Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

Month: May 2019

Drive Down Your Cooling

If you’re looking for a blog post that will tell you how to keep your home cool and comfortable for free, you’re going to have to keep on looking. If you find a blog post telling you how to do that, then you shouldn’t take it too seriously. Why not? Because cooling your home isn’t free. You have to pay for your comfort in the summer. That being said, there is no reason why you should be overpaying to cool your home.

In today’s post,  we are going to be covering some ways in which you can help to cool your home in a more affordable manner. Don’t worry, we’re not just going to tell you that you have to invest in an expensive new system. We can handle your AC replacement if the time is right—or any air conditioning repair in Loveland, CO, for that matter. But for now, let’s just focus on getting those cooling costs under control. 

Upgrade Your Thermostat

Okay, we did just say that you don’t have to replace your air conditioning system to get a more affordable AC experience, and that’s true. We didn’t say, however, that you shouldn’t consider replacing your thermostat. Let’s be more specific: your old manual thermostat.

The thermostat is the control with which you regulate the operation of your AC. If you have a very bare-bones thermostat, like one without programmable features, then you are really doing yourself a disservice. Upgrading to a programmable or even a smart model will help you to cool your home more affordably.

Change Your Filter

The air filter in your air conditioning system is not really there to improve indoor air quality throughout your home. It is there to protect the AC itself. If this filter gets too clogged up, then it is going to generate excessive amounts of airflow resistance. When that happens, your system is going to have to work harder than it should in order to cool your home effectively, driving up cooling costs in the process.

Trap Cool Air In

Yes, summers are hot. Many summer nights and mornings are substantially cooler than the daytime is, though. So why not give the AC a rest, throw open the windows in the evening, and close them before things get too warm again?

You can get the AC back up and running before temperatures really spike so that it won’t have to play catch up. You can also prevent heat gain through sun exposure by closing heavy blinds during the brightest part of the day.

Schedule Routine Maintenance

There is no escaping this—not on our watch! The best step you can take to keep your cooling costs in check is to schedule routine air conditioning maintenance. There is no getting around this one. Let us inspect and tune-up your air conditioner so it operates both as efficiently and reliably as possible. You and your wallet will thank us!

Schedule your AC services withFort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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Video Pipe

What’s the number one problem that homeowners may encounter with their plumbing system? Leaks, right? We bet you said leaks. It makes sense. After all, there are a lot of pipes in your plumbing system, and the unfortunate truth is that there is just no way to completely eliminate the risk of leaks in any one of them! The good news is that, while we can’t promise you’ll never run into leaks in your system—in fact, we can pretty much guarantee that you will!—we can help find them fast.

That’s because we offer video pipe inspection services. This is the single best way to pinpoint and diagnose leaks in your plumbing in Loveland, CO. If you have any concerns about potential leaks in your plumbing system, then be sure to call a member of our team. We’ll put our expertise and our technology to work for you. That way, you won’t have to worry about the serious problems that plumbing leaks can lead to when given the time.

 

What Is Video Pipe Inspection, and How Does It Work?

A video pipe inspection entails, well, using video equipment to inspect your pipe. Sounds simple, but it’s a bit more complicated than you may realize. We’re not just going to train a camcorder or phone camera on an active leak, show you the footage, and say “Well, there’s your problem.” No, video pipe inspection equipment actually allows us to peer directly into your pipes, finding and diagnosing problems from within.

Think of it like a drain snake but with a tiny camera on the end. The camera is affixed to a flexible rod that we feed directly into your pipes. This may be done through a drain or through an access point, depending upon the type of pipe we’re dealing with. Regardless, we feed that rod and camera in, and a live video feed is sent back to a monitor that we, well, monitor—that’s where the name comes from!

But What’s the Benefit?

Not all leaks are going to give you a clear source. Even if you see water pooling in an area of your home, for instance, the leak itself could be a long way off. That pool of water may simply be in the lowest point of the home, with water naturally following gravity’s pull to wind up there. It’s also not all about leaks.

In some cases, you may have a doozy of a clog in your drains or in your sewer line. You may have those drains or that sewer line cleaned. But how do you know that the service was effective? How do you know that there’s only one clog to deal with? It’s a lot easier when you’ve got the footage to review and you can actually see the clog and its location.

Plus, it helps with diagnostics. You know that you can trust us, but it’s also really great to be able to show you precisely what we’re talking about when we’re discussing your next steps. It’s not really so much a matter of proving we’re being honest—it’s to help you understand the potential severity of any given situation.

Schedule your video pipe inspection services with Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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The short answer to this question is really that you want to schedule air conditioning repairs the moment you notice there are problems with your air conditioner.

There are a few problems with this answer, though. You may not have the background knowledge to notice problems right away, and you may not realize that certain problems are actually that serious even when you do notice them. Today, we want to help you better understand these situations so you can take prompt action.

Air conditioning problems are only going to get worse the longer that you choose to ignore them or the longer that it takes you to realize that these problems demand your attention. Early intervention is key, so be sure to schedule air conditioning repair in Windsor, CO, with our team at the first sign of trouble. We excel in AC repairs of all kinds, and we also have the training and expertise necessary to diagnose problems accurately the first time.

Track Cooling Costs

A fairly simple way to spot potential air conditioning problems is keeping track of how much you’re paying to cool your home. If you do this throughout the cooling season, year to year, then you can have data available to compare against even early in the current season.

The cost of cooling your home is a hugely helpful performance indicator because not all problems will cause your system to break down entirely. Not all problems will cause the AC to blow warm air. However, pretty much any problem with your air conditioner will reduce its overall energy efficiency.

Compare Different Areas in Your Home

When you invest in a whole-house cooling system, you’re investing in an air conditioner that you can use to cool your entire house. That’s kind of the entire point. So it only makes sense that certain rooms being warmer than others is a sign of trouble.

If you’re perfectly comfortable in your living room, but find yourself sweating throughout the night in your bedroom, then there is definitely a problem that needs to be dealt with. It could be something as serious as a refrigerant leak impeding the cooling process and output to a relatively minor duct leak in the single section of the system that needs sealing. Whatever the case, you’ll need professional technicians to do the job right.

Listen for Sounds of Trouble

You might think that everything is relatively fine with your air conditioner so long as it is pumping out cool air. However, this is not really the case. If you hear anything unusual, or if you hear normal operating sounds that seem to be at a much louder volume than usual, you should definitely be reaching for the phone.

Loud noises might mean grinding, screeching, or clanging sounds. It may be the result of a worn belt or a loose component. There are numerous reasons why your system may suffer like this. Whatever the case, our technicians will get to the bottom of it.

Schedule your AC services with Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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