Replacing your A/C? Consider a home comfort system.

After a long, distinguished career, your air conditioner is ready to retire.

You’ve shared a lot of summers together, but the inefficiency, high temperatures and uncomfortable indoor humidity have made it time to say goodbye. Don’t think of it as a hassle, think of it as an opportunity.

Replace the entire system, or just one part?

Anytime you need to repair or replace a part of your home’s heating and air-conditioning system, ask yourself a few questions. Are you spending a lot on repairs on a regular basis? Is your system more than just a few years old? How high are your energy bills? A new system may be a smart decision for many reasons.

It doesn’t have to be old to be inefficient.

With the continuing advancement of home comfort technology, equipment is becoming more energy efficient. A new system may offer you substantial energy savings even if your current system is only a few years old.

Balanced performance.

By replacing your entire system, rather than just a single component, you get equipment that’s been designed to work together. Because of this compatibility, you’ll enjoy greater energy efficiency and optimized comfort.

It’s just like replacing a flat tire on your car. Using one tire of a different size would reduce the performance of the entire vehicle.

Know the parts of a home comfort system.

When you understand how a home comfort system works, it’s easy to understand why a matched system can offer greater energy savings and comfort.

The furnace or air handler.

The furnace or air handler is the center of the system, almost always found indoors. It circulates heated or cooled air all year long.

The air conditioner or heat pump.

Found outdoors, the air conditioner or heat pump connects to the furnace or air handler to cool air in the summer and, in the case of a heat pump, warm air in the winter.

The thermostat.

The brains of the entire operation, the thermostat coordinates heating and cooling based on the temperature you set indoors. Programmable thermostats allow your system to heat or cool on a schedule, saving energy when you’re not home.

Indoor air quality.

For even healthier, more comfortable air, an effective air cleaning system is a must.

Help is here when you need it.

There are many resources out there to help you decide whether to repair or replace. The more you know, the better a decision you can make. Call Betlem Residential Heating & Air Conditioning at 271-COOL(2665) and we will go into detail about every aspect of your decision, helping you make the right choice for greater energy efficiency and comfort. Find out all you can, because replacing your system may be the best decision you’ll make all summer.

The History of Home Comfort

Air conditioning. Pretty simple stuff, isn’t it? Touch the button on the thermostat, lower the temperature setting and with a click and a whoosh, cool air comes out. What could be simpler? We’re fortunate to live in a time of cold-on-demand, when equipment you don’t even have to see keeps your home perfect as it quietly churns in the background.

Air conditioning through the years.

It didn’t used to be so easy. In fact, the earliest home cooling solutions were about as primitive as they could be, using the same method your body uses to keep cool. Namely, evaporation. Ancient Egyptians hung pieces of vegetation in the window and kept them wet, which allowed them to cool the air as it entered the house.

Air conditioning’s next big advancement didn’t move the bar very far, centering around the concept of “this thing is cold, let’s blow some air over it and see what happens.” Incidentally, “this thing” could be anything from a block of ice to a tube filled with cold water, and the systems were usually used in the workplace rather than the home.

Then, in the 1930s, mechanical air conditioning as we know it started to come into its own, though it was still largely reserved for offices, stores and places of commerce.

In the 1950s, residential air conditioning took off as part of the post-war boom, though largely in the form of window units. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the traditional central air conditioner becomes the leading form of home comfort.(1)

While effective, the central air conditioning units of the 1970s were very energy-inefficient, unlike today’s modern air conditioners that can deliver Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratios (SEER) of up to 25 or higher.

Home heating has evolved from simple beginnings.

Since the dawn of time, the simplest method for heating a living space was a fire. Easy to create and highly effective, fire brought with it the added bonuses of light and cooking capability. Unfortunately, open fires aren’t high on the safety list, as they tend to ignite anything (or anyone) they touch. So Americans safely contained them in brick fireplaces up until the middle of the 19th century.

Wood was cheap and plentiful, making it the ideal source of heat for every home. But as the 20th century approached, coal became increasingly popular as a method for heating homes. Burned in large cast-iron furnaces, coal could heat a home using the natural movement of warm air, called “convection”.(2)

Unfortunately, when coal is burned, it tends to release toxic gases that can be deadly in enclosed spaces. Fortunately, in 1885 Dave Lennox brought a safer alternative to market with the riveted cast-iron furnace. Unlike welded versions which could crack after sustained use and let toxic gas escape, Dave Lennox’ furnace resisted warping and cracking to keep the harmful things venting out the chimney, not into the living room.

In 1935, several new technologies came together to create a furnace that heated air with coal, with an electric fan to circulate the air throughout the home.(2) This was the precursor to today’s forced air heating systems. Over the years, coal and wood have been replaced by oil and natural gas, but the basic idea is still the same. Make something really hot, blow air over it, and circulate that air. Ingenious.

(1) SOURCE:  Popular Mechanics

(2) SOURCE:  http://sunhomedesign.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/a-brief-history-of-heating-and-cooling-americas-homes/