Category Archives: Air conditioning

Don’t touch that air conditioner dial just yet! Why? Home Comfort Experts put together our list of five passive cooling techniques that can help keep your home cool without spiking your energy use. Follow these steps to keep your energy bill low and your comfort level high.

Draw the Blinds to Lower Your Home’s Temperature

Keep your blinds or curtains drawn during the hottest part of the day. Preventing a few extra rays of sun from sneaking in can make a huge difference in your inside temperature. Keep your blinds drawn from 12-4 p.m. to experience big savings.

Use Fans Throughout Your Home to Supplement the AC

Fans don’t actually make a room any cooler—they just make it feel cooler. As the breeze circulates around the room, it helps evaporate sweat and wick away body heat, leading to a more pleasant experience overall. Ceiling fans are the best at moving air, but box fans or stand fans are also effective. In a pinch, even an old-fashioned hand fan can work wonders.

Keep Warm Items Away from Thermostats

Your TV, computer and any other electric gadget emits heat. That’s why your computer has to have a fan, after all: to keep the processing unit from overheating. All those little bits of heat can add up, nosing your thermostat higher and making your air conditioner work harder. As much as possible, keep those items away from your thermostat, or better yet, unplug them all together when they’re not in use. Consider grilling out instead of heating up your oven for even bigger savings.

Insulation Helps Keep Warm Air Out

Most people only think of insulating their homes in the winter, when they can feel cold drafts. But hot air can creep in just as surely as cold. To find drafts, walk around the exterior of your house with a candle. When it flickers around doors or windows, that means air is moving. Add a small line of caulk or weather stripping to seal the leak.

Light Colored Homes Stay Cooler

Painting your house is not something you should do only to save on energy bills, but light-colored houses are cooler than dark ones. White reflects heat while dark colors absorb, just like when you wear a dark shirt on a sunny day. At a minimum, consider keeping your blinds and other window coverings light.

So there you have it, five tips to reduce strain on your air conditioner and pain in your wallet by using passive cooling techniques. Don’t forget to schedule your annual air conditioner maintenance check from Home Comfort Experts. After all, a few simple tweaks can keep your air conditioning unit running more efficiently and keep you from being stranded on a sultry summer day.

Did you know that in most Indiana area homes, half of the energy used comes from heating and cooling? In fact, it is by far the largest energy expense and the reason why energy efficient heating and cooling systems could have such a sizeable impact on your bills. With warmer weather in sight, Home Comfort Experts put together our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about heating and cooling systems and energy savings!

How efficient are today’s furnaces and air conditioners?

Today’s heating and cooling systems are extremely efficient. In fact since the Department of Energy (DOE) established a minimum efficiency standard for all heating and cooling systems in 1992, manufacturers have worked to continue to increase the efficiency level in each of their new models. Take furnaces for example, those manufactured prior to 1970 have an efficiency level of about 65%. Today, furnaces are at a minimum of a 78% efficiency level.

What does the ROI on a heating and cooling system look like?

The less electricity or gas that your furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner needs, the more complex is has to be to handle that reduced intake. So while you may pay more up front for a high-efficiency unit, you will save money every month on your energy bills. The actual savings depend on weather, utility costs, home’s energy efficiency and indoor temperature preferences. The Energy Star website says that if your air conditioner is more than 12 years old, replacing it with an Energy Star qualified model could reduce your cooling costs by 30%.

Which heating and cooling system should I invest in?

The air conditioner, furnace or heat pump that you should choose depends on a set of factors that are specific to your home, lifestyle and budget.  It is important to get the opinion of an expert in the industry to help walk you through your choices. This is also the reason that Home Comfort Experts offers a free estimate on furnace and air conditioner replacement or installation.

Today’s heating and cooling systems are more efficient and high tech than ever. For more information about the heating and cooling systems Home Comfort Experts carries, or to schedule an appointment for a free estimate, check out our contact us page: homecomfortexpertsinc.com/contact-us.

It has been months since you have used your home’s air conditioner and the last you can recall is that it was working just fine! So do you really need to schedule that spring maintenance check? We will let you make the call but before you do, check out the benefits of getting a Home Comfort Experts’ tune-up for your air conditioning before the hot weather hits.

Fix AC Unit Issues Before They Become Problems

Problems usually start small and get bigger over time until they reach the crisis point. A loose wire can turn into a severed connection and a seemingly dead unit. A sluggish fan can turn into a stopped fan. You get the picture. Regular maintenance lets your HVAC technician spot the trouble before your air conditioning stalls out on the hottest day of the year. It’s not a guarantee, of course; sometimes things just break. But in many cases, a maintenance call can save you from a big repair bill.

Air Conditioner Tune-Ups Help You Save Money

Even if those minor issues we mentioned above don’t cause your AC to sputter out, they can still impact your wallet with higher electricity bills each month. For instance, let’s say you have a minor refrigerant leak. If it’s small and slow, your unit will keep working. But it will have to continuously work harder to cool the air down, which means you are using more electricity and spending more money. The same applies for a dirty filter: the air has to work harder to push through the dust, so the fan has to work harder. During a maintenance call, your technician will check your system and eliminate these little nuisances before they add up to big problems.

Regular Air Conditioner Maintenance Keeps You in Warranty

Many AC units require that you demonstrate you’ve had regular air conditioner maintenance in order to honor the warranty. Missing an appointment might mean you’re stuck paying out of pocket for repairs that should be covered under warranty.

Helps Extend the Life of Your System

Proper maintenance is key to making sure your air conditioning unit lasts for years to come. Just as you regularly change the oil in your car or empty the bag on your vacuum cleaner, preventative measures keep everything running better and longer.

Are you convinced? If so, now is the perfect time to schedule your spring maintenance. Give Home Comfort Experts a call or schedule an appointment online.

When it comes to your home’s heating and air conditioning unit, deciding whether to repair the unit or replace it altogether can be a tough decision to make! At Home Comfort Experts in Mishawaka and Columbia City, we want to help make this process a bit easier for you. Our team of experts put together a quiz to help classify your furnace or air conditioner as one that needs a repair or one that needs a replacement.

Your Furnace & Air Conditioner’s Age is a Key Indicator

The first question that we ask you in our “Should I Repair or Replace My Air Conditioner or Furnace Quiz” is about the age of your unit. If it is between 0-10 years old it should still be working efficiently. As your furnace and air conditioner age over the ten-year mark, they begin to work slower and can begin to increase costs for your home.

Cost of Furnace and Air Conditioner Repairs within the Past Year

Another strong indicator of whether or not your furnace needs to be repaired or replaced is the cost of repairs that your system has had in the previous year. As you can imagine, the more often that something needs to be repaired the more likely it is that it will be more beneficial to be replaced. The four levels of repair cost that we consider are $100 or less, $101-$500, $501-$1,000, and over $1,000. This is especially important as the cost of R-22 refrigerant goes up, making the cost of AC repairs higher.

Specifics about Your Home’s Climate Can Tell You A Lot

The final part of our quiz requires homeowners to answer three specific questions about your home and its heating and cooling system. By answering these questions, we are able to further determine if your furnace or air conditioner is working properly in specific situations.   

For more information about furnace or air conditioner repair and replacement, give Home Comfort Experts a call. Our service technicians can help you with any questions that you may have!

In The Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frog sang “It’s Not That Easy Being Green”, but actually, with all the new environmentally friendly products on the market today, it’s really not that hard anymore. Thanks to technology, a higher consumer awareness, and our government’s dedication to cleaning up the environment, new heating and cooling products exist that make our lives better while simultaneously helping the environment.

High-Efficiency Furnaces

The AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) is a unit that determines the percentage of fuel turned into heat, and the amount of gas that has been exhausted through the flue. This is the unit of measurement used by the industry to determine energy efficiency. Older furnace models made in the 1970s will typically have a rating of 65% efficiency. Today’s furnaces must have a rating of at least 78%, but some have a rating of 90 – 98% AFUE, meaning that 90-98% of the fuel is utilized, while only 5 – 10% is exhaust. The higher the AFUE, the higher the efficiency of the furnace. High-efficiency furnaces do cost more initially, but the savings is usually recouped in energy savings if you stay in your home for five to 10 years. Going from a traditional furnace to a high-efficiency furnace (90% plus) should save you between 25% and 30% of your current heating costs.

High-Efficiency Air Conditioners

High-efficiency air conditioners make cooling your home more energy efficient as well. Energy Star qualified central air conditioners have higher seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) and energy efficiency ratio (EER) ratings, which makes them about 14% more efficient than standard models. The Energy Star website says that if your air conditioner is more than 12 years old, replacing it with an Energy Star qualified model could reduce your cooling costs by 30%. Plus, the refrigerant R-22 (commonly known as Freon) has been banned from production by the government and replaced with more environmentally friendly refrigerants. Newer air conditioners are designed to use the new, eco-friendly refrigerant.

Programmable Thermostats

These little gems are a super easy way to save money on your air conditioning and heating bills on top of the savings you’ll see with more efficient furnaces and air conditioners. They make controlling your home’s temperature easy and convenient and also reduce energy consumption which is good for the environment. According to the Energy Star website, you can save about $180 a year by properly setting your programmable thermostat and maintaining those settings.

Save Energy and Money

Imagine reducing your South Bend heating and cooling bills by 25%-30%. That would mean energy savings year round. While the initial cost of these high-efficiency systems is higher than lower efficiency models, you can get that money back in lower heating and air conditioning bills every month after for as long as you live in your home. It’s nice to know you can save some green while you’re being green. For more information on high-efficiency furnaces and air conditioners, give us a call. One of our Home Comfort Experts technicians can help you learn more.

You may have heard some rumblings about R-22 lately. So what exactly is going on? Well, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) issued the Final Rule in 2009 to begin phasing out R-22 refrigerant because of its harmful effect on the environment (ozone layer). The plan was to create a slow and steady reduction in supply and increase in reclamation (reclaiming the existing R-22 from current systems) from 2010-2014 to help ensure a smooth transition away from R-22.

Apparently, it’s not going well. Currently, the industry is at 30% of the EPA’s stated goal for reclamation. Significant inventory still exists and retrofitting old units has created additional R-22 supplies. Since R-22 use did not see the reductions anticipated, the EPA took some drastic measures to make sure change happens in the market.

In January of 2012, the EPA issued a new proposal for 2012-2014. The original proposal called for a 10% reduction in production and importation rites of R-22 from the previous year’s numbers. On January 20^th, the EPA upped the ante by demanding an additional 35% (making a total reduction of 45% from last year’s numbers).

What this means for consumers is that the supply of R-22 will be reduced and the demand will increase. What we learned in basic Economy 101 is that we should expect a sharp increase in the price of R-22 refrigerant. And there’s no reason to see it going anywhere but up. Unfortunately, the most popular replacement refrigerant, R-410A, cannot be used in systems designed for R-22 refrigerant. Manufacturers are working on other refrigerants, however, that are more interchangeable. If you own an older air conditioner and need replacement, it would be wise to consider replacing it with a newer model that can use the newer refrigerants. Otherwise, you may be forced to pay top dollar for R-22 in the future.

Because there has been a sharp increase in the price of copper recently, copper theft has become a problem across the country. Thieves are vandalizing outdoor air conditioning units and stealing the copper coils to sell as scrap. Copper prices fluctuate, and currently, it is worth over $3.00 a pound. This has copper thieves working overtime.

Authorities are doing what they can to try to stop this trend. The Detroit City Council and the Michigan Legislature have both beefed up legal regulations. The Detroit City Council amended an ordinance to place stricter regulations on scrap metal dealers who buy the stolen goods. The Michigan state legislature placed tougher penalties on certain entities caught buying or selling stolen copper cable. Both are offering rewards ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of copper thieves and people buying stolen copper.

Businesses that tend to be unoccupied at night and empty homes like those for sale are often targeted. The problem is nationwide and some thieves have been brazen enough to strike in the middle of the day and even target empty homes in heavily populated residential neighborhoods. So be on the lookout for suspicious people if there are any homes in your neighborhood for sale.

At Home Comfort Experts, we’re aware of this unwelcomed trend, so we offer a free theft deterrent device with any $79 tune-up. Feel free to call us for more information. You’ll find the number to the closest location on our home page.

I can’t believe my air conditioner is frozen! It’s been over 90 degrees for days on end.
As crazy as this sounds, this happens all too frequently. Even with seasonal maintenance and changing your filter regularly, it can happen. Here’s some information on WHY it happens, and some tips on how to handle a frozen AC when it DOES happen.

Lack of air flow – this is one of the most common reasons many air conditioners freeze up. Anytime you have limited airflow (dirty filters or undersized ducts) you are running the risk of causing the temperature of your AC’s cooling coil to drop below freezing. Basically, as warm air moves through your return ducts, it passes over extremely cold refrigerant coil to drop off its heat. While it comes into contact with the coil, moisture in the air condenses. Normally it will roll right off into the drain line. However, if the AC’s airflow is compromised, the water will not move and will end up freezing to the coil! Normally, changing the filters is enough to fix this problem. If your air conditioner is freezing up due to undersized ducts, you should call Home Comfort Experts and have one of our expert technicians take a look at your problem and offer their suggestions.

Refrigerant leaks – the amount of refrigerant in your air conditioner has to be carefully balanced if you want to keep your air conditioner running smoothly. If there is too little refrigerant in your coil, it will not be able to absorb enough heat and will end up freezing.

Outdoor temperature – summer is supposed to be hot, but when it gets especially cold at night, there is a chance that your air conditioner could freeze up. Air conditioners don’t do well when temperatures are below 60 F. Fortunately, at these temperatures you don’t really even need to use your AC at all! If temperatures drop this low, turn off the AC and throw open the windows. You’ll save your air conditioner, and save some money at the same time!

How to Fix a Frozen Air Conditioner – To fix a frozen air conditioner, first you have to figure out what caused it to freeze up in the first place. Regardless of the cause, the first thing you should do if your air conditioner is frozen is turn it off and let it defrost – this will prevent any serious damage to the system. Next, check all the air filters in your home to see if they are dirty or blocked. If they are dirty, clean or replace them.

Check back in 24 hours – if there is no more ice on your compressor, changing the filters solved the problem. If a lack of refrigerant has caused your air conditioner to freeze, talk to us about correcting the levels. Our experts will know exactly how much refrigerant you’ll need in your system to ensure optimal air conditioner operation. In addition, if your air conditioner is freezing due to a refrigerant leak, we’ll be able to fix it. There’s also the chance that your defrost timer is broken, which can also be addressed by our technician.

If any of the above troubleshooting tips do not correct the problem, Call the experts at Home Comfort Experts and we’ll provide a professional technician to service and repair your unit and keep you comfortable all summer long!

Electricity- or fuel-powered furnaces are common sources of home heating in Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan, but they are expensive to operate. On the other hand, a major energy-efficient alternative — the heat pump — loses its efficiency as temperatures fall. That’s where a dual fuel heating system comes in, offering energy efficient and reliable heating.

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Whether you’re in northern Indiana or southwest Michigan, everyone wants to save on energy costs. Of course, how you go about it greatly depends on the unique circumstances of your home. With that in mind, there are a few common trouble spots that you can evaluate to help develop a successful energy-savings plan: (more…)