Tips for Keeping Your House Cool in Summer

Keep Your House Cool

Turning on your air conditioner is certainly an efficient way to keep the air inside your home comfortably cool, but it is not the only method – here are a few other things you can do to keep your house cool:

  • Close the blinds – more than 30 percent of the heat that gets into your home comes through the windows. Use curtains, shades or blinds to block outside heat and to make it easier for your air conditioner to cool your rooms – close them early in the morning, before the sun’s rays become too strong and keep them shut until after sunset;
  • Improve night-time cooling – keep your doors cracked or wide open at night to let in the cool, refreshing air and to allow it to cool not only the air, but the walls and the objects inside the house as well;
  • Replace incandescent lights with fluorescent bulbs – incandescent bulbs not only use more energy, but they also emit more heat, so replacing them with modern, energy-efficient bills will reduce your electricity bills as well as the temperature in your home;
  • Limit cooking – try to reduce the time you spend using your stove and your oven to the minimum – get a garden grill and start experimenting with new recipes. Find residential HVAC Denver repair services at All Temperatures Controlled.

Does My Business Need a New Walk-In Cooler?

Time To Change Old to New

Your walk in cooler is probably among the most important assets of your business – without it, food deteriorates quickly, beverages no longer give the refreshing experience they are supposed to provide and the damage quickly translates into lost customers. Unfortunately, no appliance lives forever, not even well-maintained ones, so if you notice any of the following signs, chances are your business needs a new walk in cooler:

  • The food and the ingredients that you keep in your cooler spoil faster than they should, even though the thermostat display indicates the right temperature range – the fault may be caused by a number of factors, including the seal around the door that no longer keeps the cool air in the chamber, the thermostat or other components that can be repaired or replaced, but if the problem keeps coming back, you might need a new cooler;
  • The cooler breaks down very often and you can no longer rely on your unit for longer than a few weeks between two repairs;
  • Your cooler has come out of warranty a long time ago;
  • If you have an exterior cooler and the walls develop holes or the unit has suffered some other kind of structural damage.

How a Great Air Conditioner Can Increase Productivity

Increased Productivity

Keeping the productivity of your teams stable or increasing your team’s efficiency can be a challenging task and air conditioners are an important factor of success. The temperature and the quality of the air in the office are directly related not only to the mood of your team members and to the general atmosphere at the workplace, but to their productivity as well – here is how a great HVAC system can increase the efficiency of their work:

  • Maintaining alertness – an office that is too hot will make the people who spend long hours in it sleepy and irritable, while an environment that is too cold prevents proper blood circulation and makes people feel lethargic. An air conditioner of the right capacity will keep the temperature stable, ideally around 21 degrees centigrade, making the office comfortable and suitable for the increased concentration required by office work;
  • Humidity control for high performance – the level of humidity in the air also impacts productivity. Choose an air conditioner that is able to keep humidity around 40%;
  • Health preservation – comfortable, even temperature and controlled humidity levels prevent lots of illnesses, thus reducing sick days;
  • Longer life for IT equipment – computers are very sensitive to changing temperature and humidity, but a good air conditioner can keep both parameters at optimal levels, thus preventing costly downtime and improving productivity. So for local commercial air conditioning repair in Denver, contact All Temperatures Controlled for immediate help.

A Short History of the Air Conditioner

 

HVAC History

Denver commercial HVAC modern air conditioning technology has been around for slightly over a century, but the concept of keeping the air inside buildings cooler than the air outside is several thousand years old – in ancient Egypt, people placed reeds in front of their windows and used buckets to trickle water down the reeds to prevent to cool down the air that gets into the house, while Romans installed aqueducts inside the walls of the home to prevent the walls from heating up with the help of water circulated inside the ducts.

Modern, electrical cooling was invented by an American engineer, Willis Haviland Carrier in 1902. The invention was initially used in printing houses to remove excess moisture from the air and to keep it cool to prevent the paper used from shrinking or stretching and to prevent the ink applied on the paper from slipping. The machine brought such huge popularity to the inventor that he soon decided to start his own air conditioner manufacturing company. By the 1920’s, the air conditioner reached the Sun Belt as well, making the hottest part of the country suitable for population growth and economic growth.

Carrier’s initial design underwent lots of changes – in 1945 Robert Sherman put together the first portable air conditioning unit that was able to control the moisture of the air as well and used replaceable filters for more durability.

All You Need to Know About Walk-In Coolers

Walk In Cooler At Super Market

Walk-in coolers are enclosed storage units used for keeping the products deposited inside fresh that are so large that they can be walked into. If you are currently in the process of purchasing such a cooling unit, here are a few of the most important aspects to bear in mind when choosing your cooler:

  • The desired temperature range – not all walk-in coolers provide the same temperature range, so make sure that the one that you buy offers the best temperature conditions for the products you want to keep inside.
  • Usage – choose a walk in cooler that is easy to operate, with a door that is easy to use, with user-friendly temperature switches and with suitable illumination inside.
  • Energy-efficiency – walk-in coolers are high-capacity units that work all the time to keep your products at the desired temperature, but the most modern coolers come with advanced features to reduce the unit’s energy needs and to make operation as energy-efficient as possible.
  • Size – be very careful when you choose the size of your walk-in unit – a cooler that is too small will prevent you from efficiently depositing all the products that you need to keep chilled, while a unit that is too large will burden your budget with unnecessary expenses.

Is It Time to Replace My Air Conditioning Unit?

AC Units

Air conditioning units are durable, high-capacity pieces of equipment, but no appliance lives forever and the time inevitably comes when you must replace your air conditioner, even if you have done your best to maintain it. Here are some of the signs that tell you that your AC unit needs to be replaced:

  • Age – the average lifespan of AC units is usually around 10-15 years, so if your unit is around that age or older, it is a good idea to prepare for buying a new appliance.
  • Strange noises coming from the AC unit and excessive dust – the presence of unusually high amounts of dust in the room may indicate leaking ducts, while the unusual noises coming from the unit might signal that the duct system is undersized.
  • Increasing energy costs – inefficient AC systems use more energy, but don’t work properly, so if none of your other consumers is broken, the culprit for your rising energy bills is probably the old air conditioner that needs replacement.
  • Inconsistent operation – if your air conditioner blows hot air when it is set to cooling or vice versa or if the humidity of the air is not consistent with the unit’s settings, it may be time to replace your air conditioner. Find a fair and honest Denver heating and air conditioning company to inspect your HVAC systems that can help maintain them versus replace them.

Innovations in the HVAC Industry

Innovative Ideas

HVAC technologies are in continuous development – researchers are working to develop features that reduce the energy needs of HVAC units, while improving efficiency and reliability. Here are a few of the latest innovations that are here to stay:

  • Movement-activated units – these modern HVAC units that are fitted with motion sensors activate only when they detect people moving around in the room, thus making sure that no energy is wasted on cooling or heating the space when there is nobody around.
  • Harnessing the power of the sun – units that use energy generated by solar panels supplemented with natural gas are among the most efficient HVAC systems available today.
  • Geothermal heat pumps – another technology used in the service of energy-efficiency. The units that use geothermal energy are efficient when it comes to both cooling and heating and they come with the additional benefit of generating free hot water.
  • Sensor-driven ventilation – these special vents fitted with advanced sensors can replace the home’s existing vents built into the floors, into the walls or into the ceilings. These modern vents can be controlled with the help of a smartphone app and they can be set to provide very accurate temperature control for each of the rooms controlled via the app. The Denver commercial heating and cooling company of choice will have knowledge in all of these new advances.

Why It’s Important to Keep Your Ducts Clean

Vacuum Vents - Improve Indoor Air Quality

The cleanliness of the air ducts in your home is essential not only for the proper functioning of your HVAC system, but also for the freshness of the air in your rooms – here is why you should get your ducts cleaned regularly:

  • Clogging prevention – dust and other type of debris tend to accumulate in the ducts and not only in the areas near the vents and the registers, but along the entire length of the duct, posing the risk of clogging. The professional tools used by duct cleaning technicians allow for cleaning ducts from end to end, thus preventing clogging and prolonging the life of the entire HVAC system.
  • Mold removal – ducts provide a great environment for mold to grow and to spread in the air around the house. Thorough duct cleaning can make sure your ducts are mold-free, thus making your entire home a cleaner, safer and healthier place.

Duct cleaning is especially important if your home has undergone renovation, if you have pets that shed fur, if you smoke inside the home or if your HVAC system has suffered any kind of damage recently. All these circumstances can increase the quantity of airborne particles that can penetrate the ducts, clogging or damaging them.  For great air duct cleaning services, call http://alltemperatures.com/residential-services/.

How to Save Money on Home Heating Bills

Save Money - Reduce Energy Bills

Whether the reason why you want to reduce your energy bills is to save the planet or to save money, there are many things that you can do to reduce your energy expenses – here are our top tips:

  • Have your furnace inspected and maintained by a professional furnace repair Denver company – a furnace that works all the time, but does not deliver the expected heat is a waste of money. However, in most cases the efficiency of your furnace can be easily restored, so hire a technician to check the unit and fix it if necessary.
  • Heat only the rooms that you use.
  • Get a programmable thermostat – you don’t need the heating turned up high 24/7. The easiest way to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home while also reducing your energy bills is by getting a thermostat that you can program to keep the temperature higher during the day and lower during the night.
  • Get proper insulation – insufficient insulation is another major cause of heat loss. Insulating your home does require you to make a substantial investment, but it will also make your home more comfortable and much cheaper to heat.
  • Check the caulking around the doors and windows – the areas around the doors and the windows is where most of the heat escapes from the home, so check the caulking and re-caulk if necessary.

Spring Cleaning Tips for My HVAC System

Spring Cleaning Tips

HVAC systems work hard all the time – in winter they provide the warmth that you need to feel comfortable in your home and in summer they keep your home cool. Winter and summer being the two seasons when HVAC units work at the top of their capacities, the best time to check and to clean your HVAC equipment is spring – here are a few easy cleaning procedures that you can take care of by yourself:

  • Removing dust – you can easily get rid of the dust that has accumulated inside the furnace by removing the cover of the unit and vacuuming it with your home vacuum. Make sure you disconnect the unit from the electrical power supply and from the gas supply as well (if your system runs on gas) to prevent accidents.
  • Cleaning or removing the filters – dust and other types of debris can clog HVAC filters, reducing the efficiency of the unit or even completely ruining the equipment. Replace disposable filters and remove permanent filters to clean them.
  • Inspect, clean and free the outdoor unit – debris can accumulate inside the outdoor unit as well, what’s more, vines and branches can grow around the box, reducing the efficiency of the system. Remove the leaves and twigs that have penetrated the interior of the outdoor unit, cut the branches that have grown around it and also check the drain hole for any blockages. Obviously if your heater or AC quits working, call one of the great air conditioning repair Denver technicians as soon as possible.