Polar Bear Air Conditioning & Heating Inc Blog : Archive for July, 2012

Indoor Air Quality Guide: How Bad Is the Air in Your Home?

Monday, July 30th, 2012

When Was Your Home Built?

Washington DC homes built in the last 10-15 years tend to be well ventilated and may even have air quality systems already in place. It’s those built in the late 1970s and early 1980s that tend to have the worst ventilation (assuming they have not been updated since then).

This kind of poor ventilation can be dangerous, but usually only in that you have less fresh air and more indoor allergens and contaminants. Specifically, you’re most likely to suffer from things like pet dander, dust, pollen, and dirt in the air. On their own, these are not dangerous, but without fresh air to circulate them outside and ensure you get a steady, clean supply of air to breathe, they can make you ill.

How Bad Can It Get?

While it’s rare, some homes suffer from more advanced contaminations. The most common is mold. Mold grows primarily in dark, damp spaces. If your humidity levels get too high in the summer, the ductwork in your house is perfect for mold and it will blow the spores directly into your air, putting everyone at risk.

You should also be wary of exhaust fumes from your appliances that may not get properly removed from the house. Both of these problems can be fixed with regular duct and exhaust cleaning.

Outdoor contaminants can also make it into your indoor air. Things like exhaust and smoke, gas, radon, or other outdoor pollutants should be tested for when you setup a new indoor air quality system. There are filters and purifiers that will remove almost all of these contaminants, but they are not always required, so you should check before making a decision.

Ultimately, the odds are that your Washington DC home suffers only from some stale, dusty air. But, it is very important to keep everything clean and test it regularly to make sure nothing worse develops. Call us today if you want to learn ways to improve your indoor air quality.

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Washington DC Air Conditioning Question: What is a Matched HVAC System?

Monday, July 16th, 2012

It has been about 200 years since the arrival of interchangeable parts during the Industrial Revolution. Today, we laud being able to take a malfunctioning part from a car, computer or vacuum cleaner, replace it with a newly minted part from any number of manufacturers, then keep right on plugging along.

Although this is a blessing in most arenas, when it comes to your Washington DC air conditioning system, it is not necessarily a good practice. Heating and cooling systems work best when they are matched – but what does that mean? And why does it matter?

 Why Matched Parts Matter in HVAC Systems

When referring to HVAC systems, a matched system is one in which various components are designed to work together. For example, an air conditioner and furnace made by the same manufacturer can be matched, as can a furnace and a heat pump.

Typically, the matching is done in such a way that the “outdoor” components, such as air conditioners and heat pumps are designed to work best with their “indoor” partners, like air handlers and furnaces. There are also matched systems in which every component is matched to every other.

Efficiency Boosts

While this may seem to make maintenance and repairs a pain, the practice provides a big boost to the efficiency of the system. Because the components were designed and manufactured by the same team to work in harmony, the system performs optimally. Although you can often replace one component of a matched system with one from another manufacturer and have it work fine, the system can lose efficiency, often to a significant and noticeable extent.

For these reasons, it is best to make use of matched systems in your home whenever possible. This means choosing a new matched system to install, replacing broken parts with ones that match the rest of the system and even replacing older systems with newer ones to properly match, when necessary.

It may seem like a hassle at first, but it saves money in the long run by adding increased efficiency over unmatched systems. For more information about installing new heating and air conditioning systems in Washington DC, give Polar Bear a call today!

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Derecho Thunderstorm, No Phone Service, No Air Conditioning The Top 3 Reasons To Like Your A/C Company

Sunday, July 8th, 2012

Why “like” or “follow” your air conditioning company on Facebook or Twitter?  To communicate and get help in an emergency.  We all learned the importance of social networks from the Derecho thunderstorms on June 29.  At Polar Bear Air Conditioning, although our phone lines were powered by generator and our crews were working, our phone company did not have power and therefore our customers could not reach us through our main number, even forwarded to our cell phones.  Over one million DC area residents also lost power in our homes, but many of us were able to travel to Wifi hot spots with power to recharge our devices and access the Internet.

For those customers who were able to access our website, we posted an emergency number on our homepage.  Wouldn’t it be great in a similar State of Emergency to receive a Tweet or Facebook post from your air conditioning and heating company, with an emergency number to reach us?  Polar Bear Air Conditioning will do this in all future emergencies that involve heating, air conditioning and communication issues for our customers.  But we need your help.  In the coming weeks, we will be contacting our customers and asking you to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or you can do that now by choosing the links on our home page.  We will ask you if you only want to be contacted in emergencies, or would like to receive newsletters and special offers no more than 4 times a year.  You can also opt to be contacted by email.  We will never sell or share your information with 3rd parties, and you will not receive more than 4 promotional emails a year.

We hope to not experience another Derecho for several years.  However, our goal is to be ready to communicate with and help our customers through all States of Emergency in all four seasons.  Have a quiet and cool summer.

Your friends at Polar Bear Air Conditioning and Heating, Inc.

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Important Air Conditioning Tips for Derecho and other Electrical Storms

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

On June 29, a devastating thunderstorm complex known as a derecho created a State of Emergency in the Washington DC area, producing widespread destruction and leaving more than one million people without power.  Although derechos do not frequently move through our area, severe thunderstorms are common in the summer.  Do you know how to protect your family, home and air conditioning unit?  Here are some simple tips that can save lives and thousands of dollars.

1. Turn off your air conditioning at the thermostat during a thunderstorm.

Electrical control panels in air conditioning systems can be easily knocked out by power surges caused by lightning strikes.  In other words, the lightning does not have to hit your unit directly to damage your unit.

This applies to other electrical equipment as well.  Televisions and computers are at risk if running during an electrical storm.

2.  Don’t take showers or baths during a thunderstorm.

 Electricity can travel through metal pipes into your bathroom.   It is also wise to avoid other sources of water with metal pipes, such as faucets and sinks, until the thunderstorm passes.

3.  Are cell phones safe in electrical storms?

 Electricity will travel through electrical cords and outlets, not radio waves.  So, cordless phones and cell phones are safe inside, as long as they are not plugged in to an electrical outlet.  There have been reports of lightning strikes to cell phone users and iPod users outdoors, not due to radio wave transmission, but because the users are holding a metal object, and that metal attracts and conducts electricity.  It’s best to put away your cell phone and iPod if you are caught outside in an electrical storm.

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Washington DC Air Conditioning Tip: Icing Problems on Air Conditioner Cooling Coils

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

Air conditioning cooling coil icing problems can arise for a couple of reasons: either the air filter has not been properly replaced, or there is a condensing coil leak.  It is best to check and test the easiest problem first and then move on from there.

It is important to replace air conditioning filters as often as is recommended by the manufacturer.  A common result of not replacing filters frequently enough is a buildup of dust and dirt on the filter, which causes reduced air flow throughout the air conditioning unit.  With reduced air flow, the evaporator coil or cooling coil within the air handler can become blocked by ice or frost build-up.  Having cooling coil icing can significantly reduce or completely stop the amount of cool air being produced by an air conditioning unit.

Easy steps to diagnose and resolve air conditioning cooling coil icing problems:

  • Visually inspect the air conditioning cooling coils to check whether reduced air flow has been caused by cooling coil icing.  If ice or frost is found on the coils, thus blocking air-flow, proceed with the next step.
  • Turn off the air conditioning system completely to allow ice to evaporate, the unit will have to remain off until all ice is completely melted and drained away from the unit
  • Replace all dirty filters on the air conditioning unit
  • Once the a/c unit is de-iced and has fresh filters, it is safe to turn the system back on, to test whether the icy build-up happens again

If after completing these steps, when the air conditioning unit is turned back on cooling coil icing happens again, this could mean one of two things.  Either too little of the refrigerant is being released into the cooling coil due to a clogged capillary tube or a stuck thermostatic expansion valve.  Or the refrigerant charge is too low due to a refrigerant leak.  A refrigerant leak can happen at any point in the refrigerant piping system which would then need to be soldered and resealed, or it can happen in the cooling coil or condensing coil which could mean the entire coil needs to be replaced.  Fixing of refrigerant leaks should be handled by a Washington DC air conditioning  professional.  Contact Polar Bear Air Conditioning, one of our HVAC technician can identify the air conditioner cooling coil icing problem and execute the proper solution.

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