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Purchasing a heating or cooling system is no small matter. However, if your existing system is old, in need of major repairs or simply inefficient, purchasing a new unit can be as much as 50% more efficient than a system purchased just 10 years ago and can turn into a long term investment savings. Rather than continuing to pay for ongoing maintenance and costly monthly bills, investing in a new system today will save you money for years to come.
There are many Alliance heating and cooling systems to choose from today. By contacting Harding Heating & Cooling, you have access to a vast array of heating and cooling knowledge and experience to help you decide which system best suits your specific needs.The size and age of your home, the number of rooms, climate, local and regional costs, heating and cooling degree days and utility incentive programs are all factors that will effect selection of your system. Harding Heating & Cooling, utilizing the latest technology, considers all of these factors with your input to assist in choosing the most efficient system for your home and life style.
Consumers seeking to replace an existing system should choose a new system with the highest efficiency rating they can afford. Replacing a unit that is older than 10 to 15 years old may reduce gas and electricity costs from 30 to 50%.
Contacting Harding Heating & Cooling can help you to define your initial investment, warranty protection, service options, maintenance options and operating costs. Once you have chosen your system, it is important to remember that proper installation is the most important factor in maximizing operating efficiency,system longevity and your comfort level.
Factors affecting the size of your new system include:
Harding Heating & Cooling will perform these proper calculations (called a heat gain and loss calculation) to determine the exact size heating or cooling system for your specific home.
Beyond the new equipment being installed, the ductwork is the most important component. Ductwork is composed of two parts, supply ( where the heated or cooled air enters the home) and return (where the air is taken back to the equipment,cleaned, humidified,germicide ally disinfected and returned to the living space). Supply ducts are attached to the outflow of the new system, delivering air to each zone in a home. The amount of air reaching each zone is determined by the size of the supply ductwork. Harding can determine the exact size for all the supply ductwork in your home. The second part of the ductwork, the return duct, attachés to the inlet side of the new system and draws back from the spaces to be heated or cooled. Attached to the return duct is the filter. The filter should be placed as near the furnace or air handler as possible. Ductwork can be either fiberglass material or metal and must be properly sized in order to evenly distribute the proper amount of air to each room.
To install the most efficient HVAC system in your home, a detailed inspection should first be performed by your installation contractor. The inspection by your contractor should include, at least, the inspection of your home's ductwork, insulation, refrigerant piping, electrical service, wiring, thermostat, condensate piping, flue piping, flue terminations, chimney liner, slabs, filter, driers, registers, grills, drain pans and evaporator coil.
Maintenance and service play a huge role in the life cycle of a heating or cooling system. If all recommended maintenance and service actions are taken, it is believed that an air conditioner should last 12-15 years and a gas furnace should last from 20 to 25 years.
It is generally a good idea to replace the indoor coil if you are also replacing your air conditioner or heat pump. There is a correlation between the efficiency of your heating or cooling system and the performance of the indoor coil. So when you change the outdoor side of the system, you should also replace the indoor side of the system in order to maximize the efficiency and savings potential of the total system.
The system can be located in several different places. A system with up-flow application might be located in a basement, while a system with a horizontal application might be found in the attic. A self-contained, or single package unit, could be located on a slab or on the roof. A garage could house an up-flow, down-flow or horizontal system.
An air to air heat pump is a device used for either heating or cooling by transferring hot and cold between outside air and inside air. A heat pump can act like an air conditioner, transferring heat from inside to out, or like a heater as it transfers exterior heat to the interior. A winter day with a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit still produces enough heat to warm a space when the air is transferred by heat pump.
Humidity levels can be reduced by operating a variable speed air handling system in your home. Variable speed units run longer, at lower speeds, allowing air to constantly circulate against the cooling coil and remove more moisture. Variable speed motors also use less electricity than regular motors, reducing your energy costs.
Professional services can be costly, but there are some things you can do before hiring a professional to inspect your system:
Make sure the system switch is on the appropriate COOL or HEAT setting
Have the FAN switch on for a continuous vent
AFUE is the abbreviation for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency ratio. AFUE is used to rate furnace efficiencies by dividing the ratio of heat output by heat input. This measurement describes how well fuel, gas or oil is consumed to produce heat by a furnace. As the AFUE rate increases, the efficiency of your furnace also increases, lowering your fuel costs. Furnaces manufactured in the United States are required to have at least an 80% AFUE.
HSPF is the abbreviation for the Heating Seasonal Performance factor. This factor rates the efficient operation of the heating portion of the heat pump.As the HSPF increases, the unit functions at a more efficient level. New units in the United States have HSPF ratings from 7.0 to 9.4.
R-22 is the common name for hydro-fluorocarbon (HCFC). R-22 has been used as a refrigerant by HVAC manufacturers for over 40 years, but studies in the past decade have shown that HCFCs contain chlorine, an ozone-depleting agent. For this reason, the United States Clean Air Act has set a target date for January 1, 2010, on which HVAC manufacturers must cease the production of products that use R-22.
R-410A is the common name for an emerging hydro-fluorocarbon (HCFC) that is being used as a refrigerant in the HVAC industry. R-410A is more environmentally friendly than R-22 and is being seen as the most likely replacement for HVAC manufacturers. At the beginning of 2010, the use of alternative refrigerant will be required in HVAC manufacturing.
ENERGY STAR is a program that was created by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help businesses and individuals make energy efficient purchases. This program places the ENERGY STAR label, a small blue and white logo, on items that meet superior energy efficiency standards. This label provides an easy way for consumers to identify quality, high efficiency products.