‘heat’ Tagged Posts

Air Conditioning Tricks

Air Conditioning functions by exchanging hot air from inside a building to the outside air. To do this some very basic refrigeration standards need ...

 

Air Conditioning functions by exchanging hot air from inside a building to the outside air. To do this some very basic refrigeration standards need to take place. One of the most critical pieces that allow this take place is the condenser coil. This is usually the aluminum coil the surrounds the air conditioning compressor.

What occurs inside this outdoor equipment is a very basic state modification of the refrigerant inside the cooling system. The refrigerant that changes from a liquid to a gas inside the indoor coil goes to the outside where the compressor compresses the gas under elevated pressure. When this occurs the gas also becomes extremely hot. The hot gas then departs the compressor to start moving through the long tubing in the condenser coil. While the gas cools it transforms again to a liquid form going back indoors to begin the cycle all over again.

Huge problems start if the condenser coil turns out to be so blocked up with grime that the hot gas in the condenser coil does not cool enough to change the hot air back to a liquid form. When this occurs the cooling process does not occur and then air conditioner runs but is not cooling.

The compressor starts to get very hot and the ultimate outcome will be the death of a compressor. Because of these reasons the condenser coil must be kept sanitary and free of debris at all times when the air conditioner is running. Cleaning the coil is a very basic procedure, Here are a few guidelines to follow when doing this. To clean the coil a number of basic tools are needed. A garden hose with a nozzle, wrenches to take out the condenser fan, a garden sprayer for applying the cleaning solution. The initial thing is to remove the power to the outdoor unit.

There must be an off switch of some type near the condenser. Then remove the fan from the condenser unit. Normally this will be the top of the unit. The fan can normally be laid away carefully without cutting off the wires to the motor.

Carefully wet down the coil using the garden hose. If you have very elevated pressure water where you live be cautious that the water pressure does not curve over the fins on the coil. These are so slim and fragile.

Jason Myers is a professional writer and he writes mostly about heating and air conditioning news. He’s also interested in writing about nutrition advice guides.

Radiant Heat Is Your Best Choice

 

What a wonderful feeling, when you enter a friend’s house and step on floors that are warm and heated. Many of us may have considered radiant heated floor installation, but will never follow through with the thought. It seems like a great deal of annoyance to tear up your floors to gain access underneath, and the excessive price is also a deterrent.

It is rare now for a house to be built with only radiant heat and most times it will just be included in the master bathroom and maybe the kitchen. But this is only in more expensive top of the line homes where maybe that is an option. It is unfortunate that most people will never get to experience radiant heat in their home because of the cost and hassle of having it installed.

After a cold winter of dry heat pulsing through your house, you might be interested in radiant heat under the floors. The best part of radiant heat is that it does not swirl the hot air around the room and from room to room. Radiant heat just slowly and gently rises, never drying out your skin like forced air heat. It is also totally silent so you never know when it is on or off.

Radiant heat in houses is rare as it costs more to install. Homebuilders are usually trying to build houses cheaply so they can make the most money and radiant heat would up their costs. Unfortunately for us homeowners, most of us will never fully appreciate radiant heat because we will never experience it.

When you explore the pluses and minuses of radient floor heat you have to first know what your budget is. Putting radiant heat throughout your house, whether it by hydronic or electric heat, can be expensive. Because of this, most people only install it in a couple of key rooms such as the master bathroom. Radiant heat is better on your skin in the winter when it is so dry and this is probably the biggest advantage of having this kind of heat. You can’t imagine the difference between the dry forced air and radiant heat until you try them both.

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Why Radiant Heat Is Better Than Forced Air Heat

 

One of the most popular types of heating systems is radiant heat. Unfortunately not many houses are built with a complete system that is set up to heat the whole house this way. It is more expensive than other kinds of heat so most often you will find just certain rooms, like the bathrooms, heated with radiant heat. In order to get floor heat in all the rooms, the house has to pretty much be built that way from the start.

Radiant heat is best installed when a house is being built because it involves putting pipes or wires under the floors. It is best to put it in right from the start as the house is constructed. If you want to have radiant heat in an older house, most people opt to install it in just a few rooms such as the master bathroom and kitchen.

There are two kinds of radiant heat and they are very different systems. The first is hydronic and it is achieved by installing pipes beneath the floors that carry hot water back and forth that heats the floors. As you can imagine, this is a big undertaking because you are dealing with pipes and water and making sure nothing leaks. Hydronic heat is much easier to install in a house that is being built as opposed to one that has already been built.

If you wish to install radiant heat in your already built house, the electric version is not only simpler to put in but also less costly. With electric heat you can install pads beneath the desired floors where you want the heat and these pads carry electric wires. Electricity will go through the wires much like it does in a toaster and the wires will get hot and heat the floors. These electric pads can be installed in as many or as few rooms as you desire with not too many problems.

The winter months can take a toll on a persons skin as the dry air is relentless and does daily damage as well as being uncomfortable. The forced air systems in many homes only make the situation worse as the warm dry air is circulated from room to room. Once you try radiant heat, you will immediately understand the different feeling it gives you and how wonderful an alternative it is to the common heating systems of today.

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