For Ac/Heat pumps:
- Mouse houses- Mice love to make homes in your outdoor Ac unit (called a condenser). this happens because there are electrical components in there that create enough heat to make for a comfortable environment in the winter. Unfortunately the mice don’t just hang out in there. They gnaw on the electrical wiring to use it as construction material for their great new home. Often this wreaks havoc on internal electrical components , not to mention make for a dangerous situation. This problem is exacerbated when you completely cover your unit. The reason is with the addition of a cover you are now insulating the mouse house making it even warmer and more appealing.
- Condensate plumbing- Your ac system doesn’t just cool your house in the summer, it also de-humidifies it. The humidity removed from your home turns into a significant amount of water (condensation) that needs to be removed from your home. This happens on the portion of the ac system that’s inside your house – not the outside unit. When your unit sweats the humidity out of your house it takes the dust in your system out with it. This combination of humidity/water and dust has the potential to clog the plumbing used to move it out of your house. When this happens the water from your ac unit could possibly flood the ac equipment and run all over your house. This water can cause a significant amount of property damage, not to mention the potential for a mold problem.
- Refrigerant leaks “Freon leaks” – You AC circulates refrigerant; it doesn’t consume it, such as a car would consume gasoline. An Ac system running low on refrigerant, will cost more money to run, is harmful to the environment, has to potential to freeze up, cause damage to your property, and could damage your compressor (the engine of the AC system). This is something we check during a tune-up in an effort to address the problem pre-emptively before you get into an unfortunate unplanned situation. Rather that just re-filling lost refrigeration, we promise to go over some permeant fixes first before just patching an ongoing problem.
- Filter changes- Air filters serve to clean the air of your indoor environment by removing dust, allergens, mold, VOC’s and other contaminants. If they’re not changed on a regular basis they can damage your equipment and/or create frequent service issues. How often your filter needs to be changed depends on your lifestyle. This is something we can advise you on when we perform a tune-up.
- Defrost check- This applies to heat pumps only. Heat pump outdoor units have the potential to get all frozen up when they operate on a cold day with high humidity. To melt this ice down the heat pump has to initiate defrost. If this doesn’t work correctly your system will use auxiliary/back-up heat because your normal heat pump heating will fail. This will cost you more money to operate and could lead to pre-mature equipment failure. We make sure this automation is working reliably.
- Auxiliary heat check- This applies to heat pumps only. In our neck of the woods a conventional heat pumps need a back-up/auxiliary heat source. This is because the heat pump takes the heat from outside and moves it inside your home. When it gets cold there isn’t enough heat outside for conventional equipment to put into your house and keep you comfortable. Your system knows this and automatically initiates back-up heat to make up for the heat pumps inadequacy. If this doesn’t happen your home will get cold and uncomfortable. We make sure this automation is working reliably.
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