Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

Month: August 2017

Magazine publishes

Every year, Inc. Magazine publishes its ranking of the most successful independent small and midsized businesses in America. Previously, companies including Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s, Pandora, and many other juggernauts in their industries gained exposure in these rankings. This year, Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning is honored to be among the honorees. We ranked in at #2317, with a three-year sales growth of 157%!

CEO and President of Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning Glenn Frank is “honored that my company has been recognized on the Inc. 5000 list.,” adding that he’d “like to thank all my employees and customers for making it possible.”

Glenn Frank founded Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning in 1996, put the business and HVAC knowledge gained from his father and grandfather into a business plan. Glenn’s grandfather began Fort Collins Sheet Metal Company in 1934. With over 80 years of experience, our family-owned and operated business is growing at an all-time high. We are excited to see what the coming years bring to the company, and want to once again thank our loyal customers for making these dreams a reality.

At Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning, we are big enough to serve, but small enough to care.

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Saving Money

With all of the modern cooling systems and technologies that we have at our disposal in this day and age, it is easier than ever to cool our homes with greater energy efficiency. That being said, cooling your home does still come at a cost. If you have an older AC that you are not quite ready to part with, or if you are just looking to maximize your energy savings throughout this and future cooling seasons, then this post is for you. Today, we want to cover some simple ways in which you can help you unburden your AC a bit in order to scale back on your cooling costs.

These are not magical steps that are suddenly going to make your cooling bills disappear entirely, of course, and the fact of the matter is that an older or lower SEER system is still going to cost more to run than a newer, higher efficiency system. With that in mind, we invite you to put the following tips into action and to enjoy the energy savings that you deserve. Remember to give us a call if and when you require any further cooling services in Loveland, CO this summer season.

Simple Money Saving Tips

Don’t have the money, time, or desire for a brand new air conditioning system? No problem! With our help and a bit of background knowledge, you can squeeze some extra efficiency out of your current cooling system to keep more money in the account each billing cycle.

  • Use window shades or blinds to minimize direct sunlight. This will help to cut down on unwanted heat gain.
  • Keep filters and AC coils clean. Dirty filters and coils force your system to work harder than it should have to cool your home.
  • Have your system tuned and checked each year. Routine maintenance is the best way in which to protect overall energy efficiency.
  • For cooling, set your thermostat to maintain consistent temperatures (never fluctuating more than 3° to 4°). Do not turn it off when not home during the day thinking that this will save you money. It will actually cost more to bring the temperature down after getting home than if you simply maintain a set temperature.
  • When investing in new equipment, choose a contractor that will properly size your system and install it correctly. You don’t want a system that is too small and will struggle to cool your home, but an oversized system is actually no better!
  • Avoid the utility curtailment devices commonly marketed as “saver switches” or “smart thermostats” incentivized by the utility companies. These devices only help with their supply problem and will not save you money.

We hope that you found some of these tips useful and that you’ll start to see some energy savings following the implementation of these steps. If you do decide to go all out and have a brand new, highly efficient system installed, remember to schedule the service withFort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning.

Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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Replace My AC

We are obviously at the tail end of the cooling season at this point. Sure, running an air conditioner in early September is not too wild of a concept. The fact is, though, that most homeowners are starting to shift their thoughts away from their home cooling systems and toward their heaters. If your air conditioner has been exhibiting signs of distress, however, it may be a good idea to keep some of your focus on it before moving on to the next season.

We understand that many homeowners are going to question the merits of replacing their air conditioning systems this late in the season. In certain respects, it is completely reasonable to wait until the spring time to replace the AC. After all, you are not going to be using it much at all in the immediate future, right? Well, there are actually a number of reasons why you may want to schedule your air conditioning replacement in Loveland, CO today.

AC Technicians May Have More Availability Now

The peak of the summer season is not the ideal time of the year to be scheduling an air conditioning replacement. First of all, you don’t want to go without cooling in your home at that time. Second of all, AC technicians tend to be absolutely swamped during the hottest time of the year with repair and service calls.

However, we’re now in that middle ground where the heating season isn’t really upon us, but we’re also moving out of the cooling season. Why not take the opportunity to at least get in touch with an HVAC contractor and see what their schedules look like? You could even see about scheduling routine heating maintenance when you have your air conditioner replaced!

You Don’t Risk Putting It Off Until the Last Minute

Look, we all have good intentions when it comes to household projects, right? But can any of us really admit to being as proactive as we’d like to be? The fact is that some projects can slip through your fingers. This is even truer when you are literally giving yourself months to forget about something!

By the time spring is wrapping up, or if summer should strike early next year, you may find that it is already too late to schedule an AC replacement conveniently. Worse, you may convince yourself that, hey, that ailing old system can probably handle just one more season. Getting out ahead of the replacement helps you to avoid any such misguided hopes.

You May Also Still Need a Good Air Conditioner

If your air conditioner is really showing signs of age, and you think that a breakdown is imminent, it doesn’t matter what time of the year it is. Replacing it before it breaks down entirely is always in your best interest. We may get a few hot days that could prove to be the final nails in your system’s coffin. Replacing it now gives you a new lease on comfort, even this late in the season.

Schedule your AC replacement with Fort Collins Heating & Cooling. Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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air conditioning system

air conditioning system

We’ve dealt with this question before, but we hear it often enough that we want to address it now at the point of summer where it often comes up again. You do not need to add refrigerant to your air conditioning system before it “runs out.” This is a common misconception about air conditioner operation. Refrigerant is essential to how an air conditioner runs—it’s a chemical that allows the system to move heat from inside a home to outside—but it isn’t the energy source for the system and it isn’t depleted through normal use.

Fuel vs. Heat Transference Fluid

What is the fuel source for your AC? You know this already: electricity. This is what the AC consumes in order to run, and it’s what you pay for each month to continue to run the AC.

Refrigerant, on the other hand, is a chemical that’s designed to remain at the same level (charge) in the air conditioner for its entire lifetime. As the refrigerant moves through the system, going from the compressor to the outdoor coils and then the indoor coils, it goes through a process of condensation and evaporation. Its pressure rises and falls, it loses and gains heat, it goes from liquid to gas form and back again—and doesn’t dissipate at all during the process.

Adding Refrigerant Is an Occasional Repair Need—Requiring Professionals

The refrigerant charge of an air conditioner can drop, however, if the refrigerant lines develop leaks. Should this happen, you’ll notice signs such as a decline in cooling capacity, ice appearing along the evaporator coils, and a hissing noise from the cabinet. Arrange for air conditioning repairs with HVAC professionals right away. Not only does the proper amount of refrigerant need to be added (too much refrigerant is a bad as too little) the leaks must also be located and patched.

If you suspect your AC has lost refrigerant, turn to our technicians for air conditioning repairs in Loveland, CO.

Trust to Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning: “Big enough to serve, small enough to care!”

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