Great Air Conditioning Company

So there are a million AC companies out there all claiming, to be better than the next and sometimes the boasts get more and more extravagant or outlandish. Duct cleanings, New AC installs, and AC maintenance are all usually very straightforward, if you are dealing with a competent company, but sometimes even the good guys get lost in the noise raised by the flunkies and rip and run types.


Finding a reliable and honest AC company doesn't necessarily have to be a drag, and frankly the quality companies are out there, you just have to know what to look for. More on that "what to look for" in another post, but for now let's talk about what I love about the above picture and "Stiff Nipples" and their Air Conditioning Services....

Comprehensive Air Conditioner Maintenance 

So there are generaly a number of ways I can still find the quality AC  service Miami  companies, without it being a "needle in a haystack" type deal. One way I've seen some great HVAC companies set themselves apart from the pack, without making ludicrous service claims and promises, is their marketing/branding.

Quality Air Conditioning Services

Case and point, is the company pictured above. I know nothing about their techs, how their customers feel about them, or even if they know a condenser from a pool heater, but the smile and instant recognition about what they do is priceless in terms of Air Conditioning branding. So if I'm ever in the 020 area code (England?), I know who I'm gonna go for when I'm looking for Air Conditioner services.... It's brilliant because it's simple and funny, and that is something that works for brands across all industries and fields.

Why Cheap HVAC Equipment Ends Up Being Costly

HVAC systems can cost several thousand dollars. There is a significant temptation to pick the cheapest system available. However, there are several reasons why cheap HVAC equipment ends up being costly. The EER is the Energy Efficiency Rating. An air conditioner with a low EER rating may be cheaper than higher EER ratings, but it uses more electricity each summer to cool your home. Cheaper units may also have less insulation and less accurate controls, wasting energy and money. A unit must have at least a 10.7 EER to count as an Energy Star appliance and be eligible for energy efficiency tax credits or energy saving rebate programs offered by some utilities.

How Cheap AC Equipment and Installs Never Really Are...

Quality typically costs more. Spending a few hundred more for a more reliable unit is worth the additional expense if it lasts longer, needs fewer repairs and doesn't foul up as often. You may also get stuck with a limited warranty along with the cheaper unit, leaving you on the hook for the more frequent repairs.

Off-Brand

Off-brand HVAC equipment is sometimes cheaper than more expensive name brands. Perhaps the HVAC equipment is imported from China instead of coming from a common brand like Trane, Amana or Lennox. The low purchase price will come with later sticker shock at the price charged for hard to get replacement parts. The repair cost is even greater if there are few service people capable of working on the HVAC equipment.

The Unit's Cheap - But Only After an Expensive Contract or Associated Costs

We occasionally hear commercials for HVAC companies offering an ultra-cheap HVAC unit "to keep their men busy in the off season". This low cost unit is one of the most expensive mistakes home owners can make. The HVAC salesperson may have two or three units at the ultra-low price, but they will steer customers to overpriced but low quality units that are supposedly a better fit. Or the contractor will offer a significant discount, while customers are ignorant of how inflated the original cost was. In all of these cases, customers lured in by the promise of a cheaper heating or cooling system will be bombarded by offers of additional services. If the customer feels like they are saving thousands of dollars on the AC, why not spend a few hundred on an extended warranty that is 90% profit to the vendor or a thousand dollars on a service contract? Customers seeking an ultra cheap unit end up on the hook for recurring maintenance and service costs while living with a mid-range or low quality HVAC system.

What the Future of Air Conditioning Could Look Like!

Green Air Conditioning Tech:Present and Future

Who is the next generation green AC company? There are a number of green initiatives in air conditioning, heating and cooling. And the next big green AC company will depend on the first new green AC tech to be widely adopted.

Thermo-Acoustics: AC Technology

Thermo-acoustics has been pioneered by Cool Sound Industries. Thermo-acoustics uses sound waves to create temperature differentials and harnesses them to cool an interior space. Thermo-acoustics does not require a refrigerant like CFCs, Freon or propane. It is energy efficient. The systems are also theoretically more reliable than current air conditioners because it has fewer moving parts. Solar Air Conditioning technologies are also making a increasing headway in home and business comfort solutions. Desiccant Based Air Conditioning Both 7AC Technologies in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Mitsubishi are demonstrating air conditioners based off of desiccants. 7AC Technologies uses desiccants, salt water solutions and next generation plastics in an air conditioner that uses half or less electricity than conventional units while reducing the electricity needed to heat a home as well. Mitusbishi's desiccant based air conditioner uses half to two thirds of the power conventional air conditioners use.

Retro But Green and AC Solutions for Developing Nations

Developing nations want air conditioning, which improves their working conditions, and it needs refrigeration to reduce food waste and food borne illnesses. A number of retro but environmentally friendly solutions are appearing in countries like India, where electricity is often unreliable and appliances like conventional refrigerators cost more than the average family makes in a year. The Mitticool refrigerator is made from clay. It is designed to use evaporation to keep items inside of the refrigerator cool. It chills vegetables and drinks, allowing them to last several days instead of going bad overnight. It simply requires a modest refilling each day or two. Snowbreeze is an air conditioner that uses ice, water and a low power fan to cool rooms. It has an effect similar to an air conditioner while using far less electricity. Snowbreeze uses about 100 watts while a one and a half ton air conditioner would use 2,000 watts. It runs off the modest power production of a solar cell or batteries. Ice would come from stores, but it could also come from ice making machines connected to the grid. The units are cheap enough for families who make a few hundred dollars to year, allowing them to lower the temperature in a room by 15°F and keep working indoors during 100°F days. And the Snowbreeze does not add to the already intolerable humidity, which makes conventional air conditioners work harder to make a room tolerable. Retro but green AC devices tap into the "bottom billion" market, the two billion people who live on one to two dollars a day and need basic technologies like clean running water, refrigeration, air conditioning and electric lighting to make dramatic improvements in their lives. Retro, green devices that are cheap could generate a fortune because they would sell hundreds of millions of devices.

He Said I Need a New AC Condenser What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

An air conditioner at its core consists of a heat exchanger and an evaporator. When the refrigerant is converted from a liquid to a gas, it can absorb heat. This is what pulls the heat out of the environment as interior air is blown over the AC's evaporator coils. The cooled interior air is sent back into the house. The refrigerant travels to a compressor that puts it under much higher pressure. The refrigerant is condensed from a gas to a liquid. The latent heat is released and sent from the condenser; it is generally vented outside. This is the jet of hot air that air conditioners create. The liquid refrigerant travels through an expansion valve en route to the evaporator coils. If the air conditioning condenser goes out, your air conditioner will continue circulating air. And it is usually a good idea to have the number of a solid air conditioning repair company. However, the condenser is no longer condensing the refrigerant. The refrigerant does not lose the latent heat it carries. In essence, the returning refrigerant is hot and cannot be cooled by the AC evaporator coils. You end up with an AC blowing air the same temperature as the indoor air.

Do I Need a New AC Condenser or air conditioning repair

A condenser compressor can fail and need to be replaced. Sometimes the condenser fan needs to be replaced, if this is the reason why the hot air is trapped inside the AC. Refrigerant leaks will cause air conditioners to gradually lose their ability to cool your home. Refrigerant can leak from any point in the air conditioner, whether it is a loose seal, loose valve or a cracked condenser. You can make a rough guess as to the severity of the problem by how often additional refrigerant has been added. Plugging leaks may return the unit to service for a little while, especially if it cannot be solved by tightening sometime loose. However, a leaking condenser will fail again or even suffer additional, new leaks. If the condenser is leaking, it is best to simply install a new AC condenser.

Air Conditioning Service Company: New Unit Installs

Replacing the AC condenser by using a quality air conditioning repair company is cheaper than replacing the entire outside unit. However, if the unit is more than ten years old, it may be cheaper to replace the entire air conditioner with a more efficient unit.

Well Hello There World

Hola,

I'm Mike. I have been mechanically inclined since I was a little kid,
taking apart my toys and electronic junk kids have, to see how they work, so I
guess it was just a natural progression for me to end up in the HVAC
industry... This blog is gonna serve as just my take on a lot
of things I see, experience, and believe about the

HVAC industry

and

Air Conditioning

other nifty stuff I come across.