Learning the Ins and Outs of Home Comfort

Welcome to the HVAC Technical Support HVAC 101 guide. This guide will help you learn about home comfort to empower you to know what things you can do to

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems are the third largest purchase behind homes and automobiles that most people will make in their lifetime.

Heating and air conditioning systems are also the biggest users of energy in the home, therefore, when buying a new heating/air conditioning system, or even when having an existing system serviced, which many times will lead to purchase of a new system, you should have all the facts before making a buying decision.

On the positive side, replacing an inefficient heating and/or air conditioning system with an efficient system can more than pay for the first cost in savings in operating cost. This is one of the few things that we know of that you can buy that actually gives you a monthly payback and puts more money in your pocket!

For example the gas and electric bill for a 2500 sq. ft. house, in the center of the country, St. Louis, Missouri, with a 10 year old system, would run $2,795.00 a year to operate. With a new high efficiency system the annual cost would be $1,243.00. A savings of $1,552.00 per year.

Air Conditioning / Heat Pumps
		Split System Air Conditioning A traditional home comfort system has two parts: an indoor unit, such as a furnace or air handler, and an outdoor unit. An air conditioner is the outdoor unit that cools air and sends it to the indoor unit for circulation through your home. Indoor and outdoor units are designed to work together. When the air conditioner is properly matched with a furnace or air handler, you get maximum efficiency and longer system life. Air conditioning and cooling efficiency is measured using a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). A higher SEER means higher energy efficiency. The latest standard for SEER is 13 (beginning January 2006). High-Efficiency Heat Pumps As with normal air conditioning above, a split system using a heat pump (instead of an air conditioning unit) keeps homes comfortable all year long. In summer, it draws heat out of your home to cool it. In the winter, it draws heat from outside air into your home to warm it.

Furnaces
		Furnaces heat and circulate warm air in the winter. Furnace heating ability is measured with an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) percentage. A higher AFUE percentage indicates a more efficient furnace.

Packaged Heating and Cooling Systems
		Packaged heating and cooling systems put efficiency and economy in one self-contained unit. In a packaged system, all equipment is built into an outdoor unit, usually on a concrete slab or other platform. The "package" that gives it its name provides central air conditioning during the summer and heat in colder months. The efficiency of packaged systems are rated using SEER (for cooling efficiency), AFUE% (for gas heating efficiency) and HSPF (for heat pump efficiency). Ductwork is required to transfer the heated or cooled air throughout the home.

Thermostats
		Thermostats are extremely important because they are your interface and control system for your heating and air conditioning equipment. This is the device that will give you the information on what the equipment is doing, when it needs to be serviced, and allows you to set the exact temperature and humidity you want to maintain in your home. If you wish to control your humidity by either dehumidifying the room are by adding humidity (which we highly encourage) you will need to select the T-1900 thermostat this thermostat allows you to set the humidity you desire and then have the air-conditioning & heating equipment operate to maintain that humidity.

Air Handlers
A traditional home comfort system has two parts: an outdoor unit, such as an air conditioner or heat pump, and an indoor unit. The air handler is the indoor unit that circulates cool air through your home in the summer and warm air in the winter. The indoor and outdoor units are designed to work together. Air handlers supply conditioned air evenly throughout your home, when used in place of a furnace, with either an air conditioning or heat pump system.

Zoning

Zoning allows you to have different temperatures in each room or area of your house. You can have one temperature in the kitchen, another temperature in the family room, another temperature in your bedroom, etc. Not only does this provide much more comfort but it can save you up to 20% per year in your annual operating costs because you don't overheat or overcool the areas that are unoccupied. The operating cost savings could be the equivalent to that of going from a 13 SEER air conditioning system to a 15 SEER system.

Zoning is getting more popular all the time as people demand to be more comfortable as in most new luxury cars now you have at least two zones, one for the passenger and one for the driver.

The way zoning operates is you have dampers in the duct work that open and close to provide heated or cooled air to different parts of the house. Each area has its own thermostat and its own control. It can maintain the temperature at which ever temperature you like in each one of the different areas.

The cost of zoning varies depending on how difficult it is to get to the duct work to install the controls. We can give you an exact cost after we survey your duct work system.

Dehumidifier Dehumidification can be very important if you live in an area with high humidity. High humidity in cooler temperatures gives you a wet clammy feeling and in warmer temperatures causes a wet sticky feeling and causes perspiration to stay on your body and soak into your clothes rather than evaporate. High humidity can also cause mold & mildew through out the house and even ruin very expensive clothes, fabrics, paintings & wall coverings. All air-conditioning units take out some humidity when they are running, but in very humid areas this is not enough and you need a dehumidifying system.

Humidifiers

Humidity is very important in dry areas. Symptoms of dry climates are dry skin & eyes, nose bleed, static electricity (clothes clinging to you, hair clinging to your comb or brush and electric shock when you touch a metal object). All of these can be cured by raising the humidity in your home which can be accomplished with a humidifier connected to your air conditioning system (and capable thermostat)

Air Cleaners

Now you can be sure your home's air is clear of dust, pollen, fungi, smoke and other particles too small to see by incorporated electronic and media based air cleaners to your HVAC system. These cleaners provide stepped-up filtration, more effective than your furnace or air conditioner alone. In fact, typical cleaners can remove up to 94 percent of the particles that pass through your home's system. And since these pollutants can build up as film on walls and furniture, this is performance you'll feel and see.

UV Air Purifiers

You can protect your home and your family from allergy-causing mold with UV air purifiers. These ultraviolet air treatment systems kill mold that would grow in the cool, damp interiors of your air conditioning system. This is the same technology that's long been used by water treatment facilities and is now adapted for safe and efficient home air purification. UV air purifiers are mounted in the duct work just outside your HVAC system and work with air cleaners and filters to keep your family healthy.

Ventilators

On the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter, you want your home sealed tight for energy efficiency. But you don't want to sacrifice the benefits of fresh air. With a ventilation system, you don't have to as they work with your HVAC system to exchange the stale air with fresh air from outside.

Evaporator Coils

A traditional home comfort system has two parts: an outdoor unit, such as an air conditioner or heat pump, and an indoor unit, such as a furnace or air handler. The evaporator coil is a series of piping connected to a furnace or air handler that blows indoor air across it, causing the coil to absorb heat from the air. The cooled air is then delivered to the house through ducting. The refrigerant then flows back to the compressor where the cycle starts over again.