As you begin to plan your spring plantings, keep your home comfort system outdoor units in mind. Air conditioner and heat pump outdoor units are heat exchangers. They need intake and exhaust air to operate efficiently. If air cannot circulate, the unit could build up heat and require service. Manufacturers generally agree that plants should not be closer than 18 inches. When planting, allow for future growth, and if you have mature plantings around your units, check to see if they need to be trimmed. Keep a 3-4 feet space open over the unit.

Remember to allow room for your Garnett Refrigeration service tech to service your unit without disturbing your plantings. Regular service is key for extending the life of your home comfort units. Call Garnett Refrigeration or click the contact us button to schedule service or preventive maintenance today.

Yes, there are a couple. The first is that you get constant filtering of the air in your home. The second is that because the air is moving, you have a more even temperature throughout the home. However, continuous fan mode during COOLING operation may not be appropriate in humid climates. If the indoor air exceeds 60% humidity or simply feels uncomfortably humid, it is recommended that the fan be used in AUTO mode.

Give Garnett Refrigeration a call or click the contact us button above to discuss making your home more comfortable.

When storms and bad weather bring flooding and your home is caught in the middle, then there are some things that you need to know. We often think to check the carpeting and furniture for damage, but before the power is turned back on any appliances, including HVAC equipment, should also be thoroughly checked.

Current recommendations from GAMA, FEMA, insurance companies and many state agencies are that any appliances including hot water heaters, furnaces and boilers that have been submerged require replacement rather than repair. Be safe – call Garnett Refrigeration or click the Contact Us button to have your home comfort system checked before you turn the power back on.   

You never see prospective home buyers looking at the heating and air-conditioning equipment on television shows. They stop and gaze at the granite countertops and stainless steel kitchen appliances. The less glamorous home appliances – the heating and air-conditioning systems – are just as important as stainless steel, six burners and ice makers.

While your HVAC systems operate in the background to keep you comfortable they use energy. That means that your electric and/or gas bill could be higher than expected. Having your heating and air conditioning systems inspected and tuned up could save you money. Bent or clogged fins on the condenser coils and a thermostat that is out of calibration can create higher energy bills.

Beyond maintenance issues is the efficiency issue. It’s easy to see if a kitchen appliance needs to be replaced, or if you just want an upgrade to stainless steel. Your HVAC systems operate on efficiency rating. Do you know the SEER, EER and/or HSPF or AFUE on your heating and cooling systems? Do you know the age of your HVAC system? If your system is tens years or older, you are not only at the end of the average life span of a typical system, there are more efficient systems on the market that can save energy dollars. 18-20 SEER systems can save as much as 60% on heating/cooling utility bills compared to 10 SEER efficiency in ten years or older systems.

Give us a call or click the Contact Us button and schedule a seasonal tune-up for your new home HVAC system. Our technicians can verify the age of the system, check the operation and look for maintenance issues to keep your system running efficiently. We can also do a duct analysis to give an operating total system efficiency rating. Is your system operating at rated efficiency or is it operating at 50-60% efficiency as most systems are. We can improve efficiency which saves you, the homeowner, money.

Call Garnett Refrigeration for all your home indoor comfort needs so that you can settle into your new home – in comfort.

One of the conveniences that we can add to our home heating/cooling system is a programmable thermostat. If you check the Energy Star website, they discuss the energy savings available for setting your thermostat back just 5-8 degrees. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_save_energy_at_home  And they point out that changing the settings more than the prescribed 5-8 degrees may not save you more energy – it may even cost you more energy because of the amount of energy necessary to bring the environment back to a comfortable temperature. If you have an electric heat pump, be sure to bring the temperature back up slowly to keep from utilizing the backup heat coil which draws energy and could cost more on your power bill.

We want to help you keep your energy bills in line. Give us a call at 540-898-6461 or click the Contact Us button and ask about upgrading to a digital programmable thermostat.

Today’s HVAC industry is very sophisticated. There are professional organizations that create standards and oversee implementation of HVAC systems. A few examples of the largest organizations are:

• Air Conditioning Contractors ofAmerica (ACCA)
• North American Technician Excellence (NATE)
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
• Manufacturers are also taking a role in sizing systems by testing and rating equipment combinations for efficiency and matching combinations of equipment.

There are also various computer programs with built-in guides that support design manuals and standards developed by these organizations.

Local building codes are also a factor in sizing your HVAC system. Many local building codes have specific requirements for sizing, duct design and installation of home comfort systems. Check with your local municipal authority to find out what they require. Then give us a call or click the Contact Us button to discuss your needs for your HVAC system.

When our sales techs write a proposal, they will usually tell you the SEER/EER and if it applies, the HSPF ratings of your equipment they proposed. SEER is Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. According to Wikipedia, “The SEER rating of a unit is the cooling output in Btu (British thermal units) during a typical cooling-season divided by the total electric energy input in watt-hours during the same period. The higher the unit’s SEER rating the more energy efficient it is.” The current minimum government SEER rating for new equipment is 13, and minimum Energy Star rating is 14 SEER, but current technology provides ratings at 20 SEER or higher.

While SEER is rated across an entire cooling season, EER is determined on the system’s energy efficiency at peak day operations. A minimum number of 11.5 for split systems and 11 for heat pumps is recommended.  A peak cooling day here inVirginiais 90 degrees outside.

Heat pumps also have a Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF), again, the higher the rating, the more efficient. A factor of 8.2 or higher is considered high efficiency.

The actual efficiency rating for a specific system will depend on the combination of the outdoor unit and the indoor coil. These ratings are available from your dealer and the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute’s Energy Guide. A variable-speed indoor blower unit will increase the efficiency rating of the system, as well.

Gas furnaces are rated for AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). This defines the amount of heat used to warm your home from the burned fuel. A 90% furnace will use 90% of the available heat to heat your home. 10% of the heat is vented outdoors. Many older gas furnaces are only 60% efficient. The other 40% is vented outdoors. You can see that a new high-efficiency furnace will require much less fuel to heat your home.

If your system is 10 years old, it may be rated at 10 SEER or lower and it may be time to consider replacing it instead of repairing it if it breaks. Moving to the minimum 13 SEER equipment should show a difference in operating cost. High electricity rates, long cooling seasons and long-term use of the system can offset the higher initial cost of a more efficient system. Call us to find out if your utility bill can benefit from a more efficient comfort system? (Sources: Trane and Wikipedia)