AC Repair: Top Four Heating And AC Mistakes You Should Avoid In 2021 | Fort Worth, TX
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One of the worthwhile improvements you can make in your home involves buying and installing a heating and air conditioning system. After all, it can help ensure that your indoors remain comfortable all year round. While installing an HVAC unit may be great, maintaining optimum efficiency throughout its lifetime can be a daunting and sometimes cost-intensive job.
Almost three-quarters of all American homes have an air conditioning system. Altogether, these units consume about six percent of all the energy produced in the country, costing homeowners in Fort Worth, TX, and beyond over 29 billion dollars in energy expenditure annually.
As heating and air conditioning units work tirelessly to keep you and your family warm and cozy during winter and cool in the summer, they may develop problems due to unavoidable wear and tear of the components therein. Some of the common HVAC problems AC repair experts handle include refrigerant leaks, electric controls failure, drainage problems, and sensor problems.
Although some of these issues arise from persistent use of the system over time, some result from grievous mistakes on the part of the homeowner. Below are some of the heating and AC mistakes that homeowners often commit without knowing the negative effect they bear on the life and performance of their home’s HVAC infrastructure.
Leaving the HVAC Equipment Running When You’re Not Around
Once the thermostat has been set, most homeowners often forget all about it, resulting in continuous operation even when they’re not around. Sometimes there could be a good reason to do so. For instance, you may consider leaving the HVAC equipment running during the winter to ensure that your furry friends remain comfortable while you’re away and to keep the pipes from freezing. Regardless, AC repair specialists in Fort Worth, TX, and beyond advise homeowners against normalizing such practices since they contribute to a faster rate of wear and tear.
Luckily, if your schedule often requires you to spend a significant amount of time away from home, you can consider reducing the temperature settings on the thermostat by just a few degrees. Researchers have discovered that it’s a great way to improve the life expectancy of your home’s heating and cooling equipment while helping you save a few dollars off your monthly energy expenditure. Specifically, you can reduce your home’s heating and cooling energy consumption by 10 percent if you decrease thermostat readings by seven to 10 degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours daily.
Comparatively, you can also consult with an AC repair professional near Fort Worth, TX to discover programmable thermostat options that can satisfy your household and budget needs. Programmable or automatic setback thermostats can allow you to provide presets that the AC can follow. This way it can alter indoor conditions even when you’re not around, and the best part is that it all happens at the touch of a button.
Ignoring the Strange Sounds
Besides forcing your home’s unit to keep empty indoors comfortable, ignoring the distress calls of your home’s HVAC equipment is also a common mistake that could lead to costly AC repairs or entire system replacements. There are some noises that you may be already used to in your home. These include the dishwasher spraying water on your cutlery, the washer and dryer as it cleans your laundry, and the refrigerator running. However, some noises, particularly those emanating from the home’s HVAC system, may be unfamiliar. Read on to find out what some of these sounds are, what they mean, and what recourse you should pursue upon hearing them.
For starters, if you begin hearing squealing or screeching, it may be time to set up an appointment with an expert in heating and AC repair service to have them inspect the blower of your home’s HVAC system. In most cases, such noises denote problems with the fan belt therein, an issue that can be immediately remedied by requesting a replacement. At other times, it could mean that the motor needs to be lubricated. You could ask them to help you with this endeavor since it can be quite an arduous and dirty job depending on the system’s make and model. Additionally, the process requires the use of a special type of lubricant, one you can only find with a technician from a reputable AC repair service provider.
Besides that, your heating apparatus may develop a thwapping sound, which implies that something could be stuck in the blower’s fan blades. These noises are faster to identify when they come and go with airflow. This phenomenon may not directly influence the unit’s functionality, but it may place undue pressure on the system, leading to unprecedented wear and tear.
Another commonly ignored HVAC noise is a pop sound emanating from within the heating and air conditioning infrastructure. If the sound originates from the unit’s ductwork and it hasn’t produced any warm air for quite some time, it shouldn’t be a cause for alarm. However, it could be time to seek help from an AC repair and inspection expert if the pop sound comes from any other part of the heating and cooling system.
Additional noises that you may have heard but ignored include rattling, which can often be heard while inside the house, as well as clanking and banging. Just like thwapping, these noises point towards something wrong with the system. You shouldn’t be surprised to find a loose or broken component. If the noises start when the blower is running, keep the furnace switched off until a professional AC repair technician visits your home to check it out.
Moreover, that buzzing sound you keep ignoring may not be a bumblebee that’s lost. It could be your home’s HVAC system trying to tell you that you need to schedule an AC repair service immediately. A buzzing noise may be indicative of a compressor malfunction. It may also denote a refrigerant leak that may be causing the unit to freeze over instead of cooling your home. In some scenarios, the buzzing sound may be due to a broken element of the unit vibrating from within. Regardless, a prompt AC repair service could be the only way to determine what’s wrong with your home’s heating and cooling apparatus.
Frequent clicking sounds originating from the air conditioner may point towards an issue with the external unit’s compressor or the inside air handler. Expert HVAC technicians can help identify where the problem lies and determine the causation factor. For instance, when the clicking can be heard from the furnace, it could be a welcome sound, especially if you’ve just turned on the heat. Treat this as a good sign as it shows your unit is working just fine. However, if the clicking persists, particularly coming directly from the furnace, it means that your unit could be experiencing an ignition system malfunction. These types of technical hitches mainly affect the pilot lights or electronic ignition apertures. They may get worse if not remedied immediately by a trusted AC repair technician.
Although it may be hard to ignore, booming sounds are also quite common in HVAC systems. They often develop as the furnace attempts to light or relight from a damaged pilot light or electronic ignition. During such instances, there could be increasing gas build-up in the combustion chamber, which ignites all at once. This situation can turn quite catastrophic when left unattended for a long while. Therefore, getting in touch with an HVAC professional could help you avoid any more mishaps. During their visit, the AC repair technicians may tell you that the gas accumulation resulted from a build-up of carbon particles. Afterward, they will professionally inspect and clean the combustion chamber and flue to prevent a repeat occurrence.
High-pitched whistling should also never be ignored. Sometimes described as a screaming noise, high-pitched whistling sounds are an outright distress signal. If the noises are coming from the AC’s compressor, you need to quickly turn off the power supply to your home’s heating and cooling system. Some models may switch off on their own, which could help prevent further damage. Once it’s turned off, don’t touch it until you’ve found professional solutions from an AC repair service provider near Fort Worth, TX. High-pitched noises are indicative of an alarmingly high level of refrigerant pressure and ultimately, compressor failure. You should only turn the system back on if the issue has been resolved since exposure to the refrigerant can be quite detrimental for people, animals, and the ecosystem.
Hissing sounds from the furnace or AC compressor are also commonly ignored warning signs. If the hissing noise originates from the AC’s compressor, an internal refrigerant leak may be imminent or the internal pressure may be too high. Your best option in such situations is to switch off the unit’s power supply and call a professional HVAC technician. When the hissing originates from the furnace, it could be due to a leaking air duct, a job for an AC repair expert. If the noise seems to be coming directly from the furnace, it’s still a sign of a leak within the system. It may require the attention of a professional heating and air conditioning repair technician.
Ignoring Sizing Requirements
When choosing an HVAC unit to help make your home more comfortable, ensure that you consult with an AC repair professional so you can get a unit size that fits your household needs and budget. Only an HVAC professional has the tools and knowledge to identify systems that can match your home’s cubic feet. Choosing a heating and AC unit that’s too small forces it to work for longer hours to effectively condition your home’s indoors. Therefore, it wears out at a quicker rate as it struggles to keep up with the thermostat’s demands. On the other hand, selecting an HVAC system meant for a larger space than your home makes it constantly switch on and off. Consequently, it may wear itself out, rendering the entire unit unreliable over time.
With that said, you should always ensure that you work with a professional AC repair company when looking to install the new HVAC equipment. It’s the only way to ensure you get a unit size that fits your needs.
Dialing Up the Thermostat to Quickly Warm Up Your Indoors
It’s normal to feel a bit chilled within your home every once in a while, particularly at night and early in the morning. In such scenarios, your first instinct may be checking your home’s HVAC equipment to ensure that you don’t need an immediate AC repair service. If your unit works fine, you may feel tempted to crank up the thermostat. While it may sound practical, dialing up the thermostat cannot help get your home’s indoors warmer in less time.
This is because ideally, thermostats don’t influence how much time it takes for your indoors to reach the temperatures you enjoy. It’s also because your house becomes warm due to the warm air created in the AC traveling through the ductwork and eventually into the rooms of your home. In this context, the thermostat has nothing to do with how hot the air gets. Essentially, your home’s heating and air conditioning units continually transport warm air through the scattered vents in the rooms until the preset temperature in the thermostat is achieved. Therefore, the thermostat only dictates the number of cycles the unit has to make to achieve the predetermined conditions. This does not affect the quality of air being delivered.
That said, continuously cranking up the thermostat creates uneven wear and tear as the system works harder and for longer periods to keep your home comfortable. Not only will you incur hiked energy utility costs but you may also end up experiencing that chill you were trying to avoid when the unit breaks down unexpectedly.
One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth, A Reliable AC Repair Service Provider
You may need an AC repair service for a wide variety of reasons. Regardless of whether the circumstances have happened due to normal wear and tear or you committing the above-named mistakes, you can rely on our team of HVAC experts for comprehensive solutions. Our crew has valuable experience handling HVAC installation projects as well as heating and cooling repair and maintenance in the Fort Worth, TX area.