I had another call today about water on the floor around the furnace. This is an inevitable problem with all air conditioners if you do not do preventive maintenance on your A/C system.
As you all know, an air conditioner rings gallons of water out of the air as it cools your home. This water is drained from the evaporator (“A” coil) by gravity through a hose connected to the front of the coil, above the furnace.
The “A” coil has a drain pan on it’s bottom which catches the water to be drained away. The “A” coil also catches dirt in the air stream which mixes with the water and will eventually build up enough to clog the drain fitting and hose, causing the water to overflow the pan and run onto the floor around the furnace. Be sure to check the drain system for debris and replace the hose periodically. We recommend an annual maintenance plan which will leave this messy job to our service technicians.

Now that the thermostat is finally reading 75 degrees +, most of you will be starting your air conditioners for the first time. Before you flip the circuit breaker to bring on the system, be sure your furnace filter is clean and the bypass damper in your humidifier is closed or in the “summer” position.
Your furnace fan runs at a much higher speed (CFM) when your air conditioner is on versus when your furnace is heating, so a clean filter is even more important in the summer.

There is a very good article on wcco.com reminding all of us with sidewall vented furnaces and water heaters to be sure to remove the deep snow which can block the vents.
A blocked vent can shut the appliance down or worse yet, produce carbon monoxide. So, take a moment to look at your vents and remove any snow.

The snow is falling and the temperature is diving, with a low of ZERO predicted for Thursday. Your furnace is finally going to get it’s first test for the season. IS IT READY ?
Have you changed the furnace filter lately ? Did you replace your humidifier pad and open the water line and damper ? Have you had a professional cleaning and safety check of your furnace ? If you answered NO to any of these , do not wait another day.

Many people have asked my recommendations when shutting down their air conditioner for the season, so here goes. #1 Turn the circuit breaker to “off” #2 Pull the disconnect, put in “off” position ( this is mounted on the house next to the a/c unit) #3 Cover unit if you have a canvas cover (do not use plastic) #4 Put a piece of plywood (3/4″) on top of unit to protect against falling debris and icicles
Every spring we service air conditioners which have failed due to power surges which caused the unit to run during the winter months. Be sure to cut the power both at the electric panel and the disconnect.

Maintenance of your furnace is very different than a Service Contract. Maintenance means each year a professional technician does a thorough tune-up of all the parts of the furnace and most importantly a safety check to ensure the heat exchanger is in tact with no carbon monoxide being produced. A Service Contract is just “insurance”, which normally covers the small, inexpensive parts if and when they fail. My opinion: Service Contracts are priced so the Contractor wins, whereas Maintenance offers a real value which means both the Contractor and the Homeowner win.

1. Furnace maintenance and safety check (hire a professional to do this)

2. Replace furnace filter

3. Replace humidifier media pad and put bypass damper in open or winter position. Also, turn water supply on and put humidistat to desired humidity level (normally 45 % or number 6 or 7)

4. Clean debris, leaves and dirt from combustion air intake hood

5. Set thermostat from cool to heat

6. Put electrical circuit breaker for air conditioner to off position

Do this prior to the temps falling to ensure the systems will work when they are needed

Here I go again, telling you the importance of routine A/C Maintenance. We are now in July and your a/c system is working hard to keep you cool. Every minute your system runs there is a huge amount of air and all of the airborne particulate passing through the a/c condenser coil. This particulate, especially from the cottonwood tree, sticks to the coil and blocks the air from freely passing through it. This blockage means the a/c unit runs at much hotter temperatures which leads to compressor failure.

Take your garden hose and wash down the coil with the pressure your thumb can produce — not a pressure nosel. This will take you no more than 5 minutes and will save you energy and extend the life of your system.

Feel free to call with any questions you may have.  Mike Carney    952 894 0005