresh from the outdoors. A transfer of thermal energy takes place, meaning that heat from the air inside is used to pre-warm cold incoming air during the winter months. In the summer, the cool air leaving your home pre-chills the hot, fresh air coming in. Energy recovery ventilators, though, unlike HRVs, allow the air streams to mix a bit, rather than just passing them very near one another.

This intermingling of the air streams allow for the balancing of humidity levels, in addition to the heat transfer that heat recovery ventilators also offer. By balancing humidity for optimal levels, energy recovery ventilators can help to prevent the unwanted fluctuation of humidity during the ventilation process. While some people may recommend that HRVs are best used in cold, dry climates, as humidity is not as much of an issue, the truth is that determining whether or not your home will best benefit from an HRV or ERV may vary on a case to case basis.

A number of factors, including air leaks in the home envelope, the number of square feet measured against the number of occupants, and even the personal habits of people in your home may impact the decision. By hiring and IAQ specialist, such as those at Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning, you can know for certain that you are choosing the right system for your needs. If you are wondering if an energy recovery ventilator or a heat recovery ventilator is right for you, then just give us a call today.

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