Does your air conditioner seem that is not working like it use to? Does your system seem to run constantly all day long? Here is the reason!  Be sure you have done the following:

YOUR CHECKLIST

1. Do you keep your filters changed at least once a month?
2. Have you had your system professionally checked to ensure it is producing the maximum amount of cooling?
3. Be sure to covers all windows and shaded them from the sun.
4. Be sure the weather stripping around doors is in place.
5. Keep all windows and doors closed.
6. Consider adding more insulation in the attic and walls. Consider upgrading your windows to low E tint.
7. Use ceiling fans and area fans as much as possible.
8. Ensure that your attic has proper ventilation and insulation.
9. Minimize cooking and laundry during the heat of the day.
10. Consider upgrading your system if you have an old outdated system.

Air conditioners are designed to handle temperatures of 95 and below, obviously here in Houston it gets much warmer than 95. Systems are designed to be able to get your home 20 degrees less than the outdoor temperature so that means if it is 100 degrees outside you will only be able to get it to 80 degrees in your home in the heat of the day. Your system is doing all it can do. If you have covered all the items on the checklist you may get a little better cooling.

There is another solution which can be helpful in the heat of the day which would be between 1pm and 7 pm.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS CAN ONLY BE USED WHEN YOUR OUTSIDE TEMP IS ABOVE 95F OR YOU COULD CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR SYSTEM! 

The ideal solution is to make the outside air cooler which is not possible. You can lower the temp of the pressurized freon inside your condenser by adding a cooling mist of water over your condenser when the temp is above 95f. This can be done with a small sprinkler. By doing this you can gain as much as 10% more cooling in side your home. You will have to remember to turn off the sprinkler!! You may find this worth the trouble but please remember to turn off your sprinkler when temp is below 95f as it could result in damage to your system.

Disclaimer: Gossett assumes NO responsibility if you cause damage to your system.

Dirty sock syndrome refers to a condition in which the indoor coil in the air conditioning system/heat pump develops a musty smell similar to that put off by dirty socks that have been sitting in the bottom of a laundry pile for a week. The exact cause of this syndrome is unknown, but once the problem rears its ugly head (foot) it's almost impossible to get rid of it.

There are two ways a system can be installed in an attic horizontal or vertical this is an example of a horizontal. Just keep in mind that the major components of a system would still be the same. Gossett would prefer to install a new system vertical so that the home owner is able to have attic space available. Sometimes this is not possible depends on the space and design of the home.

Installation of your new system is of the utmost importance when it comes to efficiency and longevity. When choosing a company to facilitate your installation be sure they have a install team that has many years of experience and continuing education with todays higher SEER rating systems they are more complex.

†IMPORTANT TO CONDSIDER WHEN REPLACING†

♦EVAPORATOR COIL/CONDENSER♦

 MATCHING THE INDOOR EVAPORATOR COIL WITH THE OUTSIDE CONDENSER IS IMPORTANT FOR OPTIMUM COMFORT, EFFICIENCY, AND PERFORMANCE IS CRITICAL. IMPROPERLY MATCHED EVAPORATOR COILS CAN DECREASE EFFICIENCY OF THE OUTDOOR CONDENSER AS MUCH AS 40% AND CAUSE THE INDOOR BLOWER MOTOR TO WORK HARDER THAN IT HAS TO, RESULTING IN A SHORTER LIFE AND LOWER OPERATING EFFICIENCY. WHICH MEANS HIGHER UTILITY BILLS. COMFORT IS SACRIFICED WHEN AN IMPROPERLY MATCHED SYSTEM TRIES TO KEEP UP WITH THE HEATING AND COOLING REQUESTS FROM THE THERMOSTAT. HUMIDITY PROBLEMS CAN ARISE WHEN SYSTEMS ARE NOT DESIGNED PROPERLY.

HOW AN AIR CONDITIONER WORKS

1. Indoor air is cooled as it passes over the evaporator, a set of coils  (Trane designs there coils to remove as much humidity as possible) containing liquid refrgerant (freon). The moisture in the air forms droplets on the coils and trickles outside through a drain hole.

2. Heat from the air causes some of the refrigerant to evaporate, and it passes into the compressor as a vapor.

3. The compressor increases the pressure of the refrigerant vapor, making it hotter. It loses that heat to the outside air, becoming a warm high-pressure liquid in the condenser.

4. The warm liquid refrigerant sprays through the expansion valve (located in the evaporator coil) back into the evaporator coil. As it expands, the refrigerant turns into a mixture of cold vapor and cold liquid, and the cycle is ready to begin again.

Breaking News from ACCA Government Affairs:
House Passes EESA, Includes Key HVACR Provisions;
Bush Will Sign Into Law as May/2008

Today the US House passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) that will shore up the frozen credit system and extend key HVACR tax incentives. President Bush has pledged to sign the bill into law.

Enactment of EESA will forestall the pending credit crunch that threatens America's already flagging economy. It will allow the US Treasury to unclog the financial system by clearing the most "toxic" assets being held by banks and other lending institutions. As a result, more funds will be available for lending to small businesses that need to make payrolls, purchase inventory, and address short term emergencies.

Included in the EESA were key HVACR tax incentives for homeowners and businesses:

• A new $2,000 tax credit for homeowners that install geothermal heat pumps until 2016.

ACCA has lobbied Congress hard to get these tax incentives passed. The success of this effort is due to the calls and letters from ACCA members, a testament to ACCA's standing on Capitol Hill. Response to our legislative alerts this week were strong, with hundreds of contacts made between the members of ACCA and their members of Congress. Thank you!  

**This is an example of a horizontal system**

ADVICE TO HOME OWNERS

Here are some tips you can give to your customers to help them keep relative humidity levels inside their homes reasonable:

• Trane designs there systems for Houston climate they are the best for latent (humidity) removal in the entire industry! If your humidity is lower your house feels so much cooler and you save on your electric bill!

• Don't operate the air conditioning with any windows open. This includes opening bathroom windows when taking a shower or to reduce odors. Yes, this brings in fresh air, but humidity in the air will condense onto the registers that are nearest to the open window. If you must open a window because the bathroom doesn't have an exhaust fan, close it as soon as visible moisture on the walls and mirrors is gone.
• Don't run the indoor blower on continuous operation. If you do, any water left on the coil or in the drain pan will re-evaporate when the compressor shuts off. This can raise the relative humidity in the house by 15%.
• Don't set the thermostat too low. If you have the temperature in the house too low, you increase the risk of condensation forming on some surface in the house. This could even occur on a hidden surface, such as inside the walls.
• When operating exhaust fans, remember that while you're exhausting air and moisture to the outside, you're also bringing air and moisture back in from the outside. Whatever you blow outside will leak back in somewhere else. Don't run your exhaust fans any longer than necessary. This includes bathroom exhaust fans, kitchen exhaust fans, range fans, and clothes dryers. If the air outside has more moisture in it than the air you're exhausting to the outside, you're doing your house more harm than good.
• Make sure exhaust fans terminate outside. I've often seen dryer ducts that terminate in the crawlspaces and attics. Many bathroom exhaust fans blow into attics. This can cause tremendous moisture problems in attics and crawlspaces. Your air conditioner cannot handle this kind of problem.
• Don't pile ground too high against the house. Water can wick into slab edge, foundation, and crawlspace. Waterproof the edges of the slab or the below-grade foundation walls. Put moisture barriers on top of all foundation piers. Don't let wood contact ground or bare concrete.
• Consider installing a dehumidifier in problem areas of your house, basement or crawlspace. Keep in mind that there are whole-house dehumidifiers that can be connected to your air conditioning and heating duct system that will dehumidify your house extremely effectively, thus improving both your air conditioner's performance and your comfort.
• Home infiltration from natural building leakage. This includes crack leakage around doors and windows as well as electrical outlets and other building envelope cracks. Plumbing pipes coming up through the floor from a crawlspace can also leak air into the house. This infiltration is mostly wind­ driven. Leaving windows open during cool mornings in the summer has the same effect. Even though the outside air temperature is low, the moisture levels in the outside air can be very high.  If the house has a damp crawlspace or basement, water vapor can penetrate through wood floors into the house. Water vapor flows from high concentra­tions to low concentrations, just like heat. This is in addition to air infiltra­tion already described above.
• Improperly sized and improp­erly installed air-conditioning sys­tems. Significantly oversized air condi­tioners and heat pumps do not control humidity as well as properly sized units. This is because the indoor coils do not get really cold until after the cooling unit has been running for as long as 15 minutes or more. Oversized units tend to short-cycle: they cool the air quickly, and then shut off.  

"Mold" has become a part of our lives. Out of approximately 10,000 different types of mold, probably 10-15 types can affect human beings in adverse ways. Even these 10-15 types have not been scientifically proven to cause health problems but we should all be aware.

With the recent increase in our home insurance, it would be beneficial for each of us to prevent mold from growing in our homes. How to do this in our humid Houston climate?  it can be difficult,  there is really no way in Houston, Texas. We will never be mold free, this is the price we pay to live in a high humidity area. Mold must have a source of consistent moisture to grow. This can come from leaks in plumbing, windows, roofs, foundations, A/C drain lines or anywhere that moisture can enter your home.

I believe that home maintenance is the first line of defense against mold growth. If you can see any signs of moisture, stop it and eradicate it - ASAP Be diligent about finding any water leaks from plumbing, roofs, windows, door seals, drains, A/C ducts, chimneys, etc. try to eliminate it immediately! !

Your A/C system needs to be checked regularly to make sure it is removing humidity from the air and directing this moisture into the sewer drainage appropriately. Also, you're A/C system needs to be checked regularly for mold growth. Mold spores can easily be sucked into the A/C system from the growth source elsewhere in your house, even from outside. It then can grow in your A/C system.

Maintenance of your A/C can help head off problems with mold in your home. This is why we recommend an A/C check up at least once a summer, in Houston.

Also, keeping the relative humidity in your home in the mid 50% range can inhibit the growth of mold. The lower the humidity, the harder it is for mold to grow. Keeping our homes close to 50% humidity would be ideal but can be difficult in Houston. We suggest every homeowner buy an inexpensive digital hygrometer to monitor the humidity. Remember, the humidity in your home is not an absolute constant. The humidity rises when you are cooking, bathing, washing cloths, when the outside humidity is high or when the A/C system is not running.

Older homes leak air and allow humidity in. Newer homes are built so tight that they don't allow the house to breathe and trap humidity and out gases inside the house.

So how do we keep our humidity low enough to hinder mold growth? I'm afraid no one has the perfect answer, but we do have some possible solutions as far as your A/C is concerned:

1. Keep your A/C filters clean. A dirty A/C system can encourage mold growth. There are 2 purposes of the A/C filter:
   

   A) Keep the A/C equipment clean (have your system checked anually! We can put you on our calendar and call you automatically to take the hassle out of remembering to have it maintained)

             B) Clean the air you breathe.How often do you change your filters? The only true answer is "When they get dirty! " Every home is different., it could be every 3 weeks or every 3 months. (Gossett offers this service to our customers! Ask for details. We will carry all sizes and will install at a reasonable rate)

1. Maintain your A/C system to peak performance. Keep your Evaporator Coils and Condenser Coils clean.
2. Maintain the drain system on your Evaporator Coil. Keep it clear and clean so the condensate will drain away properly. Install a clean out port on your main drain if it doesn't have one and use it!
3. Use Pleated Media Filters in your return air grill. We do not recommend Electrostatic Filters in Houston, Texas.
4. Be aggressive with your A/C system to remove more humidity. Lower the thermostat 1 - 2 to keep it running longer periods of time and thereby removing more humidity.
5. Have an A/C Co. recommend equipment solutions to remove more humidity from the air with your A/C system, such as Thermal Expansion Valves, Lower Air Speed, By Pass Systems, 2 Stage Systems.
6. Install Dehumidifiers in your home to boost the removal of moisture from the air.
7. Keep your home under a positive or at least neutral air pressure to keep from sucking humid air into your home. Remember when you exhaust air out of your house with kitchen vents, dryer vents, bath exhausts, fire place flues; that air must be replaced by outside air being drawn in thru doors, windows, cracks, etc. A controlled, filtered & dehumidified source of fresh air may be needed to do this in tightly sealed homes.
8. Air filtration - use Electronic Air Cleaners, 4" - 5" Pleated Air Filters or at least 1" Pleated Filters.
9. Air Eradication - U.V. Light bulbs installed in the supply area/evaporator Coil area to kill spores, germs, bacteria.
10. Air Dehumidification - install a central system dehumidifier with fresh air in- take.

PLEASE REMEMBER: If you find mold in your home, you must first find the source of the mold and eradicate it before you make additions to your A/C system. Your A/C system cannot eradicate the source of the mold for you.

Please feel free to call us about any questions you have. We hope you find this information helpful.

SEER stands for seasonal energy efficiency ratio. Simply stated, this is the electrical efficiency of your air conditioning system. Today we have 13 SEER, 14 SEER, 16 SEER and even up to 20 SEER systems on the market. The higher the SEER rating, the less electricity the system uses, and the lower the utility bill. Starting in January 2006, manufacturers will not be able to produce anything less than 13 SEER. Obviously, the higher the SEER rating, the more expensive the system costs up front.

So what SEER rating system should you buy? It depends on your budget. Simply compare the prices and how long it will take you to make up the extra money that you will pay for the Higher SEER. Remember, you're air conditioning system accounts for only 50% to 60% of your total utility bill. If you have two systems in your home, then each system accounts for only 25% to 30% of your total electricity cost. The department of energy claims each SEER point saves approximately 7%-10% of the electricity used by that system. This should help you determine your monthly savings and your payback period.

Department of energy states the homeowner will save approximately 30% savings per year if you change from a 10 Seer to a 13 Seer system. Reliant states approximately 7% to 10% per seer as you go up in SEER. This is based on 2500-3000 square feet.

Note; this does not take into account the insulation of you home, windows, doors, or which way your home faces the sun.

The higher SEER rating will save you on utility bills through the years and will make your home more attractive if you should decide to sell. But remember, a higher SEER rating does not mean more air conditioning. A 4-Ton 10 SEER unit delivers the same amount of BTUs as the 4-Ton 20 SEER, but just for less electricity. The model, the  brand determine the quality of the system and you should also look at the electrical consumption labeling in making your system decision.

Proper installation and design  of your new system is of the utmost importance when it comes to efficiency and longevity of your new system. When choosing a company to facilitate your installation be sure they have a install team that has many years of experience along with continuing education with installing todays higher SEER rating systems they are much more complex.

Today there are two refrigerants in use for residential cooling: refrigerant 22 (R-22), which is freon 22, and refrigerant 410 (R-410), which is freon 410. R-22 has been is use for many years and is most likely what you have in your system currently. R-22 is claimed to be destructive to the ozone layer. The government has mandated that in 2010, manufacturers will not be able to manufacture any more systems using R-22. In the year 2020, manufacturers will not be able to manufacture R-22 and in the year 2030 , the homeowner will not be able to buy R-22

R-410 is claimed not to be destructive to the ozone layer and is now in use in residential systems. R-410 runs under a very high pressure and is more expensive than R-22 at the present time. A system which uses R-22 cannot use R-410, nor can a system which uses R-410 use R-22.

Which one is better? At this point the only real advantage that I can verify is that R-410 saves the ozone layer. The systems designed to use each of these refrigerants are capable of delivering the same level of cooling. In other words, a 4 Ton R-22 system will cool the same amount as a 4 Ton R-410 system.

If you wish to learn more about R-410, the Honeywell has a web site at http://www.410a.com that talks about R-410 and ozone depletion.