How to reduce your air conditioning bills
Are you experiencing high air conditioner bills that are burning a deep hole in your household budget? Do you know that with a well-maintained air conditioning unit, you will be able to save 15% to 40% of the energy which will directly affect your bills?
To reduce your air conditioner bills, the best way is to have a well-maintained air conditioner unit. Although tasks like cleaning can be easily done by you, for more complicated technical tasks, it is best to leave the hard work to an air conditioner professional to have you fulfil it.
An air conditioning unit is more complex than what you think it might be. Any adjustments or repairs should always be done by professionals. In a unit, there are refrigerant gases, compressors, fans, fins, coils, electrical starters, thermostats, and so many more. It is just to overwhelming for you to do the task by yourself.
When you find that the bills are shooting really high for the past few months, it is time to ask for a servicing so as to make your unit more efficient and save energy. You can engage a professional service technician I would recomment JCJ Mechanical Inc., and he should be able to clean the evaporator and condenser coils, check refrigerant pressures, and adjust and lubricate moving parts. Sometime, there will not be enough refrigerant gas.
In this case, the technician will also help you to top up the unit. A professional technician will be able to detect symptoms that can lead to energy wastage or inefficiencies, and rectify them. One major culprit for tremendous energy wastage is that your unit does not have a damper or have a malfunctioning one. A damper is place in the duct of an air conditioner unit so as to prevent cool air from entering the furnace cabinet in summer, and warm air from escaping to the air conditioner unit in winter.
If the technician finds that you have a damaged damper, he will help you to repair or replace it. You might ask how often do you need to call a professional technician to check on your air conditioner unit. Actually, it really depends on how your unit cooling system operates. Different model of air conditioners unit will have different cooling operations.
However, as a rule of thumb, the followings are a general interval guideline that you can take for reference:
1. Hot regions. If your unit operates for 8 or more months per year, you need to engage a professional once a year.
2. Warm regions. If your unit operates for 5 to 8 months per year, you need to engage a professional every 2 to 3 years.
3. Cold regions. If operating for less than 5 months every year, engage a professional every 3 to 5 years. With a well-maintained and energy saving air conditioning unit, you will get to see a slide in your air conditioner bill.
Call JCJ Mechanical Inc. at 416 967-0717 for more information or visit www.jcjmechanicalinc.com
A/C Tips
Before each cooling season, it is recommended that central air conditioners get a professional tune-up. This is the biggest step to preventing major malfunctions in an AC unit.
Probably the most important step that can be done by a homeowner is to clean or replace the air filter every month. Electrostatic filters are the best. Do not run the unit with the filter removed. Check the owner’s manual for filter cleaning procedure. Let a washed filter dry completely before reinstalling it.
Every month, especially during the summer months, remove any leaves or debris from outdoor condenser units.
Help keep the outdoor condenser fan running efficiently by cleaning the fan blades and the coils before each cooling season. (Always turn off the power before attempting anything other than superficial cleaning). Remove the fan grill and the fan blades. Gently brush off debris from the blades. Then uncover the condenser coils and gently brush the dirty side. Then hose water from inside the unit, using plastic bags to protect the motor and other components. Also check the base pan (under the unit) and remove any debris that has accumulated there as well.
If the condenser fan makes a clicking or grating noise it may indicate that the blades may be striking an obstruction. If a blade becomes bent, do not try to straighten the blade. A straightened blade may become unbalanced and can loosen the fan motor or hit the condenser coil. Replace a bent blade with a new blade. After replacing a blade, make sure the fan blades rotate freely and don’t wobble. If fan often becomes loose, apply a drop of thread-locking compound.
Keep vegetation at least 2 feet away from outdoor units on each side and above. Aim grass clippings away from the unit when mowing the lawn. During the fall, keep the fan grill free of leaves.
Lubricate the condenser fan motor once a year if it has oil ports. (They’re usually plugged with rubber or metal caps). Use non-detergent lightweight SAE 20 oil and add no more than 10 drops per port.
If possible, shade the outdoor compressor unit. Air in shaded space is typically 5 to 6 degrees cooler than the surrounding air. Proper shading can be up to 10 percent more efficient over a cooling season.
During the winter months, protect the condenser unit with a form-fitting cover. To avoid damaging the compressor, don’t operate the unit when it’s below 60 degrees F outside.
A dirty indoor evaporator coil will hinder the unit’s ability to cool the air moving through the unit. To clean the evaporator coil, remove the front panel of the air handler/ furnace to expose the coil. Ensure that the coil is dry. Use the soft brush attachment on the vacuum cleaner to gently remove any dust or debris from the coil. Check and make sure that coil fins are straight. If not, straighten them with a fin comb available from refrigeration supply dealers.
Warm indoor air contacting the evaporator coils will condense causing moisture to collect and drip. In most units, a plastic pipe carries the water outdoors or to a floor drain. Algae and bacteria growth can clog the pipe. When this happens, backed-up water can puddle, causing rust or other damage. To clean the evaporator drain, remove the plastic tape holding the trap to the pipe elbow. (It may be necessary to saw through the pipe at the elbow). Flush the trap with water from a hose, and then disinfect using 1 tbsp of chlorine bleach. Reattach the trap to the pipe with new tape.
Raise the temperature settings. Each degree of temperature can represent up to 9 percent savings in cooling costs.
For more information visit us at www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
Air Conditioning Basics
The home heating, ventilation and cooling system (HVAC) consumes about 40 percent to 50 percent of all the electrical power in a house, so the efficiency of the HVAC system is extremely important to the overall power draw of the home.
What Is HVAC?
HVAC is an acronym for indoor air. So remember that when a builder or subcontractor uses the term “HVAC,” he or she is talking about the entire air system of the home.
Air Conditioning Units
AC units can be compared on a multitude of dimensions. Certainly efficiency is one of the main drivers, and given what’s happened lately with the cost of gas and electricity, efficiency has become extremely important.
In general, there are three factors to be aware of when selecting an air conditioning system:
1. Efficiency — Buy the most efficient air conditioning unit available, especially in the desert Southwest. Efficiency refers to how much energy the system will require to do its job. HVAC specialists use what are called “S.E.E.R” numbers to rate and compare different cooling systems. SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. This is a standardized test, and the higher the SEER number, the more efficient the air conditioning unit is. Now the minimum efficiency, the builder’s model, is rated a 10 and they go all the way up to 18. So make sure the air conditioning unit has a rating of 10 or higher.
2. Regional Climate — When designing a home, it’s important to know the external factors that will need to be solved. In the desert southwest, it’s one of high summer heat. In the northwest, it may be one of damp, cold winter weather. In the northeast, it’s most likely frost in the winter and high humidity in the summer.
3. Noise — Internal sound is just as important as the sound coming externally from an air conditioning unit that’s installed outside the kitchen or living room window. Be sure to purchase a unit that’s as quiet as possible.
With all three of these areas, the builder and air conditioning distributor can help point you in the right direction.
Addition to the Home Building Team
The next person to join the home building team is an HVAC contractor, and the builder will hire him. Not only will he oversee the installation process, he or she will also make sure that one of the important elements of a good AC system — its ability to create sufficient air movement throughout the house — is included.
Note: Having proper return air and supply air is 100-percent dependent upon the installing contractor. So having a good, qualified HVAC contractor is the first and primary concern when installing an HVAC system.
“The first thing about being on the job site and being in charge is to make sure that everything goes in safely,” Gary Ostler, president of Four Season Heating & A.C., Inc., said. “After that is to make sure that everything gets done properly and, upon completion, that it works properly.”
For more information us at www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
Radiant Floor Heating
Radiant floor heating is a wonderfully efficient heat-distribution system that takes advantage of the whole floor to heat the home, as apposed to forced air coming out of one small vent and trying to heat a huge space.
How does radiant floor heating work?
This innovation in home heating provides warmth for a house from underneath the floors. It’s an effective method of heating that works in an unusual way — hydronics or water going through a PEX tubing in the floor. The water in the tubing radiates the heat into the structure. It’s an efficient and cost-effective way to heat a house.
Running hot water beneath the floor — or hydronics — is becoming more popular in residential homes thanks to a flexible plastic tubing called “PEX” — a polyurethane, durable tubing that has a lifespan of more than 100 years. It serpentines underneath the floor and uses the whole floor as a heat-distribution system.
Comfort and efficiency are two reasons why new homeowners like radiant floor systems. Comfort, in fact, is the No. 1 advantage with its warm-feet, cool-head environment. And because the whole floor is used, it’s an extremely efficient system. The aesthetic quality is another reason some homeowners love this system. The heating system remains hidden beneath the floor; there are no vents or radiators in sight. This can be a huge advantage when it comes to interior design.
Three Types of Radiant Floors
There are three radiant flooring systems that can be applied to a home:
Radiant Air Floors — Don’t hold large amount of heat, and for this reason they are used mainly in commercial buildings.
Electric Radiant Floors — Do a great job at heating any kind of home, but they’re extremely expensive.
Hydronic or Liquid Floors — These cost less and are, therefore, used more often in residential construction.
Radiant floor heating is a distribution center for the home by taking advantage of the floor and putting tubing throughout the whole floor, mild temperatures of water and concrete application. Beautiful tile, marble and slate floors are being utilized in homes, but they’re ice cold. With radiant floor heating, it’s possible to have a beautiful floor and barefoot comfort.
Using a hydronic floor system is a great way to heat a home, but it also can be used on a smaller scale, such as in a basement.
Note: Since a radiant floor system is different from a traditional centralized heating system, your builder will need to hire specialized contractors with experience in this area.
Installing a Radiant Floor System
There are two categories of installation for radiant floor heating — wet and dry. Wet installation is most commonly used in the ground floor.
Here are the five steps to the wet installation on a ground level:
1. Excavate the area to be heated. This will be the sub-base.
2. Add a layer of insulation to create a base over which the rest of the floor system will lay.
3. Add rebar to the space. This will add strength to the floor system.
4. Add plastic tubing, tying it to the rebar for support.
5. Use concrete to create a slab foundation for the floor.
When installing a radiant floor system on the upper floors of a home, the most common method is called “dry installation,” which is a system that suspends the tubing underneath the subfloor, between the joists.
Visit us at www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
How to improve your Indoor Air Quality
If you don’t use a toxic chemical in the first place, then you don’t have to contain it, clean it up, or be exposed to it, which is what preventing pollution is all about. Here’s a list of the top 10 things you can do to reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals to create a safer indoor living environment for you and your family.
1. Household Cleaners.
Look for labels that divulge ALL of the cleaner’s chemicals. Be sure to avoid using cleaners that contain these suspect hormone disrupter chemicals: Nonyl- and octyl-phenols are used to make alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) detergents.
2. Disinfectants.
Limit the use of disinfecting products in your home. They contain chemical agents that are capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Overuse could lead to the growth of “superbugs.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies disinfectants and antimicrobials as pesticides.
3. Lawn Care and Pests.
Children and pets in particular are exposed to pesticides tracked inside homes from lawn treatments. Pesticide exposure also occurs from using off-the-shelf pest repellents. Use organic lawn care methods like mowing high and adding topsoil. To get rid of pests, remove food sources, use boric acid and traps.
4. Vinyl Floor and Wall Coverings.
Flexible vinyl household products like flooring and wallpaper are manufactured using PVC that may have toxic chemical additives including phthalate plasticizers and lead. As these products are used, they create dusts that accumulate these chemicals. Choose non-PVC wall and floor coverings to minimize potential exposure to these toxins.
5. Building Materials.
Plywood, oriented strand board, kitchen cabinets and home insulation are all products that can contain formaldehyde, a known human cancer-causing chemical. Choose solid woods and formaldehyde-free insulations when constructing or renovating your home.
6. Personal Care and Beauty Products.
Choose products that are fragrance free and reduce your use of nail polish and acetone nail polish remover. If you do use these products, be sure to open your windows.
7. Dry Cleaning.
Ask your dry cleaner if they offer safer alternatives such as liquid carbon dioxide or “wet cleaning” rather than the commonly used cleaner perchloroethylene, a suspected cancer-causing chemical.
8. Got Moths?
Eliminate the use of mothballs since they contain naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene. Instead, clean and seal wool clothes, use cedar blocks, shavings or oil.
9. Mold.
Dry is the operative word. Prevent mold and the overuse of bleach by preventing moisture build up in the first place. Fix leaky pipes and faucets immediately. Make sure that water slopes away from the foundation of your home.
10. Basement.
Do not leave a car running even with the garage door open especially if the garage is under the living area. Carbon monoxide can easily seep through walls and floors. When your oil company calls during the slow summer months to clean your boiler, don’t delay. And test your house for radon.
Bonus Tip: Avoid Tobacco Smoke.
Ask those who live with you to smoke outdoors. Indoor tobacco smoke is a major contributor to airborne contaminants in the home. Over 4,000 chemical compounds, of which 40 are known or suspected carcinogens, have been identified in tobacco smoke.
For more information visit us at www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
How to make your Fireplace Efficient
The fireplace has long been the favorite spot to gather in the American home. A place for warmth, the fireplace adds ambience, sparking memories that are to be treasured. With all the benefits that a fireplace can bring, there are some major downsides that if not addressed can cause a love for the fireplace to wane.
With soaring energy costs, the chief negative of having a fireplace has to be its inefficiency. When there is a fire burning, the fireplace does indeed radiate warmth in its general vicinity, but it also creates a convection current that can actually pull conditioned air out of the room and up the chimney causing your furnace to work overtime. When the fire is not burning, the fireplace has a damper which is supposed to block inside air from escaping and outside air from invading. The problem is that the damper is usually made of metal (this type of damper technology hasn’t changed in over 100 years!) and has no seal, which means that the damper is incredibly inefficient.
Your home has a dirty little secret – the fireplace that is designed to warm your house is actually doing the opposite and costing you hundreds of dollars in energy costs. Don’t fret – with a little investment of time and money, you can turn that inefficient fireplace into a powerhouse heater that will reduce your energy bills and add even more charm to your existing fireplace.
The following is a list of 4 things that you can do yourself to drastically reduce the heating costs associated with the inefficiency of your fireplace.
1. Top Sealing Dampers replace the fireplace throat damper and are installed at the top of the chimney. The top sealing damper has a seal that acts like a storm door keeping the expensive conditioned air inside the house and the outside air – outside. This principle works year round, whether you’re heating or cooling your house. This product can be purchased online and is easily installed by either a homeowner or a handyman.
2. A fireback is a cast iron plate that is placed at the back of your fireplace. Its purpose is to protect the back wall from fire damage and it usually features a design that adds to the homes decor. The fireback improves the fireplaces efficiency by absorbing the heat from the fire and radiating the heat back into the room.
3. A Fireplace Heater pulls fresh air from the room, circulates it through a chamber that is heated by the fire and then blows the heated air back into the room. These heaters are closed systems so no smoke from the fireplace is invading the home. Depending on which kind you purchase, these heaters can make a significant difference in your homes temperature, even heating a full room on its own. Specific fireplace heaters can be installed with fireplace glass doors which will kick your cost savings up another notch.
4. Fireplace Glass Doors will likely carry the largest investment, but you can reduce some of that cost by doing some of the work yourself. There are a number of fireplace doors that can be purchased online and come with easy to install instructions. The fireplace glass door creates a barrier between the living space and the chimney, thus reducing the area that your furnace will have to heat. This alone is a good reason to install these doors, but it’s not the only reason. Fireplace glass doors offer another level of safety for the home by protecting children and pets from the fire. If you have a wood burning fireplace you will want to purchase the screen mesh that is designed to go with the fireplace glass doors. This will allow you to have the doors open while the fire is burning and still have your home protected from sparks and embers. Fireplace glass doors are now being manufactured with modern designs and really add beauty and charm to the fireplace.
If you’re handy, all of these suggestions are easy to accomplish. In addition, all of the products, while difficult to find locally, can easily be purchased online. If you’re concerned about high energy costs but you want to keep your fireplace, then it’s time to plug up the holes in your monthly energy budget by plugging up the holes in your fireplace.
Visit us at www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
Central Air Conditioners Toronto
JCJ Mechanical Inc. is a one-stop-shop, full service HVAC contractor, offering sales, service and installations on everything from the smallest of window air conditioners to the largest of commercial cooling towers and everything in between. We welcome the opportunity of providing you with sound advice and quality products and service. Please feel free to browse and contact us at your leisure. Visit us at www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
Ventilation tips
Ventilation increases the amount of outdoor air that comes indoors. It removes stale indoor air and reduces indoor air pollutants. Ventilation also helps limit the build-up of indoor moisture which can contribute to mould growth.
Open windows and doors;
Turn on kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans. Bathroom and kitchen fans remove pollutants directly from the room where they are created; and
Choose new designs. More and more homes now have mechanical systems that bring outdoor air indoors. Some of these systems are energy-efficient and include heat recovery ventilators, so you should look at all of the available options.
Mechanical Ventilation Systems
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems perform these important tasks:
They bring fresh air indoors;
They vent stale air outside;
They circulate the air throughout the building; and
They control temperature and humidity levels.
Note: Not all HVAC systems are designed to accomplish all of the functions above. Many homes and buildings, particularly older ones, do not have mechanical ventilation systems.
For more information visit www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
Heating Tips
Here are some low- and no-cost ideas of things you can do to reduce the amount of energy it takes to heat your house.
- Make sure heat vents and return air vents aren’t covered.
- Change your fiber furnace filter twice a year and clean it monthly during the heating season.
- Set the thermostat at a maximum of 68 degrees.
- Set back the thermostat a maximum of 10 degrees at night, unless you have a heat pump or cable heat. Save up to three percent on heating costs for every degree your thermostat is lowered.
- Consider installing an automatic setback thermostat for your furnace.
If you have zonal heating (thermostats in each room) you can turn down the heat to 50 or 55 degrees and close doors. - If you suspect your thermostat is not accurate, place a thermometer nearby and see if they record the same number.
- Don’t use the oven to heat your kitchen.
- Weatherstrip and caulk around all doors and windows.
- Keep dampers closed when fireplace isn’t in use. Unblocked, a good chimney can draw up to 20 percent of the warm air out of the house each hour.
- In cold weather, keep drapes and shades open on sunny days and close them at night.
- Repair broken or cracked glass and putty older windows; check to see that windows close properly and window locks pull sashes together.
- Make sure doors close properly; repair or replace non-working doorknobs, latches and striker plates.
- Caulk foundation cracks and openings. Make sure kitchen and bathroom vent dampers close properly.
- Install automatic setback thermostats that adjust the heat to your schedule.
- Routinely have a professional contractor perform a pre-season check-up. Having your air conditioner inspected and tuned can save you money on costs and prevent premature breakdown.
- Schedule your tune-ups early in the spring. You’ll have more scheduling flexibility, and you will be less likely to experience problems during warmer weather.
- Clean your drain lines: The hoses connected to your furnace can develop “build up” inside them over time. If it gets bad enough, water can back up into the furnace and cause damage.
- Change the batteries in your digital thermostat annually: People forget that their digital thermostat has batteries in it. If you get in the habit of changing the batteries annually, you can eliminate a no-heat situation.
For more Heating Tips visit www.jcjmechanicalinc.com or call 647 833-8116
