Welcome to Bragg Heating’s Customer Information Page. Every month we will offer a new column with useful information on all aspects of a heating and air system.

April 2009 - "Preventative Maintenance - It Saves You Money"

In this month's article, we are going to look at the benefits of preventive maintenance. Just as you change the oil and filter in your car, your heating/cooling unit needs some special care as well. On average, without annual maintenance, your cooling system will lose at least 5% of its efficiency every year. What this means it that a new 13 SEER system you just purchased can actually have a SEER rating of 10 within 3 years. You may ask how does your system lose efficiency? The simple answer is dirt. When your system is operating, it pulls air through the return duct system across a filter(s). This air then crosses across a coil(in the cooling season, this coil has cold gases running through it) and then is distributed through your supply duct system.

If you will remember from our February 2009 article, there are many filter options. The inexpensive ones only remove about 70% of the debris that crosses across them. Whereas an electronic air cleaners can remove up to 99%. The bottom line is that some debris gets through the filters and eventually sets up on the cooling coil. Obviously, the better the filter, the longer it takes for the dirt to build up. As this dirt builds up on the cooling coil, it reduces the transfer of cold air across the cooling coil. Thus increasing the run time of your system and lowering the efficiency of your system. A simple way to look at this is that just like a car that no longer gets the same miles per gallon like when it was new, your air conditioner works the same way.

To illustrate this point, in our area we use air conditioning about 1300 hours per year. At present the electric utilities are charging about 11 cents per kilowatt. For an example, we will say that you have a 3-ton system. Based on the numbers listed, a 13 SEER system would cost you $264 per year for cooling. If your system is operating as a 10 SEER unit, it would cost $347 per year for cooling. Taking it a step further, a system operating as an 8 SEER would cost $436 per year for cooling. So as you can see, a preventive maintenance call does not cost you money, it really saves you money.

Another area that preventive maintenance can save you money on is making sure your system has the correct refrigerant charge. Many homeowners have what is called a split system. This is where you will have a condensing unit sitting out in the yard, with a cooling coil or air handler either in the crawlspace or attic. Your refrigerant charge is determined by the tonnage of the equipment as well as the length of the refrigerant lines between the two pieces of equipment. A system that is under or overcharged by as little as 15% can increase your power usage by 25%. Remember, your system is composed of many working parts. Your best efficiency is when all these parts are working at their designed specifications.

There are several other benefits to having a yearly check of your system. Many times further problems can be detected while we are servicing your equipment. Your system is composed of many electrical parts: relays, transformers, contactors, and capacitors. A simple test to make sure these components are pulling the correct amps or volts can possibly avoid an unexpected breakdown later

Hopefully this information has been helpful.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to call us at 648-0387.
You may also contact us with any questions or concerns.

Finally, if you have a question that you would liked answered,
e-mail it to us and we will answer it in a future column.