Today we interview Francis Pass, a Vietnam Veteran and owner of Pass One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning in Herrin, Illinois.
Francis shares his experience in the Army during the Vietnam war and how he made his transition to the HVAC industry when he left the military. On this Veteran’s Day we want to thank Francis and all Veteran’s for their service to our country.
We hope his story can be helpful to other Veterans preparing to leave the military.
You can find “Pass it On” – Stories Worth Sharing from Francis Pass here: http://passiton.email
If you go look at your humidifier you should see water running out of it. You should see water running down the hose and into the floor drain. That is how you check if your humidifier is working.
The biggest question is water could be running through the humidifier and the humidifier it is technically working, but is it functioning at the correct efficiency and capacity? If it isn’t running at the right efficiency or capacity, is your humidifier really working? If it is not serviced or maintained regularly it really needs to be. Whole home humidifiers need a little TLC every single year in order to make sure that they are working properly. If you don’t maintain the humidifier and change the water panel on a regular basis, you’re just not going to get the capacity and the efficiency of the humidifier that you want. However, if you see water running down to the floor drain, is it definite good sign that it is running. Whether it’s working at its potential…that’s where it needs maintenance every year.
How do I know if my humidifier is working or not?
That’s actually a really good question. We get asked alot about how to know if your humidifier is working. A couple of symptoms that people see in their homes and feel in their homes if the humidifier stops working are:
1. The electrostatic discharge as you walk across the carpet or you touch a light switch or you touch your kids or the dog or the cat and you zap them. That’s typically a sign of dry air in a home so that’s usually the first one that gets noticed.
2. Another common one is sinuses. Many people get nosebleeds if their humidifier stopped working. When we breathe dry air it evaporates the moisture that we do have in our sinuses and the only thing we have left is exposed blood vessels. So if you continue to breathe that really dry air it actually causes an irritation to those blood vessels and causes those blood vessels to rupture. You end up with a nosebleed.
3. Finally, dry hair, dry skin, these are all typical symptoms of dry air. These are signs of a humidifier that is not working. a
Does the humidifier need to be serviced more than once per year? How often should you change the humidifier filter?
Usually just once a year. If you notice something is not working correctly, or you’re getting those symptoms mentioned above, that’s a situation where you probably need to have somebody come out and check the humidifier. Maybe something stopped working. But as far as water panel changes and maintenance, that’s a once-a-year thing.
This morning we received another review about our Duct Sealing service:
This review is welcome, but not at all uncommon.
Duct Sealing with Aeroseal is a wonderful improvement to your home as most homes leak at least 30% of the air out of the duct work. The customer above is abnormal in that his house ONLY leaked 21% of his conditioned air and he still found the benefits of duct sealing significant. To learn more about the process and to see a duct sealing in action, please watch the video below.
If you are interested in testing the leakage of your duct system, please call 913-663-4687.
Why be an HVAC Technician? After 40 Years as an HVAC Technician, Ramon shares 2 specific reasons why he loves being an HVAC Technician. He also shares his favorite type of service call.
Reason Number 1 Why Being an HVAC Technician Is Awesome:
It is a very technical trade. You have to be a mini-plumber and a mini-electrician all rolled into one. Ramon said that even after 40 years as a technician, he still ran into a particular issue with an air conditioner that he had never seen before in the last month. It is a challenge even for a technical, fix-it kind of a person and Ramon loves the challenge that comes with being an HVAC Technician.
Reason Number 2 Why Being an HVAC Technician Is Awesome:
You are helping people with a problem. Let’s face it. If you, an HVAC Technician are in someone’s home, it is probably not a great day for them. They just want the problem with their heating or cooling to go away and get back to normal. You have a genuine opportunity to help them and improve their day. Ramon tells a story of fixing an air conditioner for a family who were expecting a house full of people for their daughter’s wedding! Talk about saving the day! This is Ramon’s favorite reason when he’s asked “Why be an HVAC Technician?”
If you are interested in becoming an HVAC Technician we encourage you to contact us. We have ride-along opportunities as well as Apprenticeships!
If your air conditioner is not coming on at all, you may be able to get it running again by resetting a tripped breaker. However, you first need to be able to recognize a tripped breaker and some reasons as to why your air conditioner may have tripped the breaker.
How To Reset The Breaker
At your breaker panel, you should see all the switches are turned in the same direction. They are all very uniformly in line with each other so it is very easy to tell when one is not pointed in the same direction. If you see a switch that is not going in the same direction or somehow looks differently than the rest, it has tripped or turned off. Sometimes a tripped breaker will have a loose feeling.
To reset the breaker that has tripped you’re going to turn it to the off position then you’ll feel it kind of click. Then you reset it by turning it back on. a
Why Your Breaker May Have Tripped
Your breaker is a safety device so it usually does not trip for no reason. There are a couple of reason why your breaker may have tripped where it would be fine to reset it yourself. For example, you might have had a power outage where your lights flicker off and come right back on while your air conditioner was running. That could cause a breaker to trip. Also, your air conditioner could have short cycled due to someone turning down the thermostat at the same time that the air conditioner was coming on. In strange cases such as the ones described above, it will help you to know how to reset your own tripped breaker to get your air conditioner working again.
How Many Times Should You Reset The Breaker?
You should never tolerate a breaker tripping repeatedly. If your breaker trips more than once we recommend not continuing to reset it. The breaker is a safety device so we recommend having a professional come to investigate what could be causing the breaker to trip and how to fix any problem with your heating and air conditioning system.
In the video above we explain a very easy simple tip to seal the space around your furnace filter slot.
We want to deliver the airflow where it’s supposed to go and the furnace filter slot is a weak spot in every system that allows air to escape the filter and go directly to your furnace blower.
Why Is It A Problem That Some Air Escapes The Filter And Goes Directly To The Furnace Blower?
When air is not filtered, it allows all the dust, dirt, and allergens to go directly into your furnace blower and into your house. This will make your furnace dirty and less efficient. Your house will seem to have more dust, and dirt in your furnace creates many problems and will cause parts to wear faster and break more often.
Even More Important If Your Furnace Is Located In An Attic, Crawl Space, Woodshop, etc.
If your furnace is located in a dirty (woodshop, etc) or unconditioned space, the space around your furnace filter lets the air in that space escape the filter entirely and go directly to the furnace blower. Your furnace will be pulling humid, dirty air directly into the blower compartment. That is not a good thing at all. That’s why we recommend closing the space around your filter with something like the FilterLock by Allergy Zone.
We recommend the FilterLock Furnace Filter Slot Seal Door Cover to solve this pesky problem. See below for our affiliate link to the FilterLock Furnace Filter Slot Seal Door Cover.
It improves indoor air quality by blocking allergens, dust, and gases like carbon monoxide from entering your home.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
If your air conditioner is running but not cooling enough, we have two simple checks you can do yourself:
1. check for a dirty furnace air filter that is blocking airflow, and
2. checking for a dirty outdoor coil that is restricting airflow from the outdoor unit.
Dirty Furnace Air Filters Can Cause the Air Conditioner to Not Cool Enough
The first thing to check if your air conditioner is running but not cooling enough, is your air filter. The air filter is typically easy to access for most people. Pull out the filter and make sure that it is relatively clean. If a dirty air filter is causing the air conditioner to not cool well, you can see a mat of dust and dirt over the surface. Home centers sell filters that are pleated-type filters that are extremely restrictive to air flow. Your filter could turn into a piece of cardboard as far as airflow. A really restricted air filter cuts down the air flow to the air conditioner to the point where affects how well it cools.
Trim Bushes and Branches Around Outdoor Unit To Not Block the Outdoor Unit From Expelling Heat
The second thing to check if your air conditioner is running but not cooling enough. is the outdoor unit. (The outdoor unit is called the condensing unit.) Look at the outdoor unit to see if there are overgrown bushes that are blocking the airflow out of the top of the unit. Make sure everything is trimmed back at least a couple of feet all around the air conditioner so you have a free flow of air.
Check For Dirt On Outdoor Coil
Another thing to check is to see if there is dirt on your outdoor coil. This can be a bit difficult to check as you typically need to look up through louvers to see the exposed aluminum coil on the inside. There are little fins on it you can clearly see. Dust, dirt and in our area, cottonwood seeds will completely impact the coil which cuts down the air flow.
Pro tip: You can wash the outdoor coil, but it needs to be carefully washed from the inside out. It is very easy to damage the outdoor unit if it is not cleaned properly.
Dirt and airflow restriction are the main reasons why your air conditioner is not cooling enough. Therefore, if you don’t see a problem with the filter or the outdoor coil, contact the professional.
An air conditioner SEER rating stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. This rating is made by the regulating authorities taking all the air conditioners out for a test drive. They have evaluated the air conditioners for efficiency based on how they cycle on and off. The SEER Rating is a number that is often overlooked by homeowners, however it can actually be quite useful.
How Can You Use a SEER Rating?
If you know your Air Conditioner’s SEER rating, you can use it to calculate how much you spend on electricity for your air conditioner.
In order to do this calculation we need to know a few other numbers.
The capacity of your air conditioner.
Your air conditioner’s SEER Rating
The number of hours of electricity you pay for during the month
Below is the calculation used in the video below to determine electricity costs:
1. Capacity (Tons x 12,000 BTUs)
divided by SEER rating
= Watts
2. Watts divided by 1,000 = KW
3. Kilowatts x Hours of Use = Total kw hours
4. Total kw hours x electricity cost kw hour ($0.12-$0.15)
= Total $$$ to run A/C for the Summer
If after you do this calculation and the total amount is lower than you typically pay, it is probable you are losing efficiency in your air conditioner. If your air conditioner has lost efficiency it is actually operating at a lower SEER rating than what it should be.
What Would Cause Your Air Conditioner to Operate at a Lower Efficiency Rating?
Dirt and airflow are the biggest culprits in air conditioner efficiency. Dirt both indoors and outdoors can cause problems for your air conditioner’s efficiency if it is not properly maintained. If the outdoor coil is dirty the heat transfer capability goes down. When the aluminum fins on the outdoor unit lose their shine they are not as efficient and don’t transfer heat as efficiently as it did in the past. Dirt also causes wear and tear forcing motors to work more overtime than they did originally.
That’s why after having them professionally cleaned using the proper coil cleaners the heat transfer capabilities will improve.
What Is The Minimum Air Conditioner SEER Rating?
It is possible you live in a house with a 10 SEER air conditioner, but the new minimum SEER rating is a 13 SEER. This will sometimes depend on where you live, but in our area of Johnson County, KS the minimum will typically be a 13 or 14 SEER.
What SEER Rating Should I Get? (What Is The Difference Between a 14 SEER And a 16 SEER Air Conditioner?)
If you are in the market for an air conditioner the question may come up on what SEER rating should you get. There is a difference in upfront costs. A higher SEER rating on an air conditioner will cause the price to increase. However, from our perspective, the increase in upfront cost will rarely be worth it if you are buying thinking a higher SEER rating will save you more in electricity. It will save on electricity, but only a small amount.
HOWEVER, the higher SEER ratings on air conditioners also correspond with other features that are valuable. Often, a 16 SEER air conditioner will have a two speed compressor that allows for benefits as far as how your home feels, the humidity control, etc. The other features on the 16 SEER in relation to the 14 SEER is what we find to be the biggest difference over the efficiency rating.
The quantum leap in efficiency is getting rid of that 10 SEER air conditioner and putting in even the most basic of air conditioners today such as the 13 SEER.
The MicroPower Guard Air Cleaner uses an electric charge to polarize and trap harmful particles while simultaneously cleaning the air in your home. It is important to change the filter correctly in your electronic air cleaner.
In this video Ramon shows us how to properly replace the media filter in his MicroPower Guard Electronic Air Cleaner. If you leave the power on to your furnace while you change the filter, it could damage your system.
The MicroPower Guard an air filtration system designed to trap microscopic contaminants that traditional filters can’t catch. See below for a demonstration of how an electronic air cleaner works.
Do you love the circulation an attic fan provides? (or whole house fan depending on your area) In this video we show you how to simulate the circulation of an attic fan by using your existing heating and air conditioning system. Using a variable drive blower for circulation can simulate the circulation you love with an attic fan, but doesn’t let in all the allergens. It is also a safer choice as an attic fan creates a negative pressure on your house that does not allow for proper venting of gas fired appliances.
