Myth 1: Get your AC technician on Craigslist.
The interweb has provided us with a variety of places to go to get an A/C system service technician, but proceed with caution because not all are comparable. While the Better Business Bureau provides you with information on whether a business is accredited based on their business history and practices, other sites are accessible to anyone who wants to post an ad. Case in point, Craigslist lets anyone post an ad providing their services, despite whether or not they’re truly qualified, licensed and bonded, or have the actual training and background.
If you decide on a company or individual without getting to verify their qualifications and expertise, it could end up costing you more in the long run. If the technician doesn’t have the skills to properly fix your specific air conditioner, you could end up needing another, more experienced company to repair their mistakes and end up paying multiple Trip Charges.
Myth 2: Choosing a small business is better.
Hiring small businesses can be wonderful for some small fixes – it’s good for the local business, great for the economy, and likely even wonderful for your bank account. But beware: small companies or one-person companies could leave you in a lurch. If something backfires, they may conveniently disappear and not be available to rectify the situation, or they could not have the resources to get to you quickly, which is not what you want if your AC malfunctions in the dog days of summer.
Paying a little bit more for a bigger, more established and reliable company can come with perks that help provide you with more confidence, including a one-year satisfaction guarantee, expert workmanship, a large certified team of servicemen and women who provide you service 24/7/365, and the confidence that they’ll be a call away if you ever require their services.
Myth 3: It’s fine to use any type of refrigerant in your air conditioning system.
With the government stopping the production of R-22, many families are noticing the fee of refilling their air conditioning system’s refrigerant increasing. It may seem like a simple fix to just replace your R-22 with a different and lower cost refrigerant, but if an air conditioning service technician advises you to do that, you probably want to get a second opinion.
Manufacturers specify the exact refrigerant the equipment is developed for, and before 2010, it was typically R-22. Despite the extreme reduction of the production of R-22, those air conditioners are still designed for it, and using a different refrigerant may not only cause destruction to your air conditioner, it could nullify your warranty. A voided warranty could cost you hundreds or thousands more in future parts due to likely damage.
Myth 4: You don’t need yearly A/C system maintenance.
A lot of people who don’t currently have trouble with their air conditioning system may believe they don’t truly need annual maintenance. It’s running fine, so why spend the money on a tune-up, right? Well there’s the fact that a yearly AC tune- up costs around $79 while repairs will set you back around $500. Also, most manufacturers demand annual maintenance to maintain your warranty, so skipping your routine tune-up could also mean foregoing your warranty, which means a huge payout if your air conditioner decides to die on the hottest day of the year.
Myth 5: Learning about the contractor isn’t valuable.
It’s crucial to ensure you do your research before picking an air conditioning service business, especially if you feel a single company is intimidating you. As we said in Myth #1, some domains don’t need a contractor to be qualified to place an ad for their services. You need to know what you’re getting into so you don’t end up paying for the same service multiple times.
Website reviews, referrals from neighbors, and an a high accreditation grade with the Better Business Bureau will all assure you of the type of business you will be offering your business to and help you decide if they are best for you. Google+, Angie’s List, and the BBB are all good websites to start your search. And, don’t be shy to ask for prior customer references. You might have to invest your hard-earned money with your air conditioner contractor, so invest some time and research to make sure they are the ideal company for your home.
Myth 6: It costs you more to turn your thermostat to a higher temperature while you’re away from home.
Over time, it will increase your bills to leave the thermostat at a colder temperature all through the day than to increase it 10 degrees while you are away from your home. It typically will not take an excessive amount of more energy to cool your home once you arrive, depending on the home.
A programmable thermostat allows for the temperature to be changed from a mobile device so you can just adjust the temperature back down before returning home, so your home is nice and comfy when you arrive. This reduces your energy over the course of the day, as well as lowering your cooling bills.
Myth 7: Continuously running ceiling fans will help lower the temperature in your home.
Fans help cool people, they don’t really lower the temperature of the home by themselves. In fact, fans (like refrigerators) actually increase the temperature in your home. The motor that is making your fan operate generates heat, which can add heat to the air in your home. A well-working ceiling fan can help level the temperature of the room and may assist in cooling air by circulating, but if there isn’t anyone below the fan to feel cool, all the fan is doing is blowing through energy and money, especially if the air conditioning system is already working. So keep ceiling fans off when there is no one in the room and extra air circulation is not needed.
Myth 8: Don’t worry about where the thermostat is installed.
Thermostats measure the temperature surrounding it to determine whether it needs to start up the AC to cool the home. Placing a thermostat in a bedroom will only help ensure that bedroom lowers to the temperature that the thermostat is adjusted to. Once your bedroom is cooled, the system will turn off and the rest of the floor or home might be a lot warmer. If the thermostat is installed near a warm window or an appliance, it might continuously read the temperature as being much higher than the home really is and keep running your system, upping your energy bills.
Myth 9: Turning your thermostat down much lower will help it cool more speedily.
Lowering your air excessively may only make your AC operate longer, it won’t get colder any faster. If your thermostat is says 77, but you really would be more comfortable at 75, then put it at 75 and it will work until it gets to that temperature. Putting the thermostat on 73 won’t make it lower to 75 any faster, and it will result in your system running longer, wasting money and energy.
Myth 10: It’s ok to change your air filter once a year.
Depending on the health issues for the residents of the home, and the kind of air filter you use for your air conditioner, your air filter may need to be swapped out as often as every four weeks. Failure to change the air filter often enough not only makes your AC to work harder and reduce efficiency, it could also aggravate respiratory ailments like common allergy symptoms.
Call Winnipeg Supply Service Experts today if you have any questions about your AC or to set-up your free in-home consultation.