Posts Tagged ‘Beaverton’

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Do I Need a Professional for Infrared Space Heating Installation

Thursday, January 29th, 2015

Even if the majority of rooms in your home are heated by a central heating system such as a furnace or radiant heat source, there’s still a chance that some rooms are lacking the heating power necessary to take full advantage of them during the cold winter months. If you need to heat a small space like a detached garage, workshop, enclosed patio, or warehouse, connecting radiant heat piping or forced-air ductwork to the space can be costly, and since a lot of heat can escape from these often-uninsulated areas, you’ll end up paying a lot more every month as well.

Infrared heaters work by heating individual objects and people in the room. Invisible infrared light is absorbed into the skin. As long as the infrared rays can reach you, you’ll feel warm, which is why these heaters work best in small spaces. Infrared heaters can run on different heat sources; while most run on electricity, you may be able to purchase a natural gas model instead. Some use infrared light and heat exchangers to blow warm air into the room, while others just emit light into the room. In any case, it may seem as though installation would be fairly simple. So why would you choose a professional for infrared space heating installation in Beaverton?

The Professional Difference

One of the main reasons to choose a professional for installation is to ensure the proper size. Any heating system will suffer if it’s not sized properly for the space to be heated. An oversized heating system will draw more energy than it needs, resulting in higher energy bills. And an undersized space heater may never allow the room to reach the temperatures you desire. Professionals will take many factors into account when sizing your system, including the size of the room, the number of people who use it, and any irregularities in the shape of the room.

Another reason to select professionals is to get a thorough inspection of the system before it begins to run. Technicians can best assess whether the unit uses the proper amount of voltage or fuel, and if the space heater is located in an ideal space for maximum heat.

Call the professional heating technicians at Clean Air Act for your infrared space heating installation in Beaverton for quality service and to safeguard against any potential issues.

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Why Is Duct Repair Important for Heating?

Thursday, January 22nd, 2015

Ducts are one of the most unobtrusive, and vital, parts of your heating system. They serve the same function in your home that your lungs do in your body. Even though your home won’t die if the ducts aren’t working correctly, the quality of life inside will definitely suffer. Most homeowners ignore their ducts, not because of any intentional neglect but because they simply don’t think about them. It’s time to get rid of that kind of attitude and really be aware of the role that your ducts play in your home. Let’s take a look at why duct repair is so important for your heating system.

Duct Construction

The sad fact of the matter is this: ducts are often not very well constructed. The primary needs for a piece of duct to do its job properly are: be light enough to be easily secured in walls and ceilings, be cheap enough to be easily replaced if necessary, and be small enough as to be unobtrusive to the occupants of the home. When these three factors are added up, you get a part of your heating system that is not very sturdy or long lasting. At this point you may be thinking that your ducts work just fine, and they haven’t been touched in years. Well, it may surprise you to know just how in need of repair your ductwork is.

Ductwork Repair Issues

As previously mentioned, ducts are relatively flimsy and vulnerable to damage. Now, because of their location there isn’t much that can actually deal a lot of damage at once to your ducts. Unfortunately, there doesn’t have to be. As the ducts have warm air flowing through them, they expand and contract due to the temperature changes. This causes small leaks to form in the ducts, allowing heat to leak out of the ducts before reaching their destination. An average forced air system can actually lose up to 30% of its total heat output this way, according to the US Department of Energy. This is why duct repair is so important for the efficiency of your heating system.

If you haven’t had your ducts checked in a while, contact Clean Air Act. We provide duct repair throughout Beaverton.

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Air Conditioner Sizing: Why It’s Important

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

When selecting an air conditioner for a home, one factor installers must give serious consideration is the system’s size. In this case, “size” doesn’t mean how much space the cooling system takes up (although that is, of course, something they must consider) but how powerful it is in term of cooling capacity.

Correctly sizing an AC is more important than you may realize. You need your air conditioner to have enough cooling power to keep your home at the right temperature, but an AC that is too powerful will also cause serious problems. This one of the reasons that it’s vital for only professionals to handle installation for an air conditioner—any mistake can lead to a poorly working system that will need to be replaced.

For skilled technicians to size and handle air conditioning installation, look to the experienced teams at Clean Air Act.

When An Air Conditioner Is Too Small…

An AC that cannot provide sufficient cooling capacity will fail to keep the temperature in a home at a comfortable level. It will also unevenly distribute cooling, so that more distant rooms will contain hot spots. The AC will run longer than it should, trying to make up for its lack of cooling power with constant operation, and this will cause the system to age rapidly. It will also significantly raise your utility bills. You may think that a smaller system will save your money, but in the long-run it will cost you money.

When An Air Conditioner Is Too Large…

It may seem odd that an oversized air conditioner can present problems. Why not just turn it down? But the problem with an air conditioner that is too large for the space it is required to cool is that the system will begin to “short-cycle”: it will lower the temperature in the nearest rooms so rapidly that the thermostat will register it has completed the cooling cycle and shut off the compressor early. The compressor will then turn back on shortly after, only to shut down again… and so on. This constant “stop-start” has the same damaging effect you would expect to occur with a car engine doing the same thing: it will wear down faster. Short-cycling also wastes energy, since air conditioners draw the most power when the compressor starts up. The system won’t provide even cooling, either, since the cooling will shut off too soon for the conditioned air to reach the rest of the home.

Have Your Air Conditioner Sized Professionally

In both cases, there is little that repairs can accomplish to fix these problems. You will need to replace the under- or oversized system and start over.

You can avoid this major hassle and expenditure by making sure to hire only experienced technicians to size an air conditioner. Trained installers will perform a heat load calculation for your home to determine exactly the amount of cooling load necessary to keep it comfortable. After that, the installers will have no trouble selecting the AC that will do the ideal job.

Make your first call for air conditioning installation in Beaverton, OR to Clean Air Act. We will make certain that you receive the right AC to keep you comfortable any time of the year.

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How Can a Bad Capacitor Affect Your AC?

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Essential components of your air conditioning system (and most electro-mechanical machines) are the capacitors. A capacitor is used to store energy in an electrostatic field. Attached to motors, capacitors perform the job of stabilizing voltage and providing the necessary jolt to start the motor in the first place. In an air conditioner, capacitors are connected to the three main motors: the compressor motor, the blower motor, and the outdoor fan motor. Each of these has a separate capacitor to start it up (the start capacitor) and to keep it running (the run capacitor).

Failing capacitors are one of the common reasons for malfunctions in an AC. Thankfully, if you catch capacitor problems in time, repair technicians and easily swap them out for new ones without any serious effect to the AC. However, if bad capacitors are ignored, you may end up with a non-functioning air conditioning system right when you need one the most.

For urgent air conditioning repairs, call the experienced professionals at Clean Air Act. We have 24-hour emergency service for your convenience.

Troubles from bad capacitors

The most common problem that bad capacitors can cause is “hard starting.” This is when the compressor of an AC has difficulty starting up, stutters trying to turn on, and then shuts off a short while later. There are a number of different causes for hard starting (the worst of which is a compressor approaching the end of its life), but a bad start capacitor is one of the most common. It is not always easy to diagnose that a start capacitor is the problem. A technician will examine the capacitor to see if there is visible damage to it (splitting, bulging, leaking oil) and run electrical tests to make certain.

A motor connected to a run and start capacitor may still attempt to start if one or both of the capacitors has failed, and this will result in a motor that hums and will not remain running for long. If this continues, the motor will begin to grow hot and will eventually burn out, requiring that the entire motor be replaced. If you encounter this humming sound or motors that will not stay on, stop trying to use the air conditioner and call for repairs right away.

Before a capacitor fails, it may start begin to make a clicking noise. This will help alert you to the problem before either the compressor or the fans cease working.

In most cases of capacitor problems, such as damage or a loss of charge, the capacitor will need to be replaced. Leave this in the hands of professionals, who will find the right replacement unit and will handle removing the old one safely. (Oil leaking from a capacitor can be dangerous to touch.)

Call Clean Air Act for air conditioning repair service in Beaverton, OR that will take care of failed capacitors or any other problem that can endanger the cooling in your home.

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The Purpose of Refrigerant in Air Conditioning Systems

Monday, June 9th, 2014

How do air conditioners cool down a house? The process can be described succinctly this way: Refrigerant moves between two sets of coils in the system, one indoors and one outdoors. Along the indoor coil, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the indoors, cooling the air. The refrigerant then moves to the outdoor coil and releases the heat. The process then repeats.

There is an enormous amount of detail missing from that description, but it also begs the question: “What is refrigerant?” We’ll address this important question. It will help you understand a number of the repairs that ACs can require during their lifetime.

Whatever trouble you may have with your air conditioning in Beaverton, OR, you can call Clean Air Act any time of the day or night for experienced and effective repairs.

What Refrigerant Is and What It Does

Refrigerant is the generic name for the chemical blend that cycles through an air conditioner, changing from a liquid to a gas as it absorbs and releases heat. Sometimes referred to by the trademarked name Freon, refrigerant has come in a variety of types (“blends”) during its history, starting originally as toxic and combustible chemicals. Today’s blends are safe and have no ozone-depleting effect.

Refrigerant can shift easily between liquid and gas states, which makes it ideal for ACs since it doesn’t take significant amounts of energy to cause the phase shift. Refrigerant starts inside the compressor, where the reduction of volume turns it into a high pressure gas about 150°F. It moves to the outdoor condenser coil, where the warm air (which is still cooler than the refrigerant) moves across it and causes condensation, which releases heat from the refrigerant. The gaseous refrigerant then heads toward the indoor coil, and is now lowered to about 100°F. The gas moves through an expansion device, dropping its temperature and pressure and changing it to a liquid about 20°F.

The cold refrigerant now passes through the evaporator coil, and the warmer indoor air blowing across the coil goes through evaporation, warming the refrigerant and lowering the indoor temperature. The refrigerant, now approximately 50°F, returns to the compressor to restart the cycle.

At no point in this process is refrigerant lost: it remains at a set level, known as its “charge,” at all times. Refrigerant will only lose its charge through leaking, which is a major repair need; a lowered charge will not only endanger cooling power, but the change in pressure in the system can cause damage to the compressor.

Take good care of your air conditioning in Beaverton, OR this summer with maintenance and repairs from Clean Air Act. If you are having problems from a loss of refrigerant, we can seal up the leaks and recharge it to its proper level.

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3 Factors Involved in Sizing a New Air Conditioner

Friday, May 30th, 2014

How large an air conditioning system should you have for your home? The right answer isn’t, “As large as will fit and that you can afford.” An AC that is too large for the house it is supposed to cool down will encounter as much trouble as one that is undersized. The undersized system will struggle to reach the right temperature and run wastefully, while an oversized system will constantly turn on and off before completing its cooling cycle (short-cycling), draining energy and quickly wearing down.

The process of finding the right size air conditioner for a home is called sizing. Although you can attempt to size an AC on your own, you shouldn’t: the amount of factors involved in determining how much heat a home traps and how much cooling is necessary to overcome it is detailed and intricate, and you should leave this job to HVAC professionals.

For your new air conditioning installation in Beaverton, OR, make sure you have the team at Clean Air Act helping you. We will make sure you have the best installation possible.

3 important factors in AC sizing

There are many factors in sizing, but here are three of the key ones.

  1. Insulation: The insulation in a home prevents outside heat from moving inside. The better insulated a house is, especially the attic (which serves as a massive heat sink that can climb to 120°F during the summer), the less an AC will need to work to cool down a house. Older homes with less insulation often need larger ACs.
  2. Windows: Radiant heat finds a way into your house through the sunlight coming through windows. When assessing windows for the purpose of sizing an air conditioner, installers take into account not only the number of windows, but also their shading and the directions they face. East- and west-facing windows will permit in large amounts of heat, while north and south windows will experience much less.
  3. Appliances and lights: Basically, anything in your home that creates heat. (We won’t lump people in with appliances, but the number of bodies in a house will enter the calculation later.) Installers evaluate how much heat on average comes from your light fixtures, refrigerator, laundry machine, electronic devices, etc. and balance that against the amount of cooling power necessary from an air conditioner.

Once the installers have finished this process, which is known as a heat load calculation, they will have a strong idea of how large an air conditioner you need to keep you comfortable without causing trouble with short-cycling and energy drain.

It’s easy to get started: you only have to call Clean Air Act and talk to our specialists in air conditioning in Beaverton, OR. We strive to the highest levels of customer services and will dedicate ourselves to providing you quality comfort.

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Three Signs That Your Heater Might Need To Be Serviced

Wednesday, September 11th, 2013

With the Summer just about over, we here in the Pacific Northwest are getting ready for Fall and Winter already. If you’re like most homeowners, then you’ve been running your air conditioning system this summer while your heater has sat dormant. Before you just start cranking it on, there are a few things you should look for which could indicate that your heater needs service. Read on below and then call Clean Air Act if you think you may need Beavercreek, OR heating services.

Beavercreek, OR Heating Tip: Signs You Need Service

Keep an eye out for the following indicators that could mean you need to call for maintenance or repair for your heater.

  • Noises – If you’ve started running your heater but have noticed that it’s making an unusual noise, you may want to turn it off and call for Beavercreek, OR heating repair. If you hear squealing, it could mean that the fan motor belt needs to be replaced. Rattling could be a loose component or some debris stuck in the fan.
  • Odors – If your heater is producing any odors, then you should call for help. It could be rodents, insects or some other contaminant in your heat exchanger or in your ducts.
  • Not enough heating – If you aren’t getting enough heat in your home, then it likely means that you have a serious problem. It could be that the air filter is clogged or that the compressor is bad (if you have a heat pump) or that the burner isn’t working well (for furnaces). You could also have a fan issue where it isn’t pushing enough warm air into your heater or into your home.
  • Inefficient operation – Everyone wants to stay comfortable in their home, but if your heater isn’t operating efficiently, it could discourage you from running it. This is often caused by a clogged air filter in your system. But it could also be something more serious like low refrigerant, a clogged heat exchanger or evaporator coil or some other problem.

Do you need to hire a Beavercreek, OR heating expert? Then make sure you call the experts at Clean Air Act.

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Amana Air Conditioning Options

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

Are you moving into a new home and need an air conditioning system? Is it time to replace your current AC unit? Buying a new air conditioner is a huge decision that you will have to live with for a long time. But finding a good AC unit can be challenging and confusing. We wanted to share some of the options that you have and also recommend that you consider an Amana air conditioning system. Give us a call if you have any questions or if you need any kind of air conditioning services in Beaverton, OR.

Beaverton Air Conditioning Installation Services: Amana Air Conditioners

Check out a few of the options that Amana offers to its customers.

  • Air conditioners – Of course, central air conditioning systems are still the most common type of cooling system. They use a series of ducts that are in your home to push cool air throughout your house. Amana offers some incredibly high efficiency systems that reach 18 SEER. The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio is an indicator that lets customers know how efficient an air conditioning system is at cooling. In order to receive an Energy Star certification an AC system must meet at least a 14 SEER rating.
  • Heat pumps – Another terrific option for homeowners is a heat pump. They cool your home in exactly the same way as a central AC system. The major difference is that they can also heat your home. They are very efficient and they contain both heating and cooling capabilities in one convenient system.
  • Packaged systems – For homeowners that want the efficiency of a central air conditioning system but the comfort of a gas or electric furnace, package systems are a fantastic option. Many homes have an air conditioning system and then a separate furnace. With a package system you get both in one unit.

If you need any air conditioning installation, repair or maintenance services, call the Beaverton air conditioning technicians at Clean Air Act. We have years of experience working with all different kinds of systems and we can help you replace or install any type of new air conditioning system.

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Summer Air Conditioning Tips

Wednesday, July 10th, 2013

There is nothing better than coming home after a long day of fun in the sun and relaxing in a cool, comfortable home. Unfortunately, there are many reasons why homeowners throughout the area are not able to do so. Some people are hesitant to replace an under-performing air conditioner because it still powers on. Others find that cooling their home to desired temperatures is simply too costly. Whatever reasons you may have for putting up with discomfort, Clean Air Act can help. We’ve put together a few helpful tips for successful air conditioning in Beaverton, OR. Contact us today to learn more.

First of all, if you are thinking about investing in a new air conditioning system, it is important that you discuss all of your options with a qualified professional. There are a number of different air conditioners on the market, and determining which one is right for your home can be a challenge. Do not hesitate to ask questions, and once you’ve decided on your new AC make sure it is installed by a skilled, licensed technician. You will never get the best air conditioning performance that your system has to offer if it is not expertly installed.

Also, remember that you do not need to operate your air conditioning system constantly. In fact, it is important that you give it a rest and allow some fresh air into your home in order to maintain high indoor air quality levels. When the sun goes down and temperatures follow suit, open up your windows to let your house ventilate. Enjoy the cool night air, and close your windows before the weather heats up again the next day. By repeating this cycle whenever possible you can trap in cool night air while preventing stale conditions in your home.

The most important tip that we can give you is to schedule routine air conditioning maintenance before putting your system to use each year. Your air conditioner incurs some general wear and tear during operation and the best way to ensure that it continues to operate as effectively and reliably as possible is to have it routinely inspected and tune up by a qualified Beaverton air conditioning technician. For more tips on how to enjoy successful air conditioning, call Clean Air Act today.

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Benefits of Preventive Air Conditioning Maintenance

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Are you ready for the hottest time of the year? Are you concerned about the longevity of your AC? One of the best ways to make sure that your AC is ready to perform no matter how hot it gets outside is by enrolling preventive air conditioning maintenance. During these annual visits, a Beaverton air conditioning technician will make sure that your system is well adjusted and cleaned so that it performs well and efficiently. Considering the cost of energy these days, maintenance remains cost-effective in light of its potential energy savings. At Clean Air Act, we recognize the value that you place on your AC, so give us a call today for excellent air conditioning services in Beaverton, OR.

When it comes to keeping your home in good shape, prevention is key. While some homeowners think that once installed their air conditioners will simply operate autonomously, regular maintenance is necessary, and may even be required to fulfill the terms of your manufacturer’s warranty. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

  • Cleanliness. Dirt, dust, and debris all cause premature replacement. There’s no substitute for the professional cleaning that comes with AC maintenance. Over time, your coils and other parts of your system will accumulate debris that can interrupt the thermal absorption and dissipation processes, as well as airflow.
  • Early detection. Most problems with your air conditioning do not come out of nowhere. They start as small issues, whose neglect leads to major problems and premature replacements. During maintenance, a professional Beaverton air conditioning technician will look over your entire system, looking for problems and signs of future problems. This can help you avoid costly repairs and cooling disruptions later on.
  • Adjustment. Over time, your AC may develop issues with its voltage or its refrigerant level. During maintenance, both of these areas are checked so that you can remain confident in your AC.

Preventive air conditioning maintenance can help you make your home a cleaner, more energy efficient, and more comfortable place to live. It’s also one of the most cost-effective services. Call Clean Air Act today for excellent air conditioning services in Beaverton.

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