Red Rock Mechanical, LLC Blog: Archive for the ‘Air Conditioning’ Category

Can I Save Money by Buying a Used Air Conditioning System?

Monday, April 13th, 2020

air-conditioning-unitThis is a question we sometimes hear from customers who are looking to lower household costs. It makes sense for people to inquire about purchasing used AC equipment since so many other expenses for a home can be reduced by buying used. A car for example. Or furnishings. So why not buy a “previously owned” air conditioner, especially at times when people are looking closer at their budgets?

Well, there are many reasons not to buy a used air conditioner, and not a single HVAC contractor recommends it. Buying used when it comes to HVAC in Plattsburgh, NY is a major money loser in the short and long term. Below are a few reasons why:

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Spring Is Here—Schedule Your AC Tune-Up

Monday, March 30th, 2020

service-reminder-clockSpring arrived a few days earlier on the calendar this year. But that’s only the “official” first day of spring, a point in the Earth’s journey around the Sun. Our local weather doesn’t obey the calendar, and the cold weather blows through here sometimes until May. But spring is still the season of air conditioning tune-ups and inspections, no matter what the weather is like. Without fail, the summer heat will arrive, and you’ll want your air conditioning system in peak shape to handle it.

To schedule spring AC maintenance, you don’t print up a list from the internet and try to get through it on your own. You need a Burlington, VT, HVAC contractor with experience, skill, and licensing. You can rely on our more than two decades of experience serving local homes with heating and cooling to give you the finest AC maintenance tune-up.

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HVAC Maintenance for Fall—Time to Get the Furnace Checked!

Monday, September 30th, 2019

hand-drawing-check-boxFall has officially arrived and this is an important time of the year if you’re a Burlington, VT, HVAC contractor. It’s … HVAC maintenance season again.

HVAC maintenance happens twice a year. When spring starts, customers arrange for our technicians to give their air conditioners a thorough inspection and tune-up. When it’s fall, it’s time for our experts to deliver the same for heating systems. For most of our customers, this means complete maintenance for their furnaces.

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Does a Fried Compressor Mean the AC Must Be Replaced?

Monday, September 2nd, 2019

compressor-in-ac-unitNow here’s an unpleasant problem you may run into during the last days of summer: an air conditioning system that doesn’t work because the compressor has died. The compressor is the literal heart of a cooling system, since it’s the component that causes refrigerant to circulate through the system, turning a cool low-pressure liquid into a hot high-pressure gas. When a compressor is fried because of a burnt-out motor, an air conditioner turns into nothing more than a large fan.

You may have heard that a dead compressor means the end of the line for the air conditioning systems It’s so expensive to replace the compressor that the more cost-effective choice is to have a brand-new cooling system put in. But is this true? If air conditioning repair in Burlington, VT won’t save the compressor, is the next step working with us to get a new system?

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When Does a Ductless HVAC System Make Sense for a Home?

Monday, August 19th, 2019

ductless-mini-split-on-the-wallDuctwork is what originally allowed air conditioning and heating systems to spread conditioned air throughout a house, rather than concentrating it in one place. The earliest ducted systems were nothing more than metal pipes extending from basement furnaces (or even just fireplaces) that allowed heat to rise to different rooms in a building. Today, forced-air central AC and heating systems use powerful air handlers and efficient ducts to see that comfort is sent throughout a house.

But technology has also developed ductless HVAC systems. Also called ductless mini split heat pumps, these HVAC systems operate like standard heat pumps (cooling and heating air through circulation of refrigerant), but the single outdoor unit connects through walls to separate air handlers placed around the house. Each air handler has its own fan and refrigerant coil so it can blow the cooled or heated air directly into the living space—no ductwork required.

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A Short-Cycling AC Is Bad News: Here’s Why

Sunday, August 19th, 2018

spinning-fan-closeup“Short-cycling? What’s that?” We know it sounds like a strange circus act or a short-distance bicycling competition. But it’s a term for faulty behavior from a cooling system. If you hear your home’s AC starting and stopping multiple times over an hour, that’s short-cycling. This isn’t something you want to happen, since it spells trouble for your air conditioning in Burlington, VT. In most cases, you’ll need to call up HVAC technicians to find out why the AC is short-cycling and what to do about it.

Why is short-cycling a problem?

First, we must explain in greater detail what short-cycling means. When the thermostat of a house makes a request for cooling, the air conditioner starts up its fans and the compressor motor. The compressor is the component that allows for heat exchange and cooling of the air. The compressor remains running until the thermostat registers it has reached the target temperature, and then the compressor cycles down. In mild weather, the AC cycle lasts approximately 10 to 15 minutes and completes 2 to 3 times per hour.

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Repairs You Can Do Yourself on Your AC

Monday, July 23rd, 2018

wrenchesWhen an air conditioner loses its cooling power on a hot summer day, or even loses all of its power, it can be a serious emergency. You don’t want to be stuck for long in your home without cooling when the outdoor heat is rising. What can you do?

Trying to fix the AC on your own might be the first idea that pops into your head. And why shouldn’t it? If you want something done right, do it yourself!

Except this isn’t always the case. There are plenty of repair jobs you wouldn’t try on your own unless you were a trained professional, and fixing an air conditioner is one of them. It takes a trained HVAC technician to do them. Only they have the knowledge and tools to accurately diagnose and fix a serious air conditioner malfunction.

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June Isn’t Too Late for Air Conditioning Maintenance!

Monday, June 11th, 2018

air-conditioner-unit-being-repairedThe winter weather certainly hung around for a long time, didn’t it? Nobody likes to deal with snow that far into the year, but we’re finally hitting the warm weather stride here in June. If you haven’t arranged for a visit from one of our HVAC experts to give your air conditioner a pre-season tune-up and inspection, it’s definitely not too late! The hottest weather is ahead of us, and as long as you’ve got your AC in good condition with routine maintenance before it starts to put in the heavy work, you should be in great shape for the season.

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The Advantages of a Zone Control System

Tuesday, July 25th, 2017

room-ventCentral heating and air conditioning is one of the greatest inventions in the modern home (maybe not at the level of indoor plumbing, but we’re not here to debate old sayings). One comfort system can distribute cooled and heated air to rooms throughout a house.

But there’s a flaw in the standard way a central HVAC system is designed, which is that it’s an “all-or-nothing” proposition. On a hot day, when the air conditioner turns on, cooled air goes to every room. That sounds great at first—until you realize that some of these rooms aren’t occupied. This is an expenditure of energy the home doesn’t need.

And, thanks to the creation of zone control systems, it’s an unnecessary expenditure of energy. Zone control allows for better manipulation of how cooled and heated air is distributed around a house.

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An Early AC Problem to Watch For: Ice on the Indoor Coil

Monday, June 12th, 2017

tools-on-ac-unitThe weather is warming up here during last weeks of spring. The hot days are still yet to come as we move toward July, but you can expect to have your air conditioning system hard at work before then.

It’s important to us that you have an AC that will make it through the summer with few problems. Of course, we’re glad to have your business whenever you need air conditioning repairs in Plattsburgh, NY or elsewhere in Northwest Vermont and Northeast New York. But we also want you to enjoy the best in comfort and energy savings, and that means helping you find ways to avoid having to call us for emergency services.

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