Brown's Heating & Cooling Blog: Posts Tagged ‘AC Repair’

How These Undervalued AC Components Help (or Hurt) Efficiency

Monday, August 15th, 2022
technician-working-on-hvac-ductwork

You may already know this, but your central air conditioner came with an efficiency rating known as SEER. This stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. The higher the SEER rating, the more powerful your air conditioner will be in general. When you’re installing a new cooling system installed, you work with an experienced team to ensure you’re being matched with the right SEER and the right sized air conditioner.

It’s also important to know what can help, or hinder, that efficiency rating. For instance, professional maintenance will help your air conditioner retain about 95% of its original efficiency rating. But each year you skip maintenance, your cooling system can actually lose 5% of that rating.

In addition to maintenance, the types of components and how well you take care of them make a difference too. Take your ductwork and your thermostat, for example. Read on to learn how these components can hurt or help your air conditioning efficiency.

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How Long Does an Air Conditioning Repair Last?

Monday, June 6th, 2022

One of the most frustrating household problems to have is a broken down or malfunctioning air conditioner–especially during one of the hottest days of the year here in Colorado Springs. With summer right around the corner, this may very well be on your mind. But if you have an aging air conditioner anyway, you might be wondering if it’s worth repairing, or if you should go ahead and replace it now. How long does an air conditioning repair last, anyway?

There are a lot of factors that go into this answer, which we’ll cover below, in addition to how to prevent repairs and what some of the common repair needs are that you may face with your cooling system. Read on!

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4 Sounds You Don’t Want Your AC Making

Monday, May 9th, 2022
woman-holding-hand-to-ear-to-listen

With springtime chugging along and summer just around the corner, homeowners throughout Peyton and beyond are looking forward to warmer temperatures and more time spent outside enjoying it. However, it’s important to remember that you want a nice, cool, comfortable home to come back to on those warm days. And if your AC system isn’t working as it should, this may not be what you get.

What if your air conditioner is operational, but it’s making some odd noises as it runs? Should you be concerned?

If you hear sounds that are outside of the usual day-to-day operational noises you typically hear your air conditioner making, then yes, you should probably be concerned. Keep reading as we reveal some odd noises you may hear come from your air conditioner if it’s in a state of disrepair.

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4 Signs You Need Late-Season AC Repairs

Monday, August 2nd, 2021
checklist-with-red-marker

If there’s any home service that you shouldn’t delay when you know you need it, it’s going to be air conditioning repair. This is definitely the time for it, too. Whether or not homeowners have their air conditioners professionally maintained, if they’re going to run into problems it’s going to be late in the cooling season, after their systems have gone through a ton of work and strain. The last thing you want is a surprise breakdown, right?

But the longer you wait to have your air conditioner repaired, the more likely this is.

So, you know to call us when you need cooling system repair… but how do you know you need cooling system repair? We’re here to share some key signs. Read on!

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How to Detect an AC Refrigerant Leak (And Why This Matters)

Monday, September 14th, 2020
refrigerant-line-behind-air-conditioner

There’s a fairly common misconception about AC refrigerant that often leads homeowners to mistakenly put their climate control systems in harms way. What is that misconception? That refrigerant is a fuel.

Yup, many people think that refrigerant depletes from an air conditioner like gasoline does from a car. This is a dangerous misconception, unfortunately. That is, it’s dangerous for the air conditioner itself. The problem is, if your air conditioner is losing refrigerant, it means there is a leak. And if there’s a leak, a number of problems can occur, not excluding a complete air conditioner break down. So what should you do about it?

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6 Sounds You Don’t Want Your AC Making

Monday, August 17th, 2020
woman-listening-closely-with-hand-to-ear

With the way technology is going, it seems like by now there’d be a way for our air conditioners to diagnose themselves when there is a problem, and shoot us a text message telling us what the problem is. This actually probably isn’t too far off in the future, but for now, it’s not a reality.

This means that homeowners have to rely on other methods to detect the warnings their cooling systems are sending out. Maybe it is a drop in cooling power, or an unexpectedly high utility bill. Or, you may have HVAC circuit breakers that are constantly tripping.

One of the most common signs, however, that something is amiss with your cooling system is strange sounds. A “strange” sound is really anything outside of the normal noises you hear when your AC runs. You hear it every day, so if something alarming comes up, it’s best not to ignore it.

We’ve listed six of the most common sounds people call us about, below.

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“What Is Short-Cycling, And Is It Really That Bad?”

Monday, July 20th, 2020

Residential air conditioners go through a lot throughout the years, particularly in our area. Wear and tear can lead to issues like refrigerant leaks, failed capacitors, and even breached air ducts. Fortunately, most of these repairs can be pretty simply fixed by our technicians and even prevented with routine maintenance.

There’s one thing that natural wear and tear shouldn’t lead to though, and that’s short-cycling. Wondering what short-cycling is?

Listen to your air conditioner–really listen to it! When the compressor cycles on, it should do so long enough for the temperature in the room to reach the desired setting on your thermostat. If it doesn’t reach this temperature, but cycles back off, only to cycle back on and repeat the failed process a few minutes later then it is short-cycling. Why does this matter?

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