HVAC Repair and Maintenance Services in Airway Heights, WA

Don’t delay when you need an air conditioner or heater repair. If you smell gas, send everyone out of your home and call your gas provider’s emergency telephone number immediately. If your air conditioner won’t cool, makes odd noises, or freezes up, turn your thermostat to “off” and call Northwest Heating and Cooling without delay. Running your A/C system when it isn’t working properly can turn a small repair into a much larger one.

For your health, comfort, and financial well-being, change or clean your air conditioning filters regularly per the manufacturers’ specifications. Depending on your equipment, the type of air filters you use, and the quality of the air being filtered, air filters need to be changed (or cleaned) somewhere between twice a month to once per year. On the disposable air filters, changing them once per month when you pay your utility bill is a good way to remember. Never run your heating and air conditioning system without the correct air filter in place. The correct filter will be the correct size in length, width, and thickness, plus allow the amount of air required by your equipment to pass through.

Have your air ducts checked periodically for leaks. Leaking ducts cause more than 20% of the losses of heating and cooling, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. If you are on a maintenance program with your air conditioning and heating company, leak detection could be included. If air ducts are located in a hot or cold space such as an attic, have the outside of the ducts insulated to reduce heat loss. Having leaky ducts saves wear and tear on both your heating and cooling equipment and lowers your monthly bills.

When you have work done on your system, ask about an electronic programmable thermostat – The timer function saves unnecessary wear on your heating and cooling system plus saves energy. Thermostats that cover both cooling and heating can deliver more comfort and lower bills year around.

As A/C and heating systems get older, they usually require more service calls. Since your system works hardest during periods of extreme heat or cold, when it does develop a problem, it is more likely to occur on a day you need cooling or heating the most.

Annual maintenance agreements are often a good value in air conditioning and heating. Why? (a) Maintenance agreement costs are mostly for labor. Without regular maintenance, you are more likely to later pay for labor and parts in repairs. (b) Maintenance helps prevent unplanned, inconvenient repairs, which are more likely to be needed during the first hot or cold days of the season. (c) Maintenance includes cleaning and adjustments that cause your HVAC system to run more efficiently. This lowers your monthly cooling and heating energy costs. (d) Maintenance will help prevent related damage such as A/C drain line or pan water leaks through your ceiling or dangerous carbon monoxide gas-producing malfunctions within your heating system.

A well-maintained air conditioning and heating system can last up to 20 or 25 years, however… Due to improvements in energy efficiency, if your A/C system is more than 10 years old, it often makes sense to replace your old system before it quits or repair frequency increases. Some components in the heating system can last even longer. Much of the time, you are better off if you can afford to replace both the A/C and heating components together.

Repair vs. replacement on an older air conditioning and heating system. If you are “on the fence” in your decision to repair or replace your HVAC system, you can ask Northwest Heating and Cooling if they can send a technician(s) who can both repair the system and give a price quote for a new one. If you do this, the company will refund the service call or trip charge on the repair if you buy a new system from them soon after.

When negotiating a contract to buy a previously owned home you may need Northwest Heating and Cooling to evaluate the status of the air conditioning and heating system. Since you do not yet own the home, this creates some special circumstances. To get the information you need and keep your options open, you can request a combination repair and replacement estimate.

Take a “whole house” approach to heating and air-conditioning your home or business. Energy conservation measures cause your heating and A/C system to work less while keeping you comfortable. Be sure to consider energy conservation improvements whenever you review your heating and A/C needs. Northwest Heating and Cooling can do all the related work or work closely with an energy conservation company. You might be able to get local rebates or federal tax credits on energy conservation improvements.

While there are many variables in any particular home or building, the main decision points regarding repair or replacement of your air conditioning and heating system are not difficult concepts.

One of the most direct points to consider regarding replacement of your HVAC system is simply its age. Do you have a system that is more than 10 years old? Even if it still runs dependably, you still might be better off with a new one. The physical life of HVAC equipment, similar to personal computers, can often be longer than its economic life. If they have been well maintained, the air conditioning components can last up to about 20 years and the gas furnace even up to 25, but issues of economic obsolescence apply. Plus, older heat exchangers are more likely to develop cracks or rust holes that could cause carbon monoxide gas to enter your indoor space. In some municipal conservation and incentive programs we found around the country, 10 years was the age at which systems become eligible for replacement incentives, whether they run well or not. When weighing the costs and benefits of repairing or replacing older equipment with more efficient HVAC equipment, keep the following points in mind. (1) Fuel costs tend to go up more than down over the long run, and (2) The monthly savings continue after you reach the “break even” or “pay back” period on the new equipment.

Due to the fact that the furnace and heating equipment can last up to 50% longer than the major air conditioning components, the decision comes up frequently. We covered some of the questions in our introduction, and here are a few others main points:

• Matching the compatibility of the air conditioning and heating equipment must be considered. They share some equipment, such as the blower.
• Field (on-site) matching of new and old components compared with manufacturer certified matching of new components can be done, but is not likely the best investment.
• Two major determinants of your long-term satisfaction with HVAC equipment will always be the quality of the original load calculations and the installation followed up with regularly scheduled maintenance.
• If you don’t replace all the equipment, you may not be entitled to the same rebates, tax credits, or other financial incentives you would otherwise.
• The upshot: although field matching of new and old heating and cooling equipment can sometimes be done by experienced contractors, the downside in less reliability, comfort and potential rebates makes it not likely worth the modest savings.
  When you consider that the new equipment would have a higher efficiency rating and a manufacturer’s warranty, the advantages become even clearer.

Due to rising energy and labor costs plus environment concerns, replacing marginal systems often makes sense. However, there are some scenarios where you might choose to repair an aging air conditioning system. Examples:

• The home or business structure is near the end of its structural or economic life and may be removed in the near future.
• The home or business structure “envelope” is inefficient for energy use to the degree that it requires repair before you can justify installing new higher efficiency equipment. In this case it probably makes more sense to seal the structure before or at the same time as the installation of the new air conditioning and heating system.
• Cash or reasonably affordable financing for new equipment or efficiency improvements to the structure are simply not available (now or after a refinance).
• You are planning to move from the home or business relatively soon, and you believe the next owner or occupant will make significant structural changes (addition of a second floor, raising the ceilings, etc.). In this case the value of the installation would be discounted by the new owner or occupant.
• An upcoming change in available equipment or incentives that are not currently available. Examples: breakthrough feature soon to be available on new equipment, new city utility rebate program, etc.

As fuel costs go up, are electricity and gas bills from cooling and heating straining your monthly budget? As energy supplies dwindle and production costs and demand rise, the cost of electricity and gas are bound to go up per unit. For the individual, a predictable path to managing cooling and heating costs is to use fewer units of energy each month. New air conditioning and heating equipment is steadily getting more efficient. Also, when you have new equipment installed, your ductwork, which likely is leaking into your attic, should be sealed or perhaps replaced, depending on its condition and where it was originally routed. When you combine the efficiency of a new air conditioning and heating system (using up to 50 percent less electricity or fuel) with the replacement or sealing of leaky ductwork (saving up to 27% percent, depending on the condition), you can save a substantial percent on the monthly electricity and gas costs of cooling and heating your home or business.

Repair Costs
Money spent on repairs of an aging HVAC system could instead be going toward a new, more efficient unit. Get a total on your repair bills for the past 2 or so years. What % of the cost of a new system have you spent already? Did you replace any major components, such as the compressor, evaporator or condenser coils, or the heat exchanger? Do you believe upcoming repair costs will go up, stay the same, or go down in the near future? At the rate you are likely to spend, how many years would it take to pay for an entirely new system with its additional benefits?

Rebates, tax incentives, and low or no interest loans
To take advantage of rebates, tax credits, and special financing offers from manufacturers, you will likely need to purchase new air conditioning and heating equipment. Financial incentives are generally not offered on equipment repair.
The payback period for new air conditioning and heating equipment .Since variables such as the costs of electricity and fuel (thus the value of related potential savings on a new system) and the cost repairs you would have to do (if you repair and keep your old system) must be included, payback periods will always be an estimate. When comparing the costs of repair to replacement you will likely want to compare the payback for new equipment at several levels of efficiency, such as 14,15,17 SEER on the A/C side and an equivalent efficiency range for heating. The factors that go into the worksheet HVAC contractors use to calculate these estimates are numerous and fairly complicated. Since you don’t need this estimate often, it is not likely something you would likely want to spend a lot of time researching. The best way to get this an estimate of pay back period is from Northwest Heating and Cooling or your local utility. Since Northwest Heating and Cooling would need to see your home or building to give a price quote on a new system, they can plug in all the payback period numbers for you at that time.

Here’s an essential point to remember: The monthly savings on utilities and fewer repairs and the extra comfort go on after you reach the pay period on a new system. Like investments in the financial world, when you replace an aging air conditioning and heating system, there is a return of investment (pay back period) and a return on your investment in the months and years afterwards.

Do you have unplanned hot spots in your home in the summer and cold ones during the winter months? Does your “monster” oversize A/C turn on and off quickly, but leave the air in your rooms feeling damp? Your new system will deliver more comfort to your home or business. Why? A HVAC system with too much capacity cycles on and off too quickly, which doesn’t allow time to adequately “condition” the air. This causes an overly humid, clammy indoor environment instead of a comfortable cool. Also, if your system was undersized (or has leaking ducts) it will often not heat or cool adequately overall or perhaps in certain areas.

New equipment would be more reliable
Equipment breakdowns tend to occur during the time of heaviest usage—on the hottest or coldest days when you need air conditioning or heating the most. It is better to plan ahead in an orderly way than to have to compete with a multitude of other cold or hot local folks when they are competing for service from your HVAC contractor.

New equipment runs quieter
Both the outside components and indoor air handlers have gotten quieter in the past few years. With quieter new equipment, you can enjoy the inside areas nearest your air handler and your deck, back, or side yard more.

Easier on our environment
If the payback period from a financial point of view will take longer than you expected, consider this: diverting your monthly spending from higher energy and repair costs to new equipment helps save fossil fuels and slow CO2 emissions. Though difficult to place a specific dollar amount upon, it makes sense to consider this benefit.

The incomplete combustion of carbon containing fuels, such as natural gas, propane, coal, and gasoline produces carbon monoxide gas. The chemical symbol for carbon monoxide is CO. Incomplete combustion occurs when there is not enough oxygen for the carbon to burn completely. The physical properties of carbon monoxide are as follows: odorless, colorless, highly toxic gas.

As combustion appliances age, their components can wear, go out of adjustment, or stop working. When a gas burning furnace, stove, water heater, gas dryer, etc. is not working correctly, or during a fire, carbon monoxide can accumulate in your home or building. In addition to the primary burner for the appliance, the pilot lights and vents can also be the source of CO. Carbon monoxide can also migrate to your home or building from a home or other sources near you. If any of these were to happen, the results can be very serious or fatal. What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning?

The symptoms of carbon vary with the concentration of carbon monoxide, the length of exposure, and other physical and physiological factors. Carbon monoxide affects the body in a number of ways, primarily by limiting the ability of the red blood cells to absorb and transport vital oxygen. Some of the symptoms are dizziness, headache, nausea, weak pulse, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, confusion, tightness of chest, respiratory failure, convulsions and death.

Make sure you get expert service or advice on this topic. Ideally, the expert or certified technician that provides this service for you will do so based on observations made on site, including: the layout and construction of your home and the location of fuel burning appliances within and near it.

Generally, these alarms detect carbon monoxide and give an audible (sound) alarm so you can leave the building immediately. A less common type of detector gives visual indicators that change colors, etc. in the presence of carbon monoxide. One way to categorize carbon monoxide alarms is by their power source. The choices vary from battery powered to wall outlet plug-in models to models that are hard wired. There are also models that use plug in or wired electricity as their primary power source and have a battery backup.

Two ways. (1) Have your furnace, water heater, stove and other fuel burning appliances and their vents tested, and if needed, adjusted on a regular basis by a certified technician. A convenient time to have these performed is in conjunction with your air conditioning and heating system annual maintenance. (2) Have carbon monoxide detectors professionally installed and make sure they are checked periodically per the owner’s manual.

The main two points regarding carbon monoxide in homes:

Carbon monoxide alarms must be placed in the correct places in your home or building and must be working properly for the circumstances there.

Get expert service and advice to make sure your home or building stays protected.
What is my next step?

Since you should have your air conditioning and heating system inspected and maintained yearly, this provides an ideal time to test your furnace for proper operation. Typically this includes a spring tune up for the air conditioning and a fall tuning of the central heating system furnace.