How to keep your house cool in the summer
By executivehvac Air Quality • 0 Comments

Keeping Your Home Cool

As the months roll into summer, it may seem that the only way to keep your house cool is to keep lowering the thermostat. Keeping the thermostat at a low temperature will make sure the inside is cool, but ends up costing quite a bit in the way of your energy bill. There are some other ways that you can keep cool inside during the summer while not cranking up the AC 24/7.

Shade Trees

The sun beating down on your house will ensure that it heats up during the day. One good way to keep the sun off of your home is to plan trees that are going to provide shade. Find trees that are good for the climate then plant them strategically to block the sun during the day. This shade is a great way to keep the heat off the house and also provide a way to keep cool outside if you wish.

Shade Your AC Unit

While you are providing shade for your house, you might want to provide a little relief to your AC unit as well. Locating your AC unit on a side of the house that doesn’t receive a lot of sun or even under a porch or deck where it can be fully blocked will help to reduce the load on the unit.

An air conditioner works by radiating the heat from inside your home to the outside. If it is outside in the sun, then it is going to heat up as well. That makes it much less effective at radiating the heat it is supposed to be working on because it now has to cool itself down too. Placing your AC unit in the shade can up the efficiency as much as 10 percent!

Utilize Your Ceiling Fans

Just because the air conditioner is on doesn’t mean that it is time to turn off the ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are a great way to keep air circulating throughout your house while providing a cooling feeling as well.

Think about winter wind chill factors. As the wind blows, the air temperature feels colder because of the cold air moving across your skin. A ceiling fan can produce the same effect in your home by blowing your cool air around and creating that cooling breeze on your skin.
No need to crank the fan up to high. Letting it run at a nice slow circulating speed should be enough to create a good cooling effect.

Watch Your Indoor Activities

During the hottest parts of the day, avoid turning on the oven, using the dishwasher or running the dryer if you can. These will all heat up your house making your AC unit have to work harder to keep things cool.

If your AC unit seems to be working too hard or not keeping things cool, call the experts at Executive Air Conditioning today. We can help to make sure things are working properly and you get the most out of your HVAC system this summer.

Furnace protection during Las Vegas summer
By executivehvac HVAC Protection • 0 Comments

Keep Your Furnace Safe During the Summer Months

As the winter winds down and the summer months approach, thoughts turn to keeping the house cool instead of warm. As the summer winds on and vacations and pools fill your thoughts, you may not even think twice about your heater.

That is, until that first cool September night when it doesn’t turn on. If you take a few minutes here and there through the summer to keep an eye on your furnace, you won’t have to worry about it not working in the fall.

Keep Your Furnace Unit Clear of Debris

Since it isn’t running at all for those long summer months, it may be tempting to let things pile up around your furnace unit. Christmas decorations, sleds and boxes of winter clothes all might find themselves stacked up around the heating unit. This is very bad for your furnace.

First, clutter attracts dust and dirt. As that dirt and dust makes its way into your furnace, it can cause serious damage to the internal parts of your furnace. Motors can seize up, heat exchangers can get hot spots that damage them and fans can blow allergens all through your house.

Keep your unit free from clutter and periodically sweep or vacuum the area round your central furnace unit. This will ensure the unit is clean and free from harmful contaminates.

Keep Your Heater Off During the Heat

Even if this is done accidentally, turning on a furnace during the summer heat can seriously damage the unit. Furnaces are designed to add a certain amount of heat to the air. If the air that is pulled into the furnace unit is already hot, this can mean overheating in the heat exchanger.

Serious damage can result from overheating the air inside of the heat exchanger. Make sure to keep the heat off all summer long even if you have to tape over the “warm” switch on your thermostat.

Give Your Unit the Once-over

Just before you shut it down for the summer, take the time to give your furnace a good look. Check it for any signs of rust or corrosion. Listen to the fans and the motors on the inside to see if they sound like they are laboring to operate. Make sure there are no obviously broken or missing parts as well. If you find anything out of the ordinary, make sure to fix them immediately. Don’t wait until the fall rolls around.

Have Your Furnace Serviced before Operation

Before you fire your furnace up in the fall, contact a professional to come check it out and do any required maintenance. Having an annual inspection of your unit is the best way to prolong the life of your unit and make sure that it is operating at peak efficiency.

Executive Air Conditioning has experts who can help you with any furnace or AC maintenance needs. Contact us today to schedule an appointment to have your furnace serviced!

Air Conditioners in Hot Climate
By executivehvac Saving Money • • • 0 Comments

Tips for Extending the Life of Your Air Conditioning Unit in Hot Climates

Air Conditioners in Hot Climate

When you live in Las Vegas, your air conditioning unit is going to get used more than a lot of other cities, simply because the summers are so hot. Of course you won’t want to attempt going through a Las Vegas summer without a properly working air conditioner, but you also likely realize that a replacement unit can be costly. The good news is that there are things you can do to extend the life of your air conditioning unit.

Here are some tips for extending the life of your air conditioning unit during hot summers:

  • Use it less. The more you can give your air conditioner a break from being used the more you make it last. To use it less, consider setting the cooling temperature higher, as well as using ceiling fans in the home.
  • Give the air conditioning unit a shield if it’s sitting in the direct sunlight. You can do this by adding shrubs around it, but you have to be careful to not get them too close or it can have a negative impact on the unit. It’s important to keep the condenser area free and clean so that the unit can work properly
  • Be sure to change the air filter regularly to keep it working properly. Depending on how much you use your air conditioning unit, you will want to change the filter every 1-2 months.
  • Opt for routine air conditioning unit maintenance. By getting a regular tune-up, you will keep the unit working better and for longer. Just like with a car that gets a tune-up, a service technician will come out and inspect your air conditioning unit. By doing this they are able to identify issues that can be addressed before they become bigger and more costly problems.

The average air conditioning unit is going to last around 13-15 years. But if you want to try to extend the life of it you can. Keep these tips above in mind, and by following them you should be able to keep your unit working great and for a longer period of time. Work with an air conditioning service technician in order to see what can be done with your specific unit. The time and money invested in getting tune-ups and routine maintenance will be well worth what it saves you in being able to extend the life of your Las Vegas air conditioning unit.

This video might also be helpful for people who are interested in saving money on their monthly air conditioning bill:

Girl with allergies in need of HVAC Tips
By executivehvac Air Quality • • 0 Comments

Allergy Sufferers: Survive the Pollen Vortex with These HVAC Tips

Girl with allergies in need of HVAC TipsAs the East Coast and Midwest begin to thaw out from this winter’s incredible spate of storms caused by the “Polar Vortex,” allergy sufferers are bracing for the “Pollen Vortex”.

That’s right, experts say the unseasonable cold caused trees to go dormant for longer than usual, so that now tree-pollen season will overlap with grass pollen and mold releases in one annoying, itchy, sneezy, eye-watering nightmare.

They also say that the confluence of allergens will be shorter in duration, but much more intense than usual.

If you suffer from seasonal allergies, there are some simple solutions you can implement before the pollen vortex becomes a problem. By taking some common-sense initiative when it comes to home HVAC, you could save yourself some headaches, and runny noses, not to mention itchy eyes…

Consider a Dehumidifier, Air Conditioner, or Air Filter

If you have constant water condensation on your windows, you may have a moisture problem, perfect conditions for mold. Since you don’t want to compound the effects of pollen, you need to get the humidity in check. Consider purchasing an air conditioner or a home dehumidifier.

Air conditioning is great for combating atmospheric moisture in humid climates, and dehumidifiers work best for homes that retain moisture. They can also be fitted with allergen-catching electrostatic filters.

Air filters like HEPA systems are also a great way to fight allergens in your home. There are even HEPA filters that can be fitted to your furnace. They’re very effective, but they don’t come cheap. Your comfort, however, will be worth it.

Change Your Filters

Your furnace, air conditioning and dehumidifying units units all have air filters. If those filters are choked with dust and other particulate matter, not only are they running up heating and cooling costs, they’re also potentially blowing some of that mess into your home.

Go over your heating and cooling units, and clean or swap out your filters. Forced-air units make allergen-containing air billow, so cleaning the filters in them in anticipation of the pollen vortex, and doing so twice a month after that, is a must. Baseboard heating systems don’t need this kind of maintenance, but older homes that have radiators need those units cleaned.

Cleaning your vents may seem like a good idea, but there’s no strong evidence to suggest it is has a big effect.

Dust and Vacuum Now

This one doesn’t require anything other than preventative elbow-grease. If you’re anticipating being put down by the pollen vortex, get ahead of it by cleaning, dusting and vacuuming, so that when the pollen hits, you won’t have to be further irritated by airborne dust and other irritants.

For more information on when to change the air filters in your home, see this video: