A Basic Guide To All Your HVAC Questions And Needs
Do you often find your home uncomfortably warm during the summer, even when your air conditioner is running? Do you shiver inside during the winter? If so, you may need to have your HVAC system replaced. For some useful advice on doing so, read the tips in the following article.
When seeking a new contractor, ask loved ones for referrals. They'll often have already had someone in for similar work and will know who to trust and who to avoid. If your family hasn't used anyone, ask co-workers or other people you trust in your community for some references.
If you want to keep your air conditioning unit running efficiently, make sure you replace or clean the air filter once a month. Check the owner's manual on the a/c for instructions on how to clean the filter. Never run the unit when the filter is removed and let the filter dry before reinstallling it.
If your fan condenser has oil ports, you must lubricate it once per year. You can find these ports covered with rubber or metal caps. Pick a type of SAE 20 oil that is non-detergent and lightweight. Place 10 or less drops into every port to avoid overfilling.
If you want to turn off your air conditioning at night to save money, consider putting a standing fan next to your bed. You can set it to oscillate from your toes to your head, blowing cool air over your body and letting you sleep comfortably all night long.
Consider all of your alternatives before installing a central air conditioner. You can only cool certain rooms, use whole-house fans, or even make use of a geothermal system. The more efficient the system you set up, the less you'll spend on utility bills over time as you use it.
Clean your filters! central heating service If you have a window unit air conditioner, there will be a filter right under the grill you can vacuum. If you have a furnace or outdoor units, they will also have filters to be cleaned or replace. A dirty filter can make your unit inefficient or even let it overheat.
If you want to ensure your air conditioner offers you great performance, keep it dry. If it is located in a dry, cool area, you'll find that the efficiency goes up and the unit lasts a long time. You can even buy a water vapor cooler to cool it as it is running.
Clean your filters! If you have a window unit air conditioner, there will be a filter right under the grill you can vacuum. If you have a furnace or outdoor units, they will also have filters to be cleaned or replace. A dirty filter can make your unit inefficient or even let it overheat.
If you have fans in place to help make your HVAC more efficient, be sure that they're turning in the right direction. They should be pushing air downwards over the people in the room to help cool their skin. If it's blowing upwards, all it does is push hot air into the room.
These tips will help you to keep your HVAC system in great shape for the whole time you live in your home. Print this off and revisit it once a year so that you know what you need to do. The more effort you put into your home, the more benefit you will gain from it.
Ancient 'air-conditioning' cools building sustainably
How did buildings keep cool before the invention of air conditioning? As architects consider how to reduce the energy demands of new builds, some are turning to the past for simple, low-tech solutions.
At the height of summer, in the sweltering industrial suburbs of Jaipur, Rajasthan in north-west India, the Pearl Academy of Fashion remains 20 degrees cooler inside than out -- by drawing on Rajasthan's ancient architecture.
While the exterior appears very much in keeping with the trends of contemporary design, at the base of the building is a vast pool of water -- a cooling concept taken directly from the stepwell structures developed locally over 1,500 years ago to provide refuge from the desert heat.
Award-winning architect Manit Rastogi, who designed the academy, explains that baoli -- the Hindi word for stepwell -- are bodies of water encased by a descending set of steps.
"When water evaporates in heat, it immediately brings down the temperature of the space around it," he says.
While traditional stepwells often go many stories below ground level, Rastogi's go down just four meters. However, the effect is the same and -- like the ancient Mughal palaces before it -- the academy enjoys its own microclimate.
Read more from Road to Rio: The slums of Mumbai: A model of urban sustainability?
Rastogi wonders: "How did they think up something so elaborate and yet so simple in its basic philosophy?
"How do you begin to think that you can dig into the ground and use the earth as a heat sink, have access to water, put a pavilion into it so that its comfortable through the year? It takes a lot of technology for us to think up something that simple now."
But it's not just the stepwells that are involved in this process of "passive cooling" -- the general term applied to technologies or design features that cool buildings without power consumption.
The whole building is raised above the ground on pillars, creating an airy and shaded pavilion that is used as a recreation and exhibition space. Here, according to Rastogi, the walls are made from a heat-absorbing material that creates a "thermal bank" -- so the warmth is slowly released at night when the temperature drops.
Centuries ago, latticed screens or "jaali" filtered direct sunlight into the palaces. The effect was decorative and helped reduce the heat. Likewise at The Pearl Academy, a latticed concrete screen runs the length of the building and provides a cooling outer skin.
"We've been able to demonstrate that good green building is not only cheaper to run; it's not only more comfortable to live in -- it's also cheaper to build," says Rastogi.
The success of the academy's eco-design has had an impact. Regulations -- based on these passive cooling techniques -- were introduced last year for all new Indian government buildings.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lsY92_nmCH1u72gjMYI4ZChOCJLeKAXLe9ieG5qDeR4/edit?usp=sharing