Summer is almost officially here, although you may already be thinking that you want your house a little cooler than it is. We’ve been discussing the issue of poor air flow in a house, with hot or cold spots, or just a general feeling that the temperature isn’t comfortable all over the house. Here’s a summary of what we’ve presented:
We’re going to wrap up this series today with our last topic on how to improve air flow of your central heating and cooling system to circulate the conditioned air properly.
Check your HVAC system
We don’t want to sound like a broken record, but maintenance of your heating and AC units is not a luxury. Proper maintenance is essential to have your system running correctly and efficiently. Neglecting the maintenance and upkeep of your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner will lead to problems in the long run. But even short term it can have negative effects and one of them is lack of proper air flow.
Although we highly recommend that a professional heating and cooling service company perform a regular system tune-up and check, there are some things you can inspect yourself to have an idea of how your system is running. If you have any doubts or concerns then call your favorite service company. GAMA Air has many satisfied customers in and around Beverly Hills, Culver City, Mar Vista, Miracle Mile, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Bel Air, Westwood, Downtown Los Angeles, Vernon, Huntington Park, Sherman Oaks, Encino. If you want to be one of them, give us a call at (310) 651-6936, or use our online form to schedule a tune-up and safety check.
So what should you look for? There are quite a few details related to inspecting your home’s air conditioning system. So, we’re going to keep it in the context of this blog post, namely the things that can adversely affect air flow in the home.
Go to your indoor unit. If you have a heat pump, then this will be a Fan Coil unit where the refrigerant lines connect from the air conditioner condenser outside you house. If you have a furnace heating system, then on the furnace will be a box that houses the coil where the refrigerant lines connect from the air conditioner condenser outside you house. Or you may only have an Air Handler with an indoor coil connected to the AC unit. At any rate, this is a key component in the system and is directly related to the air flow. In this unit is a fan or blower that moves air throughout the entire heating and cooling system of the house. One end of the indoor unit has air being pulled into it, then the air passes through a coil (like a radiator on a car) and then the air is pushed out the other end into ductwork that distributes the air throughout your home.
You likely have already checked the air filter, which is probably installed very close to the indoor unit. So now, after you disconnect the circuit breaker or power switch that feeds the unit, open up the cabinet that covers the blower motor. If this is your first time looking at a fan blower unit, you may be surprised that there are no traditional fan blades, like you might see on a ceiling fan, a floor fan, or even the fan blades that are on the top of the air conditioner located outside your house. What you will see looks more like a running wheel in a hamster cage. But that is the fan that moves air throughout your home. Look for debris that may have gotten pulled into the system and trapped in the blower cage. Also, inspect the fins on the blower cage. Do they have a buildup of dust or grime? Any debris or dirt on the blower cage will reduce the air flow through the indoor unit, and thus reduce air flow throughout the house.
Next open the cabinet that covers the indoor coil, which is also called an evaporator coil if you have a standard AC and furnace heating system. This coil should be as clean as a whistle to have proper air flow throughout your home. If it has any debris stuck to it, or it appears dirty, then we suggest calling a professional heating and AC company to clean it. The fins of the coil are extremely delicate, and although it is not impossible for an experienced and cautious do-it-yourselfer to clean their own indoor coil, a slight mis-step could cause damage that is permanent or at the very least expensive to repair. Either way, inspecting it yourself will give you peace of mind knowing what is going on in your system.
Your satisfaction is the success of our business, which is why we provide a 100% satisfaction guarantee for all the work we do. If you have a question that is nagging you and want a quick answer, visit our “Ask an Expert” page, fill out the form and our resident HVAC expert will get back to you on the double.