1. Claiming your refrigerant needs to be “topped off”

If an AC technician says the refrigerant is low, it is because there is a leak in the refrigerant lines.  Your AC technician should give you the option to find and fix the leak, or add more refrigerant to the unit as a temporary fix.  Leaks may be small and leak slowly over time depending on how much the system is used and the weather but once the system is depleted of refrigerant, it will continue to leak at a great and greater rate.  The priority should be given to identifying and repairing the leak, which takes many AC technicians out of their comfort zone and something that they may try to avoid doing by selling the temporary fix of adding more refrigerant. 

Topping off refrigerant or recharging can also be an excuse to charge more for an unneeded service.  Ask yourself if you have had any problems heating or cooling the home prior to the AC technician coming out?  The service technician at Green ID will not mislead you.  We offer you a fair, up front prices in writing and never charge more than we quote.

2. Selling you more refrigerant than you actually received

Inexperienced, lazy or dishonest AC technicians may charge the unit “by feel,” which can easily lead to best guesses as to how much refrigerant was added.  Refrigerant should always be weighed in before and after use to know exactly how much was added.  The time it actually takes to add refrigerant can vary day-by-day depending on the weather, size of the system, the size of the refrigerant tanks and the hoses and it is impossible to know how much refrigerant was added by looking at a set of gauges.  We sugguest to actually watch your AC technician use a scale to measure the refrigerant jug.

3. High pressure sales pitches

Sometimes HVAC technicians use scare tactics to force you into overpaying or purchasing something your home doesn’t need.  They likely don’t want you to get a second opinion and want to scare you into buying now.  You can prevent this by just requesting some information before of the person coming out to your home.  It can go a long way in just making sure you are getting a reputable technician at your house.  Get the name and qualifications of everyone who will be in your home.  Ask how long they have been in the industry; ask for references and proof of insurance or credentials.  Do not trust a AC company who does not provide a written agreement.  Verbal agreements should never be done, always insist on a written agreement.  Green ID provides you with reputable, background checked, expert air conditioning repair service you need to get your AC unit working once again. 

4. Making a repair that could have been by an alternative, more inexpensive repair

Have you ever worked with a great car repair company that found alternative solutions to a problem another company said it would be more expensive to fix?  I had a taken my car to the dealership once to get an oil change and was hit with news that I needed a $600 repair done.  I almost went forward with it, but held back and took it to my regular mechanic instead and was glad I did.  They found that the part they claimed had to be replaced still had about half of its life still good and when it did need replacing, they could just rebuild it for half the cost.  Your air conditioner works the same way in that many times a relatively small problem can be fixed via a cheaper alternative to keep the unit running.  Having a combination of experience, non-commission based technicians and proper training is what you ideally want in your AC company.  It’s also good to make sure that the parts being replaced, actually get replaced by asking to keep the damaged parts.

5. Unplugging the A/C unit
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Believe it or not we have seen this done to unsuspecting homeowners.  It may be done by a service technician to ensure they get a call back on a repair that wasn’t immediately fixed, or just carelessness.  Either way you can stop this scam from ever happening by knowing and trusting your heating and air conditioning service provider, and always seeking a second opinion. 
 
Unfortunately not all Phoenix HVAC companies operate ethically.  Green ID can offer you peace of mind.  We guarantee your air conditioner will not malfunction during the season we maintain it.  If your unit does fail, we will repair it at 50% off.  

Trane kicked off their Fall promotion offer. From now until November 15th 2016 you can get up to a $2000 instant rebate on trade-in on a qualifying purchase of a new Trane system, plus Green ID will double their rebate for new customers! The promotional period is a great to to replace your old system at your own convenience, not when the unit stops working during the hottest part of the day. Air conditioners in Phoenix tend to break down in the middle of the summer and air conditioning companies tend to charge more on emergency calls.

A proper analysis of your home is the first step. Performing a load calculation and energy audit and finding issues and concerns you have allows us to design a system together that will improve comfort, energy bills and peace of mind.

To determine the appropriate trade-in allowance, Green ID will help determine specific qualifying systems tailored for your needs. Then, visit Trane's website with your Green ID consultant, to electronically scratch and win. Your rebate will determined by the SEER, or efficiency rating of the system you choose.  The higher the SEER, the more efficient the unit will be and less you'll spend on energy costs.  SEER ratings vary from SEER 14 to SEER 20 and the rebate will be multiplied by the SEER of the unit you choose.  The homeowner will scratch off savings of either:
 

• $25 off per SEER
• $50 off per SEER
• $75 off per SEER
• $100 off per SEER

 
​Your rebates will come off the top of your AC unit cost and we will submit all the paperwork on the back end. The Trane rebate savings are calculated by multiplying the SEER rating of your unit with the dollar amount of your scratch-off. For example: If you’re purchasing a unit with a SEER rating of 16 and you scratch off $75, your rebate. Savings are calculated by multiplying the SEER rating of your unit with the dollar amount of your scratch-off. For example: If you’re purchasing a unit with a SEER rating of 16 and you scratch off $75, your rebate will be $1,200 (16 x $75 = $1,200).

Green ID will then double your rebate to add on to Trane's promotion up to $4000 total to help make your new AC even more affordable until the end of November.

0% financing for 48 months is available for qualifying Trane variable speed units or Green ID offers alternative financing for homeowners purchasing new AC systems.

There are incredible advancements in air conditioning in just the last few years.  Read about the Trane XVi20 variable speed systems.  If you notice rooms that are hard to cool in the summer or high energy bills, this is a great time to take advantage of Trane's specials and make your home comfortable and energy efficient. 

AC systems account for more than 40% of our total energy bill in Phoenix area so it is essential that HVAC systems support a comfortable, healthy indoor environment and operate efficiently throughout their lifecycles.  For Phoenix residents, an AC check up can be beneficial twice a year.  Once during the Spring before the cooling season and once in the Fall, after the air conditioner has done all the heavy lifting for the summer before the heating season.  The Spring tune up is important because to verify that the air conditioner will be ready and tuned up for the long summer stretch, where it is expected to run 6-8 hours in the summer. 

Mechanical systems require routine monitoring, adjustments, periodic cleaning, and eventual replacement of components.  Conducting regularly scheduled inspections, maintenance, and remediation of HVAC systems prolongs equipment efficiency, promotes healthy clean air, supports lower utility costs, guards against unexpected failures, and prolongs equipment life. Occupants and the environment will both benefit.
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Every AC check up should include an air handler / furnace inspection

​This means that your AC technician should be getting in the attic and you should see him with a ladder, tarp and tools.  Too many AC companies do NOT go into the attic as part of their AC tune up and they should be.  There are several important checks that need to be done in the attic and can’t be done from the outside condenser alone.
A complete 31 point AC check up should tailored specifically for the Phoenix’s summers and dry winter and include…

1. Baseline measurements

Thermostat set points, filter sizes, system type, system size, model and serial numbers, outside temperature, relative humidity are all standard measurements that help interpret our AC readings.  Even in a hot dry climate like Phoenix, these readings can add valuable insight to help diagnosis HVAC problems waiting to happen.

2. Compressor amps
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The compressor is the heart of the AC unit and is the most expensive part of the AC unit.  It is well worth the investment to protect the compressor and ensure it runs smoothly by making sure the other AC components are also working properly.  A high amp draw on the compressor can be a sign that something upstream or downstream from the compressor is out of whack and doesn’t necessarily mean the compressor needs to be replaced… although that is what most inexperienced technicians believe.  

​3. Compressor run capacitor, outdoor fan motor run capacitor and indoor motor run capacitor

Capacitors hold and release energy that allow the compressor and fan motors to start.  Common signs of bad capacitors are bulging, leaking fluid and burnt contacts at the capacitor and low or high electrical output.  If you hear a humming sound at the compressor but it refuses to start, it’s a sign that a capacitor has gone bad.  A weak run capacitor can significantly shorten the life of the HVAC system.  A hard starting compressor, a compressor that is constantly short cycling or improperly sized ductwork can lead to an early capacitor failure. 

4. Outdoor and indoor fan motor and blower motor amps

Amperage is a measure of power being used by an electrical device, in this case an AC fan motor.  When a motor is drawing more current than it was designed for, it will shorten its life and burn up the motor.  Mechanical failures at the fan motor come from dry or worn bearings which over time which can start to show warning signs via a high amp draw on the fan motor.  If the AC system is overcharged with refrigerant it may also cause the fan motor to go bad.

5. Fan blade and blower wheel balance

A mismatched fan blade can adversely affect the performance of the unit, cause insufficient cooling and a high energy bill.  A mismatched fan blade may have been installed on a hack job or if the AC fan blade or blower wheel was bent somehow it can throw off the balance of the fan or wheel.  When a fan blade is imbalanced the outside condenser cannot get rid of enough heat to complete the refrigeration cycle and you may get an icing of the coils or you may notice your home not being able to cool as well as it used too.  Same thing is true for the blower wheel balance

6. Start contactor

An air conditioning contactor allows the unit to turn on and off like a switch.  Common signs of bad contactors are burnt or corroded contact points and electrical outputs out of typical range which are typically caused from constant wear over time.  Sometimes the contactor will “stick” close or not make good enough contact when pulled in because of pitting or debris.

7. Reversing valve and solenoid (heat pumps only)

Reversing valves on heat pumps reverse the flow of refrigerant depending on the heating or cooling season.  A bad reversing value can often be confused with a bad compressor.  A skilled technician will be able to diagnose which one is the problem.  Reversing valves operate on pressure differences so depending on the refrigerant levels when the AC system is on, and what is does once it is shut off can tell us a lot about diagnosing any problems.

8. Low and high voltage electrical connections

Poor high voltage connections at the bus bar, disconnect and into the AC units can also cause AC components to over-amp. Over time initial weak electrical connections will shift with the expansion and contraction of the electrical heat and a simple tightening of the screws and keep current flowing at each components rated amps. 

9. Super heat and sup cool refrigerant pressures

Refrigerant pressures are often misread and taken improperly by inexperienced technicians which can lead to an improper diagnosis.  AC units that do not have the proper refrigerant charge can be caused from refrigerant leaks, a bad reversing value, or from a previous tech adding too much refrigerant.  Leak checks can be done by pressurizing the refrigerant lines with nitrogen, a Freon gas sniffer or soap bubbles if the tech cannot visually locate the leak. 

10. Condensation pan

Checking the secondary condensation drip pan is important even if little or no moisture is being pulled from the house because we can tell us there are hidden issues that happen to occur before or after our inspection.  We look for standing water, rust in the pan or potential clogging issues.  Signs of previous standing water in the secondary drip pan (the one you can see) mean that the primary drip pan is clogged or the level of the air handler / furnace is sloped wrong… and that is a bad thing.  When the primary drip pan gets clogged it can mean the evaporator coils are getting rusted and the debris is caught in the PVC drain pipes. The solution can be as simple as flushing out the lines or the indoor coil may be on its last leg and ready for replacement.

11. Static pressure

Static pressure measures the amount of restrictions in the ductwork and can tell us if the unit is drawing too much amps because of a bad duct design.  Common causes of a high static pressure would be closing registers, bad duct designs, kinks or restrictions in the ductwork or stamped faced registers.  Signs that your unit has a high static pressure are constant capacitor failures, high energy bills and hot rooms in the summer.

12. Ductwork

If you have ductwork that is only sized for a 4 ton AC system, but you have a 5 ton unit in your attic, do you think you’re home will receive the full 5 tons of air?  If the air distribution network can only handler 4 tons of air, or 1600 CFMs, even if you put a 6 ton system on all that’s going to be delivered is 4 tons of air.   Checking for the proper duct size, restrictions and leaks should be a part of every AC contractors tune up checklist.  Mismatched or leaky ductwork will lower the SEER on any unit so to ensure you are getting all that you paid for, make sure your ductwork is matched up correctly and sealed to deliver all cold air to your home you are paying for.

13. Insulation
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Insulation is checked on AC inspections?  Of course!  A lack of insulation will allow the conditioned air that blows into the house to be lost like sand running through your fingers if your home is not properly insulated.  If everything else in your tune up checks out OK, then we need to look past the unit to the insulation, ductwork, airflow and house leaks.  Home performance is often neglected in AC check ups but should be integrated into every AC companies operations.  

What best practices does your company follow during my installation?

This single question posed to AC contractors can reveal a lot on how the company performs their installations.  You can trust and like your sales rep but if they don’t know or you get a blank stare as a initial response, you’re better off finding a contractor who is a little less polished but knows their installation crews.  In Phoenix your air conditioner replacement is the most important day of its life and you want to carefully screen any AC contractor that gives you replacement costs.
 
Experienced air conditioning contractors are good because they know where the hiccups occur during an air conditioner install and how to avoid them and they know what the most common call backs are and how to avoid them. Most of the time doing the right thing requires a little extra effort on their part during the AC install. For most AC contractors this is not the standard way of doing their installs and just like learning how to swing a golf club the correct way verses the easy way, it takes them out of their comfort zone and most would rather just skip doing the extra effort verses spending a little more time, effort and materials to do it right. 
 
You definitely want to hear an air conditioning contractor tell you they do the following:
 
1. Charge the system with the correct amount of refrigerant after installation. This is not factory settings as every system comes with refrigerant already charged it. Many contractors just leave the factory charge and do not bother adding any more or measuring to find out how much more is needed and this is a big problem. If the distance from your outside condenser to the inside air handler is more than 15 feet, your AC contractor should be adding more refrigerant as the manufacturers only add enough refrigerant for 15 feet of refrigerant line.
 
2. Size the unit according to what your home needs, not based on the square footage of the house alone. This requires a Manual J calculation on the house so you should see your contractor measuring your windows and actually going in your attic to measure the insulation. 
 
3. For package roof units, you want a side by side elbow, not a down draft and not a over-under aka twist elbow. This is a major no no that most AC contractors are guilty of not following. Down draft and over-under elbows are cheaper and easier to install and require less labor and materials but are NOT best for your energy bills, comfort and the life of your system. If your AC contractor is really stuck in their ways or really lazy, they will make up excuses on why down draft and over-under elbows are OK to install, they may even believe what they are saying is true but hold firm in your affirmation that you want a side by side elbow. 
 
4. They install supply and return plenums
A plenum is a transition between the ductwork and the unit. If your furnace or air handler is in the attic like most are in Phoenix, the plenum is likely a sheet metal box that has flex duct connecting into it and the other side is attached to the furnace. If your furnace or air handler is in the garage or closet, the return plenum is the framed box that it sits on and the supply plenum is the sheet metal on top. Plenums are important for proper airflow, allowing the unit to breath and mix air in the box before it hits the evaporator coils. They are not always included in the cost of an AC but should be. It is extra work to install them but every home should have them.

What should you look for in an HVAC contractor in Phoenix?  Getting your heating and cooling system replaced is a very important day and the right preparation on your part can add years of additional life to your unit with minimal repairs and great Air conditioner savings along the way.  Get it wrong, and your air conditioner and heater will be plagued with emergency AC repairs, loud AC fan noises, bad capacitors and fan motors and an early death.  Unfortunately, according to the DOE more than half of new systems in U.S. homes do not perform to their rated efficiency as a result of improper installation. In fact, improper installation can reduce performance by as much as 30%. This not only affects your utility bills, but can lead to a variety of comfort problems, including insufficient cooling, dust from leaking ductwork, and poor air distribution.  At Green ID, we tell our customers it doesn’t matter what manufacturer you go with for your HVAC system, the most important thing is how it’s installed that first day.  Here is a reference guide to help choose the right heating and cooling contractor.

​Ask the following questions to each contractor:

1. What best practices does your company follow during my installation?
 
This single question posed to AC contractors can reveal a lot on how the company performs their installations.  You can trust and like your sales rep but if they don’t know or you get a blank stare as a initial response, you’re better off finding a contractor who is a little less polished but knows their installation crews.
 
Experienced air conditioning contractors are good because they know where the hiccups occur during an air conditioner install and how to avoid them and they know what the most common call backs are and how to avoid them. Most of the time doing the right thing requires a little extra effort on their part during the AC install. For most AC contractors this is not the standard way of doing their installs and just like learning how to swing a golf club the correct way verses the easy way, it takes them out of their comfort zone and most would rather just skip doing the extra effort verses spending a little more time, effort and materials to do it right. 
 
You definitely want to hear an air conditioning contractor tell you they do the following:
 
a. Charge the system with the correct amount of refrigerant after installation. This is not factory settings as every system comes with refrigerant already charged it. Many contractors just leave the factory charge and do not bother adding any more or measuring to find out how much more is needed and this is a big problem. If the distance from your outside condenser to the inside air handler is more than 15 feet, your AC contractor should be adding more refrigerant as the manufacturers only add enough refrigerant for 15 feet of refrigerant line.
 
b. Size the unit according to what your home needs, not based on the square footage of the house alone. This requires a Manual J calculation on the house so you should see your contractor measuring your windows and actually going in your attic to measure the insulation. 
 
c. For package roof units, you want a side by side elbow, not a down draft and not a over-under aka twist elbow. This is a major no no that most AC contractors are guilty of not following. Down draft and over-under elbows are cheaper and easier to install and require less labor and materials but are NOT best for your energy bills, comfort and the life of your system. If your AC contractor is really stuck in their ways or really lazy, they will make up excuses on why down draft and over-under elbows are OK to install, they may even believe what they are saying is true but hold firm in your affirmation that you want a side by side elbow. Here's our list of reasons why a side by side elbow is better on package HVAC units in Phoenix.
 
d. Supply and return plenums
A plenum is a transition between the ductwork and the unit. If your furnace or air handler is in the attic like most are in Phoenix, the plenum is likely a sheet metal box that has flex duct connecting into it and the other side is attached to the furnace. If your furnace or air handler is in the garage or closet, the return plenum is the framed box that it sits on and the supply plenum is the sheet metal on top. Plenums are important for proper airflow, allowing the unit to breath and mix air in the box before it hits the evaporator coils. They are not always included in the cost of an AC but should be. It is extra work to install them but every home should have them.
 
e. There are several other must-haves when requesting specifics during air conditioner bids but the list above are the basics to start you on the right foot. I would make sure all these things were done on my own home and you should too.

2. How will you determine the maximum system size that can be installed with my existing ductwork?
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I love this question because it immediately separates the true players from the fakes.  It is a variant of the question of system sizing for the house and asking if the contractor performs a Manual J load calculation to verify the size of the unit.  Here you are making sure your ductwork is going to be properly sized for the unit, which is just as important as matching the size of the unit correct to the house specifications (windows, insulation, duct leakage, sq ft, air leakage, etc).  Having a 5 ton HVAC system with ductwork that can only handle 4 tons of air is a big problem and we see it all the time.  It causes the HVAC system to work harder than it needs to, shortening the life of it’s components, comfort issues with hot and cold rooms, weak airflow, exaggerates ductwork leakage, and causes noisy systems.

The correct answer would be to measure the static pressure of the unit to see how well the air is moving in the and out of the ductwork before a new unit is installed.  This will require your contractor to go in the attic (if your HVAC unit is located there) to measure and if you never see them go in the attic, you know that your static pressure was never measured.  It is possible in many cases to increase the size of the ductwork to handle more airflow and that will be up to your HVAC company to determine.
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To lower your energy bills, make your home more comfortable with less dust, you cannot rely on just changing the air conditioner and heater alone.  Your contractor needs to consider the ductwork as well… and if they are really on their game they are going to talk about your insulation as well.  Duct leaks and poor airflow to rooms are the major cause of comfort issues… it’s not having a dinosaur HVAC system.  A new variable speed HVAC system is not a one-stop-shop to fixing those problems although some HVAC contractors may make it seem that way, resist the temptation to look at just the box.

3. Do you recommend and how much is it to install new refrigerant lines rather than reusing existing lines?
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The answer you are looking for is “yes”, when switching from the old outlawed refrigerant R22 to the more environmentally friendly R410, we always recommend installing new refrigerant lines. The old R22 refrigerant is not compatible with the new R410 refrigerant, they don’t mix well together and you can ruin your compressor if the old R22 is not cleaned out of the refrigerant lines.  Does it increase the cost?  Yes, it will add to the cost but you are taking better care of your new unit now to have a worry-free system in the future.  Changing out your existing refrigerant lines is labor intensive and copper lines are not cheap, but I like this question because it gives you an idea where in the ballpark this AC company falls in terms of best practice knowledge and actually caring for the quality of work or if they are just going for the sale.  

4. Will you help me install my programmable thermostat?

It’s easy for HVAC installers to get used to just doing the installation routine without much customer interaction.  However for a complicated AC system that costs thousands of dollars, it’s helpful to have a little explanation of your new unit and getting acquainted with all its nuisances soon after it’s up and running.  This starts with the thermostat, the only interaction you’ll probably ever have with the entire system.  Programmable thermostats can save money on your energy bills by setting the temperature up while you are away in the summer, similar to turning the lights off when you are not in the room.  The smart thermostats of today can sense when you are away automatically raise the temperature up in an energy saving mode that you don’t have to think about.  However, some thermostats are pretty complicated to navigate, change the settings, set up the wi fi and learn the functionalities.  It can be like programming your VCR or the old digital watches, something we can put our attention to maybe once to try to program, then we just give up the rest of the year and just live with the factory settings the same as when we took it out of the box.  Ask your AC company to agree to help you install and set up your programmable thermostat for easy additional comfort and savings.

5. How do you fix a hot room?

Whether you have a room that’s different temperatures than the rest of the house or not, this questions can tell you if your heating and cooling company is more on a cookie cutter path or takes a more customized approach.  More and more heating and air conditioning contractors are defaulting to installing a new return in a hot room to help air circulate out of the room.  It is true that you can never have enough returns in your home but it all depends on the best practices of the company.  In our experience adding a return an help make a room more comfortable, but it’s subtle and won’t leave you feeling entirely satisfied.  We have lots of feedback from our customers who had only returns installed, only additional supplies, and both additional supplies and returns and the results are not promising.
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You can read our post on why rooms get so hot above a garage here to get an idea what truly causes comfort issues and the correct way to address them, but it is NOT by adding a return to a room (you’re welcome HVAC contractors).

6. When installing my ductwork connections, will you seal at all the duct seems first?
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Proper heating and air conditioning installation has so much more to do with the ductwork than it HVAC contractors give it credit for.  Again this question hints at a whole home approach to air conditioning installation.  AC contractors that just consider the unit change out are leaving their customers short and are asking for a life time of AC problems.  Early capacitor failures, bad fan motors and pitted contactors are signs that something else is going on in the attic outside of the actually unit that are causing early failure.  Other signs the airflow and ductwork needs to be properly inspected are rooms that are different temperatures than the rest of the house, excessive dust and high energy bills.  An air conditioning company may claim that this new high efficiency SEER 16 system is going to fix comfort and dust concerns but putting a high end AC unit on a badly designed duct system is like driving a Prius with a hole in the gas tank.  It’s best to consider a whole home approach when replacing your air conditioner and start with a certified energy audit.

7. Will you test to confirm that duct leakage does not exceed recommended levels?

Testing for airflow and duct leaking is the only way to be sure if the work was done right.  That test can be done with a blower door or duct blaster and is pictured here

Aerosealing is an effective way at sealing small holes in the ductwork but it will not seal anything greater than 1/8th of n inch.  In many older homes, the ducts have a hole greater than an 1/8th of an inch so a manual seal is better suited and is what we at Green ID prefer because we apply our sealant on thicker and it our product has a longer lifespan than Aeroseal.  Read more about Aersoealing and the bad wrap is has been getting here.
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8. Will you confirm proper levels of refrigerant and airflow across the coil?

This last question is important because a typical HVAC contractor will say that the units come factory charged and that is enough the typical house.  What they don’t tell you is that every manufacturer is different and many AC manufacturers have been chronically light on their factory refrigerant charge.  This means that, yes, after every install the refrigerant levels should be measured and the proper amount needs to be weighed in to ensure the correct amount is put in the system from Day 1.  A rule of thumb is if the refrigerant lines are longer than 15 feet, that is 15 feet from your outside condenser to the air handler in the attic, more refrigerant should be added. 

Measuring airflow across the coil is important because you want to be sure you are getting the correct amount of airflow into the home.  Air conditioning companies need to measure that all the air into the return is existing through the supplies and that it is the correct amount of airflow for the size of the unit.  Most HVAC contractors will just install the box and forget about anything outside of it to the owners determent. 

When you purchase a new heating and cooling system, you expect high performance. Not all Phoenix HVAC contractors are the same.  Ask the AC contractors bidding for your business if they follow ACCA Best Practice Guidelines or ENERGY STAR® Quality Installation Guidelines (www.energystar.gov/qispec) to ensure that you are not buying just a piece of equipment but a properly installed heating and cooling system that provides comfort and efficiency.