Frozen A/C Unit: How to Safely Defrost Your Equipment

Running your air conditioner with a frozen component can seriously damage your system, but that doesn't mean you always have to wait for a technician to come and defrost your frozen A/C unit.

Start with a Gentle Approach

The safest way to defrost your air conditioner is to let nature take care of the ice. Turn off your system from the control panel, then shut off power to the system at the breaker in your home's electrical panel. Then just wait and let the ice thaw. Don't try to pry the ice off with your hands or a sharp object. You'll risk damaging the components or worse, injuring yourself.Depending on how much ice there is, it could take up to 24 hours to melt. Periodically check for standing water that might have pooled under your indoor evaporator coil and mop up any you find. If there's a lot of ice, put down some towels.

Try a Little Heat

If just a little ice has formed on your evaporator coil, you can defrost it faster using a hair dryer turned on to the lowest setting. Hold the hair dryer at least 12 inches from the coil. Too much heat can crack an evaporator coil, so use caution if you decide to go this route.After all the ice has melted, dry the system out by turning it on to "fan only" mode. This circulates air that will dry up any lingering moisture.Before you turn the system on again, though, take steps to correct the problem that caused your frozen A/C unit in the first place. That might mean replacing a dirty air filter, cleaning the evaporator coil or removing debris from the outdoor unit.If your air conditioner keeps freezing even though you're sure the components are clean, the problem could be due to a more serious issue such as a refrigerant leak or mechanical malfunction. In this case, call a technician.If you could use some help defrosting your frozen A/C unit, contact us at Air Assurance anywhere around Broken Arrow.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about air conditioners and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Reasons Your Heating System May Not Keep Your Home Warm

You might be shivering inside your home because of a problem with the heating system, or it could be your home itself. Any one or several of these problems could be contributing to cold temperatures indoors.

Check the Furnace

• Look for signs of ductwork leaks. Dusty areas around the registers or nearby walls or rooms that are colder than others often indicate ductwork problems. A segment of the ducts might be obstructed, blocking the airflow. If you can access them, look for ductwork damage, tears, or detached segments.

• Check the thermostat. The thermostat may not turn the furnace on when needed, or shut it off before it reaches its target temperature. Its batteries could be dead, or the thermostat needs replacing.

• The furnace needs repair. Furnaces use safety switches that will turn them off when they are overheating or malfunctioning. There could be a problem with the ignition system, or the blower motor.

An HVAC technician can diagnose and fix the heating system problems, whether they’re associated with the ducts or the furnace itself.

Look Over Your Home

• The lack of insulation and air leaks in the home’s envelope might be responsible for the cool indoor temperatures. Over time, insulation can disintegrate and air leaks form. Damp or compressed insulation loses its ability to slow heat loss.Builders often use caulk to seal around exterior door and window frames. Over time, caulk shrinks and dries out, losing its effectiveness. You may need to reapply it, or replace old door weatherstripping.

• Windows might be the culprit. As your home settles, the windows may not fit as tightly in their frames. For the best protection against drafts, lock each window. You can also put draft blockers at the base of windows to block cold air.If new windows aren’t in your plans, install clear plastic window sealing kits, available online or at home improvement centers.

Whether it’s problems with your home or the heating system, an HVAC contractor can help you find the issues and promptly fix them. To learn more, contact Air Assurance, providing HVAC services for Broken Arrow homeowners.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heating system and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Winter HVAC Concerns and How to Avoid Them

While summer HVAC issues typically involve the air conditioner, here in northeastern Oklahoma winter HVAC concerns usually center on the heating system.A gas-fired furnace imposes different issues with very different symptoms and solutions. With the exception of certain simple airflow problems, troubleshooting and repair of the furnace should be left to a qualified heating service technician for safety reasons. However, becoming familiar with these common winter HVAC concerns can help you recognize the problem early on and call in professional help quickly.

Chilly Rooms

If certain rooms seem to defy warming up to a comfortable temperature, the suspect is usually airflow. First, the no-brainer: Make sure the HVAC supply and return vents in all rooms are open and unobstructed. Then, check out the system air filter. If it’s dirty or dusty replace it now and continue to replace it every other month. If inconsistent temperatures persist, you’ll need professional HVAC service to check blower output and inspect ductwork for excessive leakage or disconnected segments.

Short Cycles

If a furnace turns on and back off again rapidly, it won’t generate heat long enough to maintain proper room temperatures. “Short cycling” can be caused by furnace internal overheating that trips a safety switch which shuts down the unit. A defective flame sensor can also turn the furnace off prematurely. A furnace with BTU capacity that wasn’t properly sized to the heating load of the home is another suspect: over-sized furnaces typically cycle on and off too rapidly, causing erratic temperature swings. All these and other possibilities require professional diagnosis and repair by a qualified technician.

Carbon Monoxide

About 300 people die from it yearly and thousands require hospitalization. Carbon monoxide gas (CO) is a byproduct of gas furnace combustion. The furnace heat exchanger is the critical component that prevents CO gas from entering your home. Inspection of the heat exchanger as part of annual preventive maintenance by a qualified HVAC contractor is an essential safety precaution that should be performed every winter.

For professional service to address all winter HVAC concerns, in Tulsa and Broken Arrow contact Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about winter HVAC concerns and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Tackling Cold and Flu Season With Your HVAC

Cold and flu season always coincides with winter, when you're running your HVAC system to keep your home toasty warm. Since the HVAC is operating anyway, why not use it to create a healthier winter living environment? By making some targeted system upgrades, you can tackle the contagions responsible for the flu, colds and other such illnesses. Here are four kinds of HVAC upgrades to consider:

1. Whole-Home Humidifier

It's been proven that the viruses and bacteria sent airborne with a sneeze or cough stay suspended longer when the air doesn't contain much moisture. This means that low humidity directly affects the spread of germs inside your home and increases your likelihood of coming down with common winter illnesses. Having a whole-home humidifier installed on the HVAC system can reduce your family's risk of exposure by adding much-needed moisture to the air.

2. Ultraviolet Light

Ultraviolet (UV) light is used to eradicate bacteria and viruses in many different settings, and it can help sanitize your home's air supply too. An HVAC technician can install a germicidal UV lamp on your heating system's air handler to zap contagions so they don't get recirculated every time the blower fan cycles on.

3. Energy Recovery Ventilator

Controlled ventilation is a great way to exchange stale, unhealthy indoor air with fresher air from outdoors. An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) can do this effectively, and because it also exchanges heat and moisture between the airflow streams, it conserves energy and helps maintain vital humidity as well.

4. Air Purifier

If your HVAC system has standard filtering capabilities, it can only trap larger particles to protect sensitive components from potential damage. Having your HVAC pro install an air purifier on the heating system can boost its air cleaning capabilities, so it tackles illness-inducing viruses and bacteria and improves your indoor air quality. The most effective of these devices can eliminate up to 99.7 percent of microscopic bio-contaminants down to 0.3 microns in size.

To learn more about HVAC system upgrades to combat cold and flu season in your Broken Arrow home, contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about TOPIC and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

How Low Humidity in Your Home Affects Your Health

When winter arrives and you need to run the heating system to stay warm and comfortable, the humidity in your indoor air can drop too low. This occurs because cold winter air doesn't hold moisture very well, and heating it makes the problem even worse. Excessively low humidity in your home can cause various health-related problems, such as:

• Dry eyes. The eyes produce tears to lubricate and flush out contaminants and irritants. In dry-air conditions, this vital liquid dries up too, which makes it easier for the eyes to become irritated or worse, infected.

• Respiratory issues. When you breathe air containing too little moisture, mucus membranes lining the respiratory and nasal passages dry out. This can cause sore throats, nose bleeds, chest congestion and coughing, and worsen conditions like allergies, asthma, COPD and chronic bronchitis.

• Dry skin. A lack of humidity also draws moisture out of the skin, leaving it uncomfortably itchy and scaly. Dry skin can also start to crack, which makes it more vulnerable to bacterial infections.

• Increased risk of illness. Certain bacteria and viruses thrive when the air is dry, which increases the likelihood of contracting the flu, colds and respiratory infections.

Solutions to Improve Low Humidity

Indoor humidity in the 30 to 50 percent range is ideal to prevent health problems related to dry air. Here are two reliable methods for boosting your indoor humidity levels:

• Room-size humidifiers. These plug-in units can hold one to several gallons of water. They're best used in a child's room or other bedroom to improve dry conditions and make sleeping more comfortable.

• Whole-home humidifiers. These house-size units are installed on the HVAC air handler and plumbed into the water supply so they fill automatically. They also have a humidistat control that can be placed in a spot where it's easy and convenient to adjust the setting. This ensures that an optimal amount of moisture gets added to the warm air coming from the furnace, so it's humidified before being distributed through the ducts.

For expert help solving low humidity problems in your Broken Arrow home, contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor humidity and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Watch Out for Ice Dams

With winter taking hold in Northeast Oklahoma, beware of ice dams on your home's roof when it snows and temperatures drop below freezing for extended periods. An ice dam forming on the roof can result in water damage to roofing, walls and attic, along with household belongings.

What is an Ice Dam?

While relatively uncommon in Oklahoma, which doesn't get as much snow or extended freezing as states to the north, ice dams can happen here. They usually result when roof temperatures are not consistent. When snow falls on the higher part of the roof, it melts and begins draining down toward the eaves. Often, those lower sections are colder, since there's less attic space underneath to warm up the roof.This re-freezes the melted snow, which builds into a ridge of ice near the edge of the roof. Snow melt accumulates behind the so-called "ice dam," and eventually finds its way through the shingles and roof. This can wreak havoc on roofing, walls and attic fixtures, as well as personal items in the attic.

How to Avoid Ice Dams

The main goal is to prevent heat from transferring through the roof and causing the snow to melt. Effective air sealing, insulation and ventilation all can accomplish this goal. It's important to insulate and seal air leaks in the roof, of course, but also in the floor between the attic and the home's lower levels, along with the attic hatch or door. This will help keep heat in your living spaces, enhancing comfort, saving energy and easing the workload of your heating system. A well-ventilated attic also will help prevent heat buildup.You'll also want to make sure that air ducts aren't leaking warm air into the attic.If you take these steps to prevent ice dams, you will reap a bonus in the summer as well. A properly sealed, insulated and ventilated attic helps with household cooling, preventing the attic from over-heating and transferring that heat downward.

For more advice on how to prevent ice dams in your Broken Arrow-area home, please contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about ice dams and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “qimono/Pixabay”