Air Conditioning in Phoenix – What every homeowner should know about HVAC

I know the summer is over in Phoenix and we can now enjoy the beautiful days on the golf course but we do use our furnaces or heat pumps to heat our homes and although not as extreme as the summer, the same HVAC tips I would like to share still can be applied to help reduce your electric and gas bills.

The Phoenix energy audit industry is very much married to the Phoenix HVAC industry because our energy bills are dominated by the costs associated with cooling our homes so I am always conveying important air conditioning tips during my energy audits to help cut those utility bills.  In Phoenix there are two key air conditioning systems that are critical to ensure your system is operating as efficiently as possible and they are refrigerant charge and airflow.

 In Phoenix, air conditioning accounts for 40% - 60% of your electric bill in the summer so it is essential to change your filters regularly.  By changing the air filter you are not only breathing cleaner air but your house gets less dusty and it helps properly circulate the airflow throughout your house.  Good airflow is critical to ensure your HVAC system is operating at its highest rated efficiency.  If not, the HVAC unit ends up working a lot harder than it has to and shortens the lifespan of the air conditioning unit and parts.

Your refrigerant is critical to your air conditioning efficiency because it is the fluid that is responsible for actually providing warm air in the winter and cold air in the summer.  Each air conditioning system has a specified amount of refrigerant it is supposed to have to work at its peak.  Too much refrigerant and your HVAC system becomes overcharged and causes the compressor to work harder and possibly overheat.   Be careful you have a trusted HVAC contractor who is NATE Certified because many air conditioning contractors will purposely add too much refrigerant into your system thinking it will help. 

A refrigerant leak is equally as bad and is usually identified because the home will never reach the set thermostat temperature and your HVAC unit will keep running constantly without cooling or heating.  It is not enough to simply add more refrigerant, homeowners should ask their HVAC contractor where the leak is occurring and have them repair the line.