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Life in 2019 is busy. Homeowners have families, careers, education, health, and many other things to worry about. As a result, not everyone has time to sit down and learn about the function of all their home devices! Still, however, the need to know your HVAC system is extremely important. Knowing the basics could end up saving you plenty on repairs, and replacements, and protecting you from dishonest handymen. This is why we’ve put together, in one blog post, the very basic concepts of HVAC. Refer to this post anytime you need clarity on something about your HVAC system.

What does HVAC even stand for?

HVAC is an acronym for Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning. It is an easy term that includes more than just heating and cooling, but also your ductwork and vents around the house. At Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical, we handle all three of these.

Common Terms to Remember

These are some terms that might be thrown around while talking with an A/C technician. Knowing these terms will help you know exactly what is best in any repair or replacement process. It will also help you maintain your unit.

  • Two-Stage Cooling – This is a type of cooling stage for your air conditioning unit. Two-stage cooling is the pattern of running the air low on cooler temperature days and running it more on hotter days. If you have two compressors in your unit, this can be done rather easily. This will result in money and energy savings.
  • Variable Speed Cooling – This is an AC with varying compressors that result in a higher performance cooling while keeping costs low. This performs much better than single-stage cooling.
  • Modulating Heat- A high-efficiency gas furnace with modulating gas valve and variable-speed blower provides outstanding efficiency and economical heating performance. This is also a system that will help you save on energy and money.
  • AFUE is an acronym for ‘Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. This is how a furnace is rated.
  • AC Tune-Up- This is a service performed by Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical as well as other HVAC services companies. This will ensure that your unit is running at top-notch efficiency all year long. We suggest having this done annually.

The Components of an HVAC System

These are the parts that make up your HVAC System. These may be crucial to know for the future.

  • Furnace- This is the biggest part of the HVAC system. It is usually located in the basement or first level of your home. It reaches into vents so heat can get everywhere in the house.
  • Evaporator Coil- It is located on the air conditioning unit and connects the refrigerant with the unit itself. Refrigerant is used for cooling.
  • Thermostat- This is an easy one. The thermostat is the control panel in your home for the A/C unit.
  • Condensing Unit- is the evaporator coil, but for an outside unit.
  • Refrigerant Tubes- These connect the evaporator coil and condensing unit to the actual A/C Unit.
  • Ductwork- The air ducts that move through your home to deliver the conditioned air.
  • Vents- The devices that allow the air to get into each room
  • Heat Pump- This device takes warm air out of the house in the summer and puts warm air in the house in the winter months.

    • Proper Maintenance

    This question is a little broad for someone who is a beginner, but we’ll go over some very basic things you can do to maintain your HVAC system.

    1. Change your air filter- By changing the air filter in your home, you’ll easily help the unit run more efficiently. Also, you’ll live more comfortably with fresher and cooler air coming into your home.
    2. Clean the unit- When you wipe off the blades of the unit and make sure any rocks or other debris are clear, you could be saving yourself a ton of money on the repair.
    3. Get an A/C Tune up- Call Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical.

    Different Types of HVAC Systems

    Another important thing to know about your system is which type of system is in your home. There are 4 different types of HVAC systems:

    • Forced Air Systems- depending on whether or not you’re using warm or cool air, this system forces that air to move through the ducts with a blower. This cool and warm air are sent in two separate ducts.
    • Gravity Systems- As you probably know, warm air sinks and cool air rises. Gravity HVAC Systems rely on this fact to air condition the home.

    Call Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical

    Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical can help you with all the HVAC repairs or replacements you might need. We train our technicians to provide top notch precise repairs while giving the utmost care to our customers. Give us a call to schedule an appointment today! (623) 201-5066

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