Monthly Archives: March 2013

It’s that time of the year again: time to schedule a spring HVAC tune-up to make sure your system is in top shape for keeping you cool in the summer heat. As part of your twice-yearly HVAC checkup, your system’s spring tune-up is crucial for keeping your hard-working system functioning at an optimal level of efficiency when the mercury rises. Setting your appointment well in advance of summer while the weather is still mild will help you fully prepare for a time of year when your system will need to work overtime to keep your home or commercial space cool. Scheduling your HVAC tune-up now will also help you avoid the early-summer rush when all those who haven’t prepared ahead will begin filling your HVAC service company’s appointment book, making it harder for you to get the appointment you want.

Benefits of an HVAC System Tune-up

A pre-season cooling system tune-up offers home and business owners a number of valuable benefits. Several of these benefits follow:

• Adjustment and lubrication of your AC system’s moving parts can contribute to smoother system operation.
• A technical inspection of your HVAC system can uncover potential safety issues.
• Your semi-annual heating and cooling system check can save you money by increasing your system’s energy efficiency.
• Cleaning, tuning and calibrating your HVAC system on a regular basis can enhance heating and cooling, improve indoor air quality and increase your indoor comfort.
• Regular, routine HVAC maintenance can prevent system breakdown that might require costly repairs.
• Keeping your system in top operating condition can increase the life of your HVAC equipment.

Components of Your Spring HVAC Tune-up

Your spring HVAC system tune-up will involve inspecting and servicing the following parts of your air conditioning system:

• Thermostat
• Coils
• Fan motor, blades and housing
• Condensate drain
• Electrical wiring and connections
• Valves
• Switches and controls
• Safety devices
• Contacts
• Compressor
• Bearings
• Capacitors
• Air ducts

Other HVAC tune-up services included when you schedule a spring HVAC tune-up …

• Checking refrigerant level and operating pressure
• Checking supply and return temperature differential
• Changing air filter

Let Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. Give Your HVAC System a Top-Notch Spring Tune-up

Don’t get caught without dependable cooling this summer. Schedule a spring HVAC tune-up with Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. to make sure that “all systems are GO” when the hot weather arrives. Our NATE-certified maintenance techs will thoroughly inspect and service your cooling system anywhere in Baldwin County AL. These experienced professionals are factory-trained to offer the precision tune-up your system needs for optimal summer operation. The height of the summer heat is no time to attempt to handle the maintenance that should have been done in advance. So, don’t wait. Let our maintenance technicians provide the pre-season service that will help you enjoy a cool, calm, and comfortable summer.

Throughout the Mobile AL area, home and business owners rely on heat pumps to keep their buildings cool in the summer and warm in the winter. These compact, efficient devices pull double duty by pumping heat into and out of the home as desired, maintaining a comfortable temperature all year long. Understanding how a heat pump works is as simple as understanding a few basic properties of matter and the ways in which heat pumps use those properties to transfer heat.

How a Heat Pump Works

Learning how a heat pump works begins with a basic grasp of phases of matter. When any substance evaporates, going from a liquid to a gas, it absorbs energy in the form of heat to make the jump to a more energized state. Conversely, when a gas condenses and becomes a liquid, it releases that stored energy in the form of heat. These phase changes are thus a very efficient way to move heat from one location to another.

Air conditioners transfer heat by forcing refrigerant chemicals to go through these phase changes in a constant cycle. At the evaporator coil, refrigerant absorbs heat and evaporates; the machine then transfers this gaseous refrigirant to the condenser coil, where it is put under enough pressure to become liquid again. This phase change releases heat, and the machine transfers the liquid refrigirant back to the evaporator coil to repeat the cycle. Heat pumps use the same cycle during cooling, but in heating mode they reverse it and transfer heat from the outside in. Essentially, the heat pump acts as an air conditioner for the outside air and pumps the collected heat into the house.

Although the heat pump’s two cycles use essentially the same process to transfer heat into and out of the home, they are not equally efficient. Every heat pump’s heating cycle is given a heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF), and the cooling cycle is rated with a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER). The higher the HSPF, the more efficiently the machine uses power during the heating cycle; likewise, a higher SEER means the machine uses power more efficiently in the cooling cycle.

Benefits of a Heat Pump

Because heat pumps effectively serve as two machines in one, they are great options for homeowners who want to save space without sacrificing heating and cooling power. They also tend to be quite energy efficient, especially in areas where the air never gets extremely cold. As long as there is some heat in the outdoor air, the heat pump doesn’t have to work terribly hard to transfer energy into the home.

Thanks to Alabama’s hot summers and mild winters, heat pumps are some of the most efficient heating and cooling appliances around. At Keith Air Conditioning, we strive to provide our friends and neighbors with the best in heat pump installation, service and maintenance. To learn more about these powerful machines or schedule a consultation, give us a call today.