While the employees on your commercial property are hard at work, they shouldn’t have to deal with the effects of a faulty heating or AC system. A broken commercial HVAC system can force you to lose business or lessen productivity, which is why it’s so important to seek repairs at the first sign of trouble. When you’re not an expert, it can be difficult to tell whether the problem is serious enough. That’s why we’ve put together this list of three ways to tell the commercial heating or air conditioning unit on your property needs repairs.
Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog : Archive for April, 2015
3 Signs that You Need Commercial HVAC Repair
Monday, April 27th, 20152 Reasons for Poor Indoor Air Quality (and What to Do about It)
Monday, April 20th, 2015Do family members in your home have asthma or severe allergies? Do you notice that family members seem to get sick frequently? Are you worried about the quality of the air in your home? It’s time to think about ways that you can improve the quality of the air in your home. Of course, keeping living spaces clean is one place to start, but it’s difficult to keep common contaminants out of the air, no matter how clean the house is. Here are three reasons your indoor air quality may suffer, and what you can do to remedy the situation.
How Zone Control Benefits Your Heating and AC System
Monday, April 13th, 2015Have you ever had an argument with a member of your household about the temperature in the home? Do you find yourself frequently adjusting the temperature throughout your home in an attempt to control only a single area? Does the size or shape of your home make it difficult to keep the entire house at a consistent temperature? A new zone control system may be for you.
What Is Zone Control?
Zone control allows you to control different areas of the home individually with separate thermostats, Installing zone control involves putting dampers into the ductwork leading out to various vents in the home. You can divide your home up into different zones which you would like to control, and each zone is wired with its own thermostat. When you adjust the temperature in a single zone, the dampers open and close to let air in or restrict airflow. There is also a master thermostat to control all of the zones at the same time.
What Are the Benefits?
- Even Heating and Cooling – If you have trouble cooling and heating your home because of its unique architectural aspects or because it has several stories, zone control is the solution for you. If you want to heat a two-story home to 74 degrees, for example, it is much easier to do so in this way. Often, you have to raise the temperature to 75 or 76 just to keep the downstairs as warm as the upstairs, since heat naturally rises. But with separate thermostats in each area, the system is better able to make sure each zone is exactly 74.
- Greater Comfort – Zone control allows everyone in the home to choose the temperature they want when they move to a different area.
- Energy Savings – With zone control, you don’t have to run the air for longer throughout the home just to cool or heat a single area, which saves you money. You’ll also save money if you decide to shut off air to areas of the home that are unoccupied throughout the day.
Call the experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning for air conditioning and heating service in Colorado Springs, and to discuss optional upgrades like new thermostats and a zone control system.
3 Components of Heat Pumps That Make Them Different from ACs
Monday, April 6th, 2015When describing how heat pumps work to people unfamiliar with them, it is easiest to compare them to air conditioners. The two systems operate in almost the same fashion, and they look identical on the outside to someone who doesn’t have professional HVAC knowledge. In essence, a heat pump is an air conditioning system that can switch the direction it moves heat. The outdoor and indoor coils can swap functions, so either coil can release or absorb heat depending on what the homeowner needs.
However, there are a few key internal differences in a heat pump that allows it to alter the direction of heat exchange. Below are three of these different components that set apart the dual-action of a heat pump from the single action of an air conditioner.
If you have a heat pump that needs service, or you are interested in heat pump installation, call the Colorado Springs, CO HVAC experts at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning.
#1. The reversing valve
This is the essential piece that sets a heat pump apart from an air conditioner. The reversing valve is what permits the heat pump to move refrigerant in a different direction, so that it brings heat to the indoors instead of removing it to the outdoors. The reversing valve sits on the refrigerant line where it leaves the compressor, and depending on how it is set, it will either send the refrigerant to the outdoor coils or the indoor coils first.
#2. The suction line accumulator
When a heat pump operates in heating mode, it uses less refrigerant. The suction line accumulator, which is attached between the reversing valve and the compressor, stores the additional refrigerant when the heat pump switches over to heating and prevents it from re-entering the compressor.
#3. The crank-case heater
This heater sits atop the compressor and serves to protect the compressor from any cold refrigerant that could migrate back into it. The heater evaporators any liquid refrigerant still in the compressor and sends it back into the line so it will not cause damage to the compressor.
The staff at Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning is glad to help you out with any problems you may have with your heat pump. We offer repairs, maintenance, and new installations. We have more than 40 years of experience keeping homes comfortable no matter the season.
