Siggs Air Conditioning, Inc.

Yearly maintenance agreements can be more beneficial than most people think. Would you ignore changing the oil/filters in your car? Then why ignore the maintenance on your AC? Here are two simple but common issues:

1. Something as easy as changing filters can have drastic consequences if not performed regularly - the unit will not get proper air flow across the coils with a dirty filter in front of them, which makes your unit less efficient and damages the coils, costing on average $1,500 to replace!!

2. Clogged drain lines can cause mildew, mold, and algae growth, and can damage your unit as water backs up inside. Excessive water build up will cause safety switches to be activated and accordingly turn off the cooling part of your unit, requiring a thorough cleaning and draining of the system.

These issues and many others can easily be avoided by proper and regular service of your units, both the air handler and condensing unit. Repairs are always more costly than preventative maintenance!

While a "$15 or no cost service calls" seem like a great deal, beware of the service you will actually receive. Many companies may use a cheaper starting cost as a chance to get into your home and practically scare you into excessive purchases to cover costs.

Having a qualified, well trained technician that is fully prepared and in a stocked truck come to your house and perform a quality, worthwhile service call is more valuable than the cheap service call that can cost you in the long run. A typical service call totals around 1-2hours of travel time, service time, and invoice time and should not be completed hastily or without checking items such as indoor and outdoor A/C units, thermostats, various pressure levels, supply and return ducts, and filters. Remember, a true service professional has the proper education, experience, equipment, a decent wage including benefits, insurance, and overhead costs that all raise the cost of a personal at-home visit.

A cheap service call might be worth the initial small investment, but can lead to much higher costs in the long run, along with lower quality work. Contractors have actually been documented on news shows causing damage to properly operating systems in order to bully customers into additional purchases.

Request a contractor's license information, operating history, and technician's qualifications along with talking with friends/family or people in the area about the company to ensure you are getting quality service.

FALSE!!

This is one of the biggest misconceptions people have about their air conditioning system. Just because you set your thermostat to 65°F does not mean that your system will blow 65°F air!

Setting the thermostat to a low temperature will not make it get colder faster. Your system will run until it gets the indoor air temperature down to the system set point, which can take quite a while if it is set too low!

The system will produce air that is approximately 15-20°F below the return air entering temperature. For example, if your thermostat set point is 76°F, the blowing air temperature out of your vents will ideally be around 56-61°F.

Several factors affect the unit's ability to cool to the thermostat set point, such as system size, air conditioned space size, outside air temperature, and thermal barriers such as windows and insulation. 

During hot seasons, espeially on hot days without cloud cover or rain, many systems will struggle to maintain low temperatures! You can help your system be more efficient with proper maintenance and check-ups.