| Morning, Tulsa |
| Most of this week's HVAC headlines circle back to one question every homeowner runs into sooner or later: when the system acts up, do you fix it or replace it? There's a court fight brewing over refrigerant rules and a couple of smart moves worth making while the weather's still calm, so we sorted the noise from what actually changes your decision and laid it out below in plain English. |
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1.Why the refrigerant news shouldn't drive your repair call
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2.The install matters as much as the equipment
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3.What keeps the AC on when a storm takes the grid
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4.The 1973 thermostat trick that still works
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The lead · REPAIR OR REPLACE
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Why the refrigerant news shouldn't drive your repair call
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| A coalition of states and the Natural Resources Defense Council just sued the EPA over its move to loosen the rules on the refrigerants that go into new cooling systems. |
| Here's the short version: what your next system will run on is being argued in court, and that fight won't settle before your current AC gives out. So rather than trying to time the regulations, look at the unit you've actually got. A newer system with a small leak is usually worth fixing, while an older one facing a major refrigerant repair is often telling you it's near the end. |
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Why it matters: The takeaway for your wallet: a big refrigerant repair is really a question about the whole system's age and health, and that's the honest call we'd rather help you make than rush you toward a new unit.
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Read at ACHR News →
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BEFORE YOU BUY
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The install matters as much as the equipment
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| Contractors writing in ACHR News made the case for dual-fuel systems, a heat pump paired with a gas furnace, and it came with a catch: they only pay off when they're sized and set up right. |
| A dual-fuel setup switches between electric and gas heat on its own, landing on whichever is cheaper to run at the moment, and done well it trims your bills. The savings hide in the setup, though: the right size for your house, controls dialed to the correct switchover point, and someone taking the time to show you how it runs. A premium unit installed carelessly will lose to a mid-range one that was set up with care. |
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Why it matters: For you, that means when the quotes come in, how a company plans to size and set up the system tells you more than which brand is on the box.
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Read the full story →
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STORM PREP
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What keeps the AC on when a storm takes the grid
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| Family Handyman just put out a plain-English guide to the best home generator brands, which is timely reading in a part of the country where summer skies turn mean without much warning. |
| A whole-home generator kicks on the moment the power drops, keeping your AC and the fridge alive until the grid comes back. The guide compares the major brands on what actually matters: run time, and whether there's a dealer close enough to service it. One thing it soft-pedals: size the generator with your HVAC in mind, because a central AC pulls a heavy load the second it starts up. |
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Why it matters: Practically speaking, the day to sort out backup power is a calm, clear one like today, not by flashlight after the transformer blows.
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Read at Family Handyman →
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THROWBACK TIP
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The 1973 thermostat trick that still works
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| Programmable thermostats caught on for a reason most of us have forgotten: the 1973 oil embargo, when petroleum prices quadrupled almost overnight. |
| That autumn, with heating oil scarce, President Nixon asked the country to turn thermostats down six degrees. Half a century later, the idea still holds up. You just run it in reverse come July: bump the setting up a few degrees while you're out to ease off the cooling bill, and a programmable or smart thermostat handles it so you never come home to a warm house. |
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Why it matters: Bottom line: a thermostat you can program is one of the cheapest ways to shave a summer cooling bill without giving up any comfort.
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Read the full story →
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Quick hits
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• Your parked car turns into an oven in this summer sun, and Family Handyman runs through the medications and electronics you shouldn't leave baking inside. →
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• Georgia just passed a law cracking down on unlicensed trade work, a fair reminder to confirm that whoever services your system holds a real license. →
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• With skilled techs in short supply across the country, ACHR News profiles a prison program retraining people into credentialed HVAC technicians. →
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Tip of the week
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Give the outdoor unit a rinse
Your outdoor unit sheds all the heat your AC pulls out of the house, and it can't do that with a season's worth of cottonwood fluff and grass clippings matted into its fins. Once a month right now, cut the power at the disconnect box, then rinse the unit from the top down with a regular garden hose, and skip the pressure washer, which bends the fins flat. Let it dry for a few minutes before you switch the power back on. A clean coil moves heat the way it's built to, so the whole system runs cooler and doesn't have to work as hard.
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How was this issue?
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Until next week,
Ray, owner
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| P.S. If you're on one of our maintenance plans and we haven't been out for your summer check yet, just reply here and we'll get you on the schedule, a lot easier to catch a tired capacitor now than on the hottest afternoon of the year. |