Heat and Cooling Tips
Lodi Services Heat and Cooling is happy to provide its guests with these time (and money) saving tips. Not only will these tips extend the life of your equipment, but can help reduce energy costs and give you a more comfortable home or office.
Cooling Tips
Do you have air-conditioning? This sounds silly, but many new homeowners see that they have a cooling switch on their thermostats and assume they have air-conditioning. Check outside. Is there an air-conditioner?
Check the settings on your thermostat. If you want cooling, make sure the temperature control selector is set below room temperature and the SYSTEM switch is on the COOL or AUTO position. The FAN switch should be set at ON for continuous blower operation or AUTO if you want the blower to function only while the unit is operating.
Is your furnace plugged in or is the power switch turned on? The air-conditioner needs the furnace to circulate the air.
Is the air-conditioning disconnect or breaker turned on? If you know how to check the fuses, see if there are any blown. If you do not know how to check the fuses, call Lodi Services Heat & Cooling (209) 368-COOL (2665) .
Is the furnace filter clean? Is the furnace door properly closed? Newer furnaces have a switch that needs to be depressed by properly closing the blower door completely before the blower will come on.
Are the air registers open?
Is the condensing unit running? (The condensing unit is the outside portion of the air-conditioner.)
Is the condenser coil clean? If not, read the instructions that came with your air-conditioner on how to clean the coil, or contact Lodi Services Heat & Cooling (209) 368-COOL (2665) . DANGER: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CLEAN THE CONDENSER WITHOUT TURNING OFF THE POWER.
Is there ice on the pipes at the evaporator coil (the indoor portion of the air-conditioner)? If there is, turn off the unit and call a technician. WARNING: DO NOT SET THE THERMOSTAT BELOW 68 DEGREES. THIS CAN CAUSE A MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS WITH YOUR AIR-CONDITIONER, INCLUDING FREEZING UP.
Air-conditioners are designed for about a 20 degree temperature differential. When it is 105 degrees outside, be happy if it is 85 degrees in your house. Don't wait until the house is un-bearably warm before starting the system, the unit may run well into the night to cool down the house.
You should have your Air conditioner maintained annually by a qualified service technician. The best way to do that is with one of our Planned Service Agreements.
You should change or wash your filters on a regular schedule. We recommend at least twice a year depending on the activity in your home. More often is better, once a month would be a maximum. This is far more important in air-conditioning than in heating.
Keep the condensing unit unobstructed to allow ample air-flow around the unit. (Cut down those bushes and other vegetation at least 12 inches back from the air-conditioner. Do not build sheds or roofs over the air-conditioner.
If you have small children or pets, build an open fence around the air-conditioning unit with a gate for service accessibility.
If you have pine trees or oak trees near the air-conditioner, you may want to place something over the air-conditioner in the winter season. Do not cover the air-conditioner completely. Warning: IF YOU DO PLACE SOMETHING OVER THE AIR-CONDITIONER, MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE IT BEFORE TURNING THE AIR-CONDITIONER ON.
Coils should be cleaned in order to preserve the efficiency of the unit.
Heating Tips
If you want heat, make sure the temperature control selector is set above room temperature and the SYSTEM switch is at HEAT or AUTO. The FAN switch should be set at ON for continuous blower operation or AUTO if you want the blower to function only while the unit is operating.
Check disconnect switches (indoor and outdoor if you have a split system). Make sure that circuit breakers are ON or that fuses have not blown. Is the furnace plugged in? Is the power to the furnace turned on?
Is there a power outage? Your furnace probably won’t work until power is restored.
Is the furnace door properly closed? Newer furnaces have a switch that needs to be depressed by properly closing the blower door completely before the blower will come on.
Is the gas turned on? If your have LP gas maybe your tank is low on gas and needs refilled.
If you don't have an automatic pilot lighter, is the pilot lit? Generally furnaces prior to 1986 do not have automatic pilot lighters.
If you have an automatic ignition system, the furnace may lock-out if it has a problem. On most furnaces you can unlock the ignition by turning off the power to the furnace or turning the thermostat to the off position for a few seconds and then back on again. You should call for a qualified service technician even if the furnace comes on so the source of the trouble that caused the lock-out can be found.
Is your filter clean? If there is too much air resistance, the furnace can trip out on a high temperature limit. Also check that the supply-air and return-air grilles are open and unobstructed.
Are all of your registers open?
You should have your furnace maintained annually by a qualified service technician.
You should change or wash your filters on a regular schedule. We recommend at least twice a year depending on the activity in your home. More often is better, once a month would be a maximum.
Keep the area around your furnace clean and unobstructed. Most gas and oil furnaces need combustion air to operate properly. These type of furnaces need access to air, preferably fresh air.
Keep the burner area of your furnace clean. If the flame on a gas furnace burns yellow, then the burners need cleaned. A yellow flame means incomplete combustion is taking place. Carbon monoxide is one byproduct of incomplete combustion. Carbon monoxide can be deadly in high enough concentrations.
Furnaces that require lubrication on the motors and bearings should be attended to by a qualified heating technician once a year.
Do not have anything combustible within six inches of your vent pipe.
Do not close off more than 20% of the registers in your house. This can cause high resistance and unnecessary heat build up in the furnace.
Do not store combustible material such as paint thinners, gasoline, etc. near your furnace.