Until recently, any house without ductwork (”ductless”) could not have central air conditioning. If you had forced hot water heating or electric heat, for example, your only options were to use noisy, highly inefficient, and expensive window air conditioners in each and every room you wanted to cool. This was as expensive as it was unsightly.
Now, the invention of ductless air conditioning systems provides everyone, regardless of how old your house is or how it is currently heated, the opportunity to get a central air conditioning. These systems are quiet, simple to use, energy efficient, and quick and easy to install. They can even be “zoned” to cool only parts of your house at a time.
The system consists of just three parts:
1. Quiet indoor air-distribution units
2. Hidden refrigeration lines that link this/these units to…
3. …an outdoor compressor/condenser.
The only visible parts to the ductless system inside the house are small 1-3 inch in diameter holes where the distribution units are mounted. Ductless systems are actually much less visible that almost any other kind of heating or cooling system.
You do not have to change any existing ductwork, or anything about how you currently heat your house to get a ductless air conditioning system.
Advantages of ductless air conditioning systems:
1. Central air increases the resale value of your house, and in some areas is close to required to get any buyer interest
2. They are very small; in fact they are practically invisible.
3. Ductless air conditioning systems are easy to install, and the technology has made it so that the systems can be installed with little or no disruption to existing walls and facades.
4. These systems have flexible types of installation – you can choose floor, ceiling, and/or wall-mounted units depending on what will be least visible and disruptive to your existing decor
5. They can be “zoned” to individually cool specific rooms or groups of rooms, further reducing the cost and wastefulness, especially as compared to window units.
Even in some homes that are heated with forced air, the ductless air conditioning system may be optimal because it will save the energy that is currently lost as air travels through the ductwork (think of cooled air passing through a duct in a super-hot attic, or hot air through a cold basement).
More and more you will see window units disappearing from homes like yours…look into the opportunity to use ductless central air conditioning yourself!
By: Alan Jacobson
Central forced air heater repair can be expensive, so the best plan of action is to prevent the repair in the first place if at all possible. Of course, no matter how careful you are to adhere to a regular maintenance plan, at some point you’ll need to either get your system repaired or learn to do the basic repairs yourself.
A forced air heater uses ductwork to carry heated air throughout the house. There’s a blower to keep the air moving to all corners of the house. Central forced air heaters are popular, because the blowers distribute the air efficiently creating few, if any, cold spots.
Older units didn’t have blowers which meant the hot air rose throughout the house unevenly. But anytime you add features to a unit as sophisticated as central heat, you’re bound to have a forced air heater repair at some point. The more technology involved, the more expensive the repair can be.
Forced air heaters are either gas or electric. Gas is the furnace of choice if the fuel is available in the area because it burns clean and often less expensive than electricity. But when you need a forced air heater repair on a gas unit you have to be extremely careful you don’t try to repair a gas leak on your own.
Some repairs to furnaces require professional service by a certified and licensed technician. But even so, there are many maintenance steps you can take to reduce the probability of needing a forced air heater repair. A well- maintained furnace can provide years of repair-free service.
Problems that can require a forced air heater repair include the following:
• Pilot light goes out or won’t stay lit
• Blower doesn’t blow air through ductwork
• Furnace won’t start
• Blower won’t shut off
• House never reaches temperature set on thermostat
A forced air heater repair usually requires a licensed electrician in order to ensure the unit operates safely. A gas leak repair should never be attempted by a homeowner. In fact, if you smell gas you should leave all the windows open, leave the house and then call for an emergency repair.
Regular furnace maintenance includes replacing filters, keeping properly working thermostats, keeping vent openings clean, making sure ductwork doesn’t leak and keeping blower blades clean. Of course, no matter how careful you are about adhering to a regular maintenance schedule, anything mechanical can break.
Some of the simple repairs can safely be done by the homeowner. For example, you can replace the thermostat and replace fuses. You can also repair ductwork and even replace blower blades. But most repairs need to be done by an authorized technician or a licensed professional for the safety of you and your family.
There’s a lot to be said for having peace of mind.
By: Gregg Hicks
So, your air conditioner has finally quit. A technician found that the condenser (aka outdoor unit), needs to be replaced. The other main part – the evaporator – is still OK, so you’re tempted to just replace the condenser. Don’t do it.
Let me explain. There are two main parts in an air conditioner, the evaporator and the condenser. You’ve never seen the evaporator. It quietly sits inside the ductwork and absorbs heat from inside air into the refrigerant. The condenser sits outside of the house and looks like it’s doing all the work. Actually, it’s only doing half the job. The condenser squeezes heat out of the refrigerant into the outside air.
Parts of existing central air systems aren’t good at all at adjusting to each other’s needs. If the evaporator absorbs too much heat from the house, the condenser will overheat. If the evaporator doesn’t absorb enough heat, it will freeze. The only way make sure an air conditioner will work properly is to match its two main components – the evaporator and the condenser.
It’s fairly easy to match components when you install a new air conditioner, as you can see in this article:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Buying-An-Air-Conditioner?-The-ARI-Reference-Number-Is-Your-Best-Friend&id=620937 However, it’s much more difficult to match the components of aging systems. Virtually all the systems that may require condenser replacement today were designed to work in 6, 8, or 10 SEER air conditioners. All the air conditioners on the market today are 13 SEER and up. Good luck matching 10 SEER (or even 8 or 6 SEER) evaporator with 13 SEER condenser.
This is why; if you have to replace your old air conditioner, replace everything.
By: Boris Sherman