HVAC Heating Air Conditioning Capacitor Rip Off

Another common practice by some dishonest contractors is to replace a simple small part that many times is not necessary. The capacitor is one of those parts that is relatively inexpensive but when added to a service call the cost adds up fast. Many times these are contractors that instruct their technicians to replace a part, any part on every service call regardless if it is needed or not.

The capacitor is generally a small tin can looking thing with wire terminals on the top, they are generally either round and about 4 inches tall or a wide oval in shape like the one on the left and about the same height. What they do in essence is act like a battery, they store energy and discharge this energy to assist the motor or compressor in your heating or air conditioning system to start and run.

Every capacitor has an energy capacity rating and when the capacitor is greater than 10% low on capacity this is when it should be replaced to prevent the motor or compressor from working too hard to start and/or run. A capacitors capacity is measured in micro-farads and every capacitor has the proper reading usually listed right on it and as part of the part number in many cases.

Homeowners should ask what the capacitor is rated for and they should also ask the technician to document the measurement right on their work order as most will not want to document the rip off scam in writing, be sure to watch and see the measurement yourself. If for example a 100 microfarad capacitor measure 92 micro-farads then this capacitor is perfectly good and does not need replacing. If the same 100 microfarad capacitor measures 90 or below (10% percent rule) then it is time to replace it.

All capacitors must be replaced with the exact same size or capacity as is being replaced, never allow a different size capacitor unless some form of documentation indicates the incorrect size was installed on a previous date.

HVAC Contractor Air Conditioning Systems Refrigerant Rip Off

One of the more common things we see are air conditioning systems that have been overcharged with refrigerant. This common rip off is usually done when you call for a simple maintenance service and they are adding refrigerant to make money off you. I suspect that many times the homeowner complains that it just is not getting cold enough and many times this is caused by other issues such as dirty air filters, dirty outdoor condenser coil, dirty indoor blower and dirty indoor evaporator coils.

The added refrigerant above what is required simply reduces the capacity and performance of the system, homeowners should watch what the technician does and what they check, if they do not first go to the filter and check that I would kick them out of my house right then and there. They should always first check and change your filter before doing anything else as the dirty filter reduces air flow which can effect the pressure readings measured on your outdoor condensing unit. They should always check and clean your outdoor condenser coil if it is dirty and they should check to make sure your indoor system is clean.

After these basic measures are taken then the system can be evaluated for proper refrigerant levels. While it is difficult to provide you with what pressure readings you should see because each system and every outdoor air and indoor air condition/temperature has an effect on the readings as well as the fact that there are two common refrigerants in the market, R22 and R410a. The question to ask a technician is to document right on the work order what the pressure readings are and ask to see the gauges when they write this down, this calls them to the table and makes them be honest as you can easily see if incorrect numbers are written down and these readings can be checked by other technicians and companies. Make sure they also write down the numbers after they add refrigerant, and stick around and watch them. No smart technician trying to rip you off is going to document the rip off in action.

The other important thing to note is that no reputable company should add refrigerant without first looking for a leak, this can be accomplished using things as complex as an electronic sniffer or as simple as soap bubbles, they should also be looking for signs of refrigerant leaks such as oil and dirt where there should not be any oil or dirt. The important thing is that they make sure there are no leaks before they add refrigerant.

The Geothermal System Explained in a nut shell.

Geothermal is by far the highest efficiency heating and cooling system available today. While the systems require up to three times more investment upfront than a conventional heating and cooling system the payback rate can be as much as three times faster when compared against the least efficient types of systems available today.


Geothermal works by tapping into very large low temperature heat sources such as the earth itself or water from a well, pond or other large sources. The earth under our feet and large volumes of water constantly maintain their temperature and measure from 40F to50F in most Northern U.S. Climates, the temperature of the ground at a depth of 30 feet or deeper remains very stable and the same holds true for well water sources as they too are very deep. As you approach the surface of the ground the temperatures will decrease in stability, the closer to the surface the greater the range, at 6 feet deep you can expect up to a 20 degree range in temperature. Other factors such as soil type and moisture saturation levels also effect the capacity of the soil to transfer that heat so these things also need to considered when designing a system.

The mechanics of the systems are relatively simple as they are essentially just a heat pump, a heat pump is an air conditioner that reverses itself. In other words a conventional A/C unit absorbs the heat from the home using the low pressure side of the refrigerant and releases that heat outside at the condensing unit or A/C unit using the high pressure side of the refrigerant. A heat pump just reverses the flow of the refrigerant so that the heat is absorbed from outside and released inside the home. The difference with geothermal is that instead of using the outside air it uses circulating water to either absorb or release the heat to or from the ground or the well water.

Ameri-Serv, Inc, Heating and Cooling sells Climate Master GeoThermal Systems and we can service and repair all brands and system types.

The systems take this circulated water and pump it through the geothermal unit at a specified flow rate depending upon the water temperature, this water flows through a heat exchanger which is normally two coiled pipes, one inside the other with the refrigerant flowing in the inner pipe and the water flowing through the outer pipe. The flow rate is crucial to the proper operation of the system and the temperature of the water can change the required flow rates. Most systems are set at one flow rate for all conditions and others self regulate this flow rate for changing conditions.

The well water systems typically will pump well water through the unit and inject it back into another well a sufficient distance away. The ground source system uses one of two methods, the first is by far the best choice and consists of deep bore holes, up to 300 feet or more, with either coiled or looped pipes extending down into the bore hole, these are the best because the temperatures are more stable the deeper you go and the water saturation levels are usually higher. The other type requires a lot of surface area and consists of trenches, 6 to 10 feet deep with the pipes looped in the trenches.

Both systems require the pipers to be filled with water and antifreeze and the amount of pipe or length depends on both the type of ground system used (bore holes or trenches), the soil temperature and conditions as well as the size of the geothermal system required to heat and cool the home. This ranges from 200 to 300 feet of pipe per ton of energy (1 ton = 12,000 btu's) and a typical home at around 1800 square feet takes about 3 to 4 tons of energy to properly heat and cool the home depending on the home's efficiency.

When considering a ground source system it is very important to place a lot of consideration into who installs the system, or more importantly, who designs the system. A qualified contractor will be able to tell you all the things discussed above and accurately estimate what it will take to make the system work. Most complaints about geothermal systems stem from improperly sized and installed systems. While sizing a system to the home is fairly easy the ground source side of the system is where the mistakes are usually made.

R-22 Refrigerant and Equipment Shortage Looms

According to chemical manufacturer DuPont, the main refrigerant used in residential air conditioning systems may be in short supply as soon as 2010.

“The recent Montreal Protocol changes and an updated look at supply-demand scenarios reveal that supplies in 2010 may be much tighter than originally anticipated, including the possibility that virgin R-22 supplies may be short; therefore, it is apparent that the indus-try must dramatically increase recovery of HCFCs in order to compensate for the short-fall expected as early as 2010,” claims Kevin P. O’Shea, the North American marketing manager for DuPont Refrigerants.



It’s All About The Ozone
The Montreal Protocol that O’Shea references is an international treaty enacted in 1987 and amended several times afterwards. It specifies the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are ozone depleting refrigerants. In 1996, the Montreal Protocol was amended to include hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are less damaging to the ozone, but still contain chlorine. R-22, the main refrigerant used in residential air conditioning systems, is an HCFC. After 2009, residential air conditioning manufacturers will only be able to use pre-existing supplies of R-22 in new equipment.

Manufacturers are no longer allowed to produce R-22 Equipment and Systems but R22 is still available for servicing existing systems, but the production quantities will be dramatically reduced. This year, the production will be limited to 25% of the 1996 production levels.

It was projected that the existing stock of R-22, combined with limited production would be sufficient for servicing existing systems. This assumed that contractors were diligent about recovering, reclaiming, and recycling refrigerant.

In years past, R-22 was so inexpensive, that technicians simply vented it to the atmosphere when servicing equip-ment and replaced it with new refrigerant. Not only is that expensive today, it’s illegal. There are steep fines for venting R-22.

Yet, some contractors must be venting because the stock of recycled R-22 is below projections. For the record, Ameri-Serv Heating and Cooling technicians always recover and reclaim refrigerant. It’s irresponsible to do otherwise.

How A Shortage Impacts You
The looming shortage does not mean we will run out of refrigerant in the near term. It means that prices will increase until demand balances supply. In other words, R-22 will still be available, but it will be expensive.
This won’t affect you unless your air conditioner leaks. It shouldn’t. Air conditioning systems are closed loop systems. Absent leaks, they will not require additional refrigerant. You should not need to “fill up” the air conditioner with refrigerant every year.

Preventing Leaks
Air conditioners are mechanical systems. To operate efficiently, they require maintenance. The same maintenance will also reduce the possibility that your air conditioner will develop a refrigerant leak. If you have not had your air conditioner tuned-up this year, schedule it right away. You will save more on utilities from a well-running air conditioner than you will spend on the tune-up.


Even well maintained systems can develop leaks from time to time. These should be fixed immediately. Refrigerant leaks will not only hurt the ozone layer, they will hurt your wallet.
If the leak cannot be fixed, the air conditioner should be replaced with one of the new models that uses an alter-native refrigerant.

Alternative Refrigerants
The air conditioning industry has settled on R-410a as a replacement for R-22. It’s a good refrigerant, but is in-compatible with R-22. We cannot simply substitute it for R-22. The entire system must be replaced.
The new R-410a air conditioners operate under higher pressures, which means special training is required to install and service them (all of our technicians have received this training)
.
You might be surprised how efficient these air conditioners are. If your air conditioning system is more than 15 years old, it’s possible that we can cut your cooling costs in half with one of these new systems. Call us at 342-4328 and we’ll prepare a complimentary analysis showing how much you can save. We can also improve your indoor air quality and solve any comfort problems (e.g., one room is always too hot or cold).

Your money is literally flowing right out of your roof and crawl space!

I can easily say that everyone has this problem, if you have an attic space and we all do, then you are wasting countless dollars every minute of every day.

We all pay pretty close attention to other areas of leakage in our homes so why to do we all ignore this. Because it's sight unseen, if you can not see it then it must not be problem, right? Most of us that are concerned with energy and our utility bills will occasionally check our windows and doors to make sure they have a good seal when closed. It is only simple common sense and we all understand that leaks will cost us money.

The simple truth is that none of us think about all the holes in our ceilings and walls but we all know very well that they are there and that there are usually a bunch of these holes. All out light fixtures have an electrical box and most if not all of our electrical boxes are not sealed. This also includes the boxes in our walls as they in one form or another create a air flow path to the attic also. Even our crawl spaces have holes from inside our homes to the crawl space and cause leaks that go unseen every day.

The sad thing is that it is real cheap and only takes a little time to fix these unseen leaks in our homes. Simple rubber gaskets can be purchased and installed behind all of your electrical wall plates sealing off any air flow cheap and easy. While there are no ready made sealing gaskets for ceiling fixtures there are several methods that can be used to get these leaks under control and while many fixtures have insulation and some may even come with rubber gaskets you should still check these as the uneven surface of our ceilings can create gaps that break the seals. In many cases the only real solution may be to lower the fixture and seal the electrical box off with silicone sealant. Better make sure the power is off before starting this project as safety is always the beast first step.

Same thing can be applied to any air conditioning or heating registers, these also have gaps that allow for leaks into the attic or crawl space and it is as simple as removing the register and sealing the edges around the metal duct inside the opening. As with the electrical boxes simply run a bead of caulk around the edge of the box or duct and in many cases you will need to spread the caulk and push it into the gaps. Always use a good quality 20 or 30 year silicone caulk for best results and remember to wet your finger before you spread that caulk to help keep things clean and easy.

This would be great weekend project and well worth the effort, the savings from these improvements over time can be very surprising and nearly impossible to predict as every home is built differently.

Amer-Serv, Inc. Heating and Cooling can perform these improvements for you and get it all done very quickly and we will leave your home or business as clean or cleaner than we found it. We will also check your air ducts for leaks as part of this service and make sure your hard earned dollars are flowing into the house not into your crawl space or attic. The cost for these improvements can be surprisingly low so don't wait give us a call to schedule a free estimate.

Beware of the "Get Air Conditioning for Free" deals!

Boise, Idaho - August 31, 2009 

Beware of the "Get Air Conditioning for Free" deals... Sounds obvious but does anyone really think they can get something that expensive for free?

Some contractors out there in the Treasure Valley will stop at nothing to get your business and they will pull unsuspecting people in by offering free air conditioning with the purchase of a new furnace.

This is pretty common for a couple of contractors in town and I have even seen where they also say “OR get a $1500 tax credit”. People need to be very careful with these kinds of contractors, first off no one can control if you can get the Federal Tax Credits or not, it is entirely based upon what you purchase as qualifying equipment, it really is that simple. Secondly no one can provide any air conditioner for free, these are very expensive pieces of equipment and you will pay for it one way or another and more than likely pay much more than it is worth.

These “deals” scare me only because we feel bad for the unsuspecting people that fall for these deals. You can always count on Ameri-Serv to tell you the truth and provide an honest quote for services because we care about our customers and we want to keep our customers for a very long time.

When a whole house fan pays back the most

Boise, Idaho - August 22, 2009 
As the seasons change in the Treasure Valley we all love the fairly consistent cool evenings and mornings with the nice warm days. It's part of what we all love about Idaho.

The only problem is that the inside of your house does not mimic these temperatures at all, unless you have a vintage home with poor insulation. We all know that our homes will stay pretty much warm unless you run that air conditioner. Which these days cost much more than it ever has.

This is the time of year when having a whole house fan will make all the difference in the world. We have all tried the box fan in the window and it may work pretty good for one room but it just does not compare to a whole house fan.

At bedtime if the outdoor temperature is less than the indoor we shut off the air conditioner and open a few windows with the whole house fan running and it cools down the house in just a few minutes at a fraction of the cost to run the air conditioning system.

In the mornings we almost always run the fan with the windows open for a couple of hours to pre-cool our home and it works great, freshens the air in the house and the best part is that when we do run the fan and shut it off before the outside temperature starts to rise the air conditioning system does not need to run for better than half the day on most days. In comparison on those days when we do not run our fan the air conditioning system begins to cycle as early as nine in the morning.

While the whole house fan does have it's limitations, such as it not being a good idea to run it when the humidity is high, it has many other advantages as well. We have all burned toast or worse yet the dreaded popcorn in the microwave... Well, nothing works better at getting that out of your house fast than the whole house fan. One last advantage is that they also pre-cool your attic space as well which just adds to the energy savings you will gain.

The best part is that whole house fans are relatively inexpensive, they are usually very simple fans that are installed in the ceiling so that they blow their air into the attic space of your home pulling the cool air from outside to cool down your house and your attic at the same time. They are sized to move a whole bunch of air all at once and can come with either two or three speeds or there are even variable speed models.

So if you are looking for ways to save money on your utility bill or maybe you just want to reduce your carbon footprint, this is a great way of getting several benefits from one simple measure.