FAQ

Filter changes are unique to every home.  The general rule of thumb is 1 month for a 1" filter, 3 months for a 4", 4-6 months for a 5" filter.  The amount of traffic in and out of the house, the settings of the thermostat, the leakage of the home, presence of pets, etc... all have an effect on your filter.  If you live in the middle of Granbury in a newer brick home with little traffic in and out your filter may go six weeks.  If you are in the Brock area on a caliche road next to a horse barn with kids and dogs in and out all day long you may need to change it every 2 weeks.  Best practice is to check it every month and make a determination from the state of the filter.

Ah the original Ac With Wacey video, https://youtu.be/M5nqK_FvM2o?si=B7Jzft7RJALt0DVw, basically in cold weather with a standard heat pump your unit needs auxillary heat to keep up with the load and at some point the heat pump will be unable to heat at all leaving you reliant upon resistance strips as your heat source.  These resistant strips pull almost 20 amps apiece and double, triple or quadruple your usage.  This can be avoided with a more efficient heat pump that can produce heat to lower temps, the Samsung Hylex produces down to -15 with no need for auxilary heat.

Generally speaking there are 3 types of compressors, single speed, 2 speed and variable speed.  A single speed compressor is the least efficient, loudest, and often the most common.  This compressor is 100% on or 100% off, because the load on the home in our area of Texas it rarely needs 100% year round.  The 2 speed compressors seperate the compressor into stages usually using an interior solenoid to shift the speed.  This gives you depending on brand 30% and 100% options, allowing it to vary with the load some.  In my expierence though 2 speed compressors seem to fail more due to the interior solenoid.  The variable speed is the most efficient, the quietest and sees the least wear.  Because it can start slow and speed up it does not take a big power hit upon startup and it can slow the refrigerant down to keep it from slamming the compressor when it stops.

The freer your airflow the more efficient your system, keeping your filter changed and coils clean is the best way to keep your system operating effectively.  Wash the outdoor unit, change your filter, dont close grilles in your home, ensure nothing is blocking your return intake.  Conditioning is a balance between proper refrigerant flow and proper airflow.

This is a tough question because the truth is it changes all of the time and different brands are better at different applications.  A lot of the traditional brands Trane, Carrier, Lennox, Goodman, etc... have second brands that are the same units with different tags American Standard, Bryant, Amana, etc... There is also a lot of crossing of brands happening in the HVAC world Daikin owns Goodman, Trane and Mitsubishu are partnered up, Samsung recently bought the majority of Lennox, etc... We are big believers in looking at the individual units rather than getting tied into one brand.  We do a lot of heat pumps so our favorite in that realm is the Samsung Hylex, however Samsung does not make gas furnaces so typically we use Bryant or American Standard furnaces.  Bottom line trust the warranty periods, make sure they stand behind their product, and trust your hvac specialist to give you advice as they see these units in operation and know what they see work and what has issues.

Loud acs, dimming lights, etc... are common nuisances that bring us questions.  Usually if an ac is very loud there is a bearing out, a compressor dragging, stopped up coils causing refrigerant flow problems, etc...  Bottom line if it is loud it probably needs checked for electrical or component problems.

The most common problem we see in ac units are the capacitors going out.  This problem can usually be caught early by testing on maintenance as they will generally weaken before going out.  The second most common has usually been leaking coils and refrigerant loss but it is starting to lessen with the use of aluminum coils.  With high efficiency communication systems becoming more prevalant power issues and nuisance communication disruptions are becoming more common.

While we do not encourage people to open up their electrical panels and such, the big thing is filters.  I know it seems like we are constantly harping on filters it is the most essential maintenance action.  Past that turning the breaker off to your outdoor unit and washing it out once a month during the summer helps a lot.  Clearing your drain using a compressor or something to push air down the line saves a lot of drain problems.

In short yes at some point your ducts will need cleaned.  Its recommended to check them every 10 years, your ac specialist should be able to be telling you what they look like when doing maintenance.  We do not do duct cleaning as a company mainly due to it being a specialized service, there are a lot of people using machines that are quick and easy that do not do a good job, we reference H2Air Duct Cleaning a lot, they are specialists with a proper negative pressure machine, they can serve our customers better as it is all they do day in and day out.  Possibly in the future we will be able to dedicate personnel to that but we feel we do a better service to our customers allowing someone who specializes in that to take care of it.

We suggest a biannual maintenance by qualified companies like ours.  Getting ahead of the heat and cooling season checking components that might be weak or cleaning your system can eliminate annoying issues and lengthen the lifespan of your unit.  A weak capacitor for example can cause high amp draw through your motor and compressor for years before going totally out, wearing those major components down early while costing you on your electric bill and they can begin weakening at almost any time.

The Season Energy Efficiency Rating is an efficiency rating given to systems to help you determine how much they will effect your electric bill.  Think about it as MPG on your car.  The SEER rating was flawed as it tested units without accounting for pressurization of ductwork, and SEER2 addressed that problem with an update.

This question is one that is not easily answered, I know I know at some point someone has told you 4,5,600 sq ft a ton, but it really doesnt take much thought to realize this is wrong.  If you have a 20x25 building with no windows, heavy insulation, and it is used for storage only chances are it needs much less than a ton.  If you take the same building with lower insulation and 3 windows per side and paint it black that building will absorb then transfer a lot more heat and may need a ton and half.  Past that the orientation of the 25 and 20 foot sides will come into play changing how much of the home is absorbing heat for the middle of the afternoon.  This question should only be truly answered with a manual J calculation.

We often have people call with airflow issues, my first quesiton is always is it one room or the whole house?  If it is the whole house it is a system problem, if it is one room it is often a duct problem.  From there has it always been this way or has it changed?  If it has always been there it could be faulty design or sizing.  If it changed you could have a duct with leakage, a damper closed, etc... System issues can be dirty coils, motor issues, sealing issues, etc...

Essentially this question depends on a lot of factors.  Especially in tighter construction the temp number is less important than things like humidity.  Most ac systems are designed to keep a home at 70-75 on a 100 degree day, code reads as design conditions being 75 but depending upon your original design 70 is what a lot of people shoot for.  70 degrees at 40-50% humidity feels much colder than 50-60% humidity so don't get tied to the number as much as what feels good.  Your home should be in the 50-55% humidity range if its not have a professional determine why.  The main thing with thermostat setting is consistency, set it and leave it.  Think about it in the difference between highway driving on cruise control and start stop traffic.  You use a lot more energy bumping it up and down than you do maintaining a controlled environment.