Earthquakes and Air Conditioning
A number of hazards, large and minor, may threaten a building or a private home, so just as many hardware techniques have been developed to counter-act them and keep a building safe and comfortable. A seismic retrofit might be needed for buildings located near a fault line, and in the United States in particular, seismic retrofits are common in California due to the San Andreas fault line found there. A seismic retrofit will allow a building to flex with a quake rather than come apart, and a seismic retrofit may be done on both the building’s walls and foundation. Meanwhile, what about a home’s air conditioning and heating systems? A homeowner may look up local air conditioning services or an air conditioning company so that experts can visit the property and effect repairs at once.
What Goes Wrong with HVAC
A home’s air conditioning and heating utility may suffer from a number of internal and external issues that may reduce its efficiency and air flow. And if the system can’t easily reach its climate control quotas, the electric bill may be driven up. A typical HVAC system will use up around half of the electricity that a house consumes, so if this utility is being overworked for some reason, then a homeowner is in for a surprise on their next electric bill. Simple dirtiness is often the issue here, and dust, pollen, spiderwebs, pet hair, and more may clog the system. Deep inside any HVAC unit are the blower fans, which are powerful fans intended to move a lot of air through the entire network. But if those blower fans are caked with grime, their output is reduced, and they have to blow even more air to meet their quotas (thus driving up the electric bill). Elsewhere, the wall-mounted vents may have grime on them that reduce air flow, and the outdoor AC unit may be choked with dust or pollen. Rats and squirrels might break in and build nests in the air ducts, further reducing air flow.
Mechanical issues may arise, too. The blower fans may be worn out and unable to produce much air, or the air ducts may have holes or rips or may fall out entirely, leaking warm or cool air the entire time. And the house itself might be the issue, if the insulation is bad. Thin or missing insulation in the walls or attic allow warm air to escape in winter and cool air to leak out in summer, forcing the HVAC system to constantly adjust for that loss (and thus drive up the electric bill). Drafty windows and doors lead to the same problem, and bare windows allow hot sunlight to warm up a house too much in summer and allow heat to escape in winter. But any or all of these issues may be fixed.
Repair Work
A concerned homeowner may look up local air conditioning and heater repair contractors in their area, and a good crew will even have their own website with helpful images, videos, and articles showcasing their work. A homeowner may find and compare several different crews until they find the one that they wish to hire. The same may be done for a furnace repair crew, since a faulty furnace will do a poor job heating the home.
Repair professionals may clean out parts of the cooling system that are difficult to reach, such as cleaning off the blower fans or cleaning out the outdoor unit without damaging it. They can also remove squirrel and rat nests from the ducts. And of course, these workers may replace busted electrical components, swap out the blower fans for new ones, fix or replace damaged air ducts, or even overhaul the entire system. A very old HVAC system may often break down and wasn’t built with modern power efficiency standards in mind, but a new unit will, and this can save money in the long run. Other contractors may install fresh new insulation such as spray foam to boost climate control. After all, good insulation may reduce a homeowner’s heating and cooling costs by as much as 40%, making it a good investment as well. Windows can have blinds, screens, and drapes added to block hot sunlight or contain warm air in winter.
