It takes plenty of energy to power a heating system through winters in the Twin Cities. But don’t underestimate what it costs to run air conditioning in Minneapolis, MN during our summers, which are often hot and have the extra burden of humidity from all our lakes.
How much does it cost to run an air conditioning system? You might have some idea based on changes in your electric bills when summer starts up, but today we want to look into the facts about how your AC uses electricity.
In the (relatively) short time that ACs have been parts of homes, several myths and misconceptions have risen about them. Some are relatively harmless trivia, but others can have a major impact on comfort and energy use in a home. We want you to know the real deal when it comes to air conditioning in Eden Prairie, MN, and throughout the Twin Cities, so we’ll break down several of the biggest myths about AC systems.
If you listen to your air conditioning system when it’s running, you’ll occasionally hear the sound of water dripping. That’s not because your air conditioner uses water to run. The way it cools the air is with refrigerant, which draws heat from inside the house and then transports it outside. The water is a byproduct of this process—and sometimes it may leak from the AC.
If you see water pooling around the indoor air conditioner, please don’t just mop it up and ignore it. That leaking water is a sign of a problem with the AC that can quickly get worse and lead to the system shutting down, so it’s best to call for us for AC repair in Minneapolis, MN.
Below, we’ll take a look at why water leaks can occur and what they mean.
The most basic way you can help your cooling system run more efficiently and effectively this summer is to arrange with our team for professional air conditioning maintenance in Minneapolis, MN. If you’ve already done that, then you’re off to a good start for summer cooling.
In this post, we’ll explore some of the “next steps” to improve your AC’s performance, efficiency, and reliability through another warm and humid summer. Once we go beyond maintenance, there are many ways to help your air conditioning system work its best.
Spoilers for this post: You probably don’t need more refrigerant! If you do, it’s a repair situation.
We thought we’d get the crucial information out of the way first, because people often have mistaken assumptions about how air conditioners use refrigerant. They might hear from a source that it’s a good idea to get the refrigerant “topped off” before summer rolls around, or that you’ll need to have routine refrigerant refills to ensure the AC doesn’t run out of it.
To which we’ll ask: “When was the last time you needed to have the refrigerant in your refrigerator refilled?” We’ll bet the answer is never—unless the refrigerator was broken.
Well, the refrigerant in an air conditioning system is the same. Unless the AC is leaking refrigerant (in which case call us for air conditioning repair in Eden Prairie, MN), you won’t need to have any additional refrigerant put into it during the system’s service life.
This is a good question to ask, because answering it gives us a chance as HVAC professionals to explain more about what an air conditioner does and doesn’t do. Any air conditioner has limits, and when you understand what those limits are and why they exist, you’ll have an easier time finding the ideal comfort settings during the summer.
We’ll use our expertise at air conditioning in Minneapolis, MN to answer your questions about your AC’s power.
Summer will arrive fast and the air conditioning systems in your home will switch on to perform their valuable service.
It’s a service that costs money, however. The compressor in an air conditioner consumes more electricity than almost any other residential appliance with the exception of an electric water heater. The reason you see your electric bills rise in summer is mostly due to running the AC.
We want to help you save money with your summer cooling, so we’ve put together some basic ways to cut down on what you pay to run your AC. If you need AC repair in Minneapolis, MN, reach out to our team.
An essential part of getting a new air conditioner is finding the right-size unit. We don’t mean the physical size of the air conditioner, but the size of its cooling power and its capacity. You want to ensure you have an air conditioner that’s big enough to cool your house, but which isn’t too big.
“Wait a minute,” you might think. “Why is it a problem if the AC’s too big? Isn’t it better to err on the side of too big rather than too small?”
You’re not the only one who has thought this when getting a new air conditioner. We’ll explain why bigger isn’t necessarily better with an air conditioner. In fact, it can often be a disaster!
In our last post, we talked about the most important way you can prepare your air conditioning before summer: professional air conditioning maintenance.
Although maintenance is essential for an effective and efficient cooling system, you may have to face a larger issue this spring—what if it’s better to replace your entire air conditioning system before the hot weather arrives? No air conditioning system lasts forever, and at some point, you’ll need to make the choice to get a new AC installed, preferably before the AC breaks down on its own and forces you to replace it. You always want to make an upgrade to your cooling system on your schedule, not the ACs!
As experienced professionals when it comes to air conditioning in Minneapolis and St. Paul, we can help you out. Let’s look at several factors that may convince you it’s time for a new AC. The best way to get a solid answer is to consult with our technicians. We’ll give you honest answers about the future of your home cooling.
It’s officially spring! And the weather is … okay, it’s still pretty cold outside, but it’s warmer than it was. Highs in the 30s are better than sub-zero temperatures.
Even this slight warming is a reminder that the summer weather is approaching. Now that we’re in the transitional period of spring, it’s a good time to talk about scheduling your air conditioning maintenance.
“But I had maintenance done last year!” you say. Hey, that’s great. Maintenance, however, is something you need to have done every year if you want to get the most out of your air conditioning system and enjoy it for the longest possible time. A proper maintenance regimen has numerous benefits and prevents a host of problems that would otherwise make cooling your house a serious and expensive chore.
If you need a reminder about why AC maintenance is such an important service, here are the benefits that come with it:
