Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, Aug 27, 2010
August may be coming to a close but summer’s heat will be with us for a while longer, warn Lorain County weather forecasters. If you haven’t converted your energy-guzzling air conditioner to a new, energy-efficient Carrier air conditioning system, there’s still time to make the change and cash in on Uncle Sam’s Tax Credit for Energy-Efficient Home Improvements. Investing in an Energy Star-rated home comfort appliance is an excellent way to put a little of that federal stimulus money into your own pocket for a change. Click here to get Raymond’s free tax credit facts sheet.
Investing in an energy-efficient Carrier Infinity, Performance or Comfort air conditioner will do more than save money on next April’s federal income taxes. An energy-efficient A/C costs less to operate than older, less efficient models. When your Lorain County air conditioning professional installs an energy-sipping air conditioner in your home or business, you’ll begin to realize significant savings on your monthly utility bill immediately. And those savings will continue for the life of the unit. In just a few years, your new air conditioner will pay for itself.
The savings generated by energy-efficient air conditioners are not just monetary. When you use energy-efficient appliances, you reduce your carbon footprint and help save the environment. All Carrier energy-efficient air conditioners use eco-friendly Puron refrigerant, not the ozone-damaging Freon used by older A/C units. With global warming increasing, record-breaking heat waves are predicted to become the summertime norm in Lorain County. Reducing your personal carbon footprint is one of the most productive personal actions you can take to protect the environment.
Energy-efficient appliances save money and save the environment. Sounds like a win-win for Lorain County residents!
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Tue, Aug 24, 2010
It’s hayfever season. For allergy sufferers, hayfever season is a misery of running, sneezy noses, itchy, watering eyes and scratchy throats. Fall flowering plants and weeds like goldenrod and ragweed waft pollen into the air, creating havoc with the sinus systems of hayfever sufferers. The simple act of taking a breath fills their sinus cavities with pollen-laced air, triggering an allergic reaction that causes sinus tissues to swell and itch, making breathing difficult. In defense, the body produces copious amounts of mucous in an attempt to wash away the offending pollens, causing constant sniffling, sneezing and nose blowing. For hayfever sufferers, the misery lasts through the first frost when the cold kills the offending plants, halting pollen production.
Pollen counts in Lorain County have ranged from moderately to extremely high since the start of hayfever season at the beginning of August. Unfortunately for Lorain County hayfever sufferers, weather forecasters expect pollen counts to remain in the very high range for the duration of the hayfever season. Pollen production is affected by weather, and our higher than normal summer temperatures, coupled with strong winds have created ideal conditions for pollen production and distribution in Lorain County.
Installation of a Carrier Infinity Air Purifier is the Most Efficient Way to Remove Pollen from the Air
The only effective way to alleviate hayfever symptoms is to remove pollen particles from the air. Installation of a Carrier Infinity Air Purifier by your Lorain County heating and air conditioning professional is the most effective and most efficient way to remove pollen particulate from the air and create a healthy, breathable environment for Lorain County allergy sufferers. Adding an air purifier to the HVAC system in your Lorain County home is far more effective in cleaning pollen from the air than purchasing a portable room air purifier as it removes pollen from your entire home, not just a single room. Click here to find out more.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Thu, Jul 22, 2010
With another heat wave toasting the Midwest, Lorain County homeowners are struggling to balance air conditioner use against household budgets. Family budgets are already straining to keep up with rising air conditioning costs as the U.S. roasts through yet another week of 90-degree temperatures. For Lorain County homeowners, it’s a perennial summer conundrum: How do you keep your home from baking without burning up all your hard-earned cash on A/C bills?
Cut Costs With These Air Conditioning Tips
Lorain County air conditioning experts offer the following tips for reining in air conditioning costs while staying cool this summer:
- Replace your old A/C unit with a new, energy-efficient air conditioner. Energy Star-rated Carrier air conditioners use only a tiny fraction of energy needed to run older A/C systems and cool your home far more effectively – and they use new, environmentally-friendly, green coolants. You and your family stay cool, save money and protect the environment.
- Schedule a Raymond Air Conditioner Performance Check immediately. Become a Raymond Facebook fan and you could evenly win a free A/C Performance Check! Scheduling annual inspections of your air conditioning system with your certified Lorain County air conditioner service professional ensures that your air conditioner will work safely and efficiently all season long.
- Clean or change A/C air filters monthly to promote unobstructed air flow.
- Close drapes and blinds to keep sunlight from heating up your home.
- Keep windows and doors closed to keep cool air inside.
- Run your furnace fan and ceiling fans to promote even air flow and eliminate hot spots.
- Fire up the grill to keep cooking heat outdoors.
- Use a dehumidifier to decrease humidity levels inside your home.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, May 28, 2010
Weather forecasters are predicting a hot, humid summer that could reach triple digits. Budget-conscious Lorain County home and business owners are already searching for energy-saving tips that will help them stay cool while keeping air conditioning costs low. The following tips are guaranteed to keep you cool this summer while saving both energy and cash!
Install a New Energy-efficient Air Conditioner
Have your Lorain County air conditioning professional install a new Energy Star air conditioner. Energy-efficient air conditioners provide maximum cooling for minimum energy expenditure. Dual-speed air conditioners like Carrier’s Infinity series use 50% less energy by operating on low speed 80% of the time. Dual-speed A/C systems allow you to limit maximum high-speed cooling to when its really needed, less than 20% of total use. Energy-efficient Carrier air conditioners also use eco-friendly Puron refrigerant which protects the environment. Energy-efficient air conditioners can decrease energy consumption by 60% to 80%, which can save you a considerable amount of money on your monthly energy bill.
Schedule an Annual Air Conditioner Performance Check
Make certain to schedule an annual air conditioner performance check. Maintaining your Lorain County home or business’ air conditioning, heating and ventilation equipment in peak operating condition can decrease energy use by 40% and that means more cash in your pocket.
Install a Programmable Digital Thermostat
When your Lorain County air conditioning professional comes out to perform your annual air conditioner performance check, ask him to install a programmable digital thermostat. Programmable digital thermostats allow Lorain County home and business owners to minimize energy use when they’re not at home or when the office is closed. Decreasing air conditioner use when it’s not needed minimizes energy use and maximizes savings. For every degree you raise the temperature setting on your A/C thermostat, you save 2% on your air conditioning costs.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Sat, Sep 19, 2009
Energy efficient heat pumps are an effective alternative to furnaces and air conditioners that save you money while saving energy. Heat pumps use electricity to move heat from cold areas to warm ones, just like a refrigerator. As heat is transferred, cold areas become colder as heat is removed and warm areas become warmer as heat is added. In the winter, heat pumps move warm air from the colder outdoors into your warm house. In the summer, warm air from inside your cooler home is transferred into the warmer outdoors. Because they work by transferring heat, not generating it, heat pumps can heat or air condition a home using only one-quarter of the energy required by a standard furnace/air conditioning system that operates by generating heat or cooled air.
Air-source heat pumps are the most common type of heat pump. They work by exchanging air between your home and the outdoors. If you currently have electric heat, adding an energy efficient heat pump can decrease your winter electric heating bill by as much as 40%. Heat pumps also decrease summer energy use because they are more effective at removing humidity from the air than standard air conditioners. Humidity decreases heat tolerance, encouraging us to run the A/C more often and at lower temperatures. When humidity is removed from the air, we feel more comfortable even at higher temperatures.
Air-source heat pumps are a good choice for temperate climates where winters are mild. As winter temperatures plummet into the teens and below, air-source heat pumps rapidly lose efficiency, making them ineffective as a heat source in cold regions. Raymond Plumbing offers several heat pumps including the Carrier Infinity Series Heat Pump with heating and cooling efficiency ratings of 7 out of 7, the best and most advanced heat pump on the market. Heat pumps should be installed by an experienced plumbing, heating and cooling professional to ensure proper sizing and operation.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Tue, Jun 23, 2009
For those of us who like to understand the science and history behind things, below is the breakdown of how your air conditioner creates the cooling comfort that you enjoy.
It’s a common belief that air conditioners cool homes by creating cold air through a fan; however, the air conditioning process is actually a recycling process.
The A/C exchanges the warm air from the home and cycles it through the system into cooler air until the thermostat reaches the preferred temperature setting. Much like a refrigerator, air conditioners use the evaporation of a refrigerant, like Freon, to provide cooling.
The compressor produces cool Freon gas, causing it to become hot, high-pressure Freon gas. This hot gas then runs through a set of coils so the heat is reduced and condensed into a liquid.
Then the Freon liquid runs through an expansion valve, and in the process it evaporates to become cold, low-pressure Freon gas. This cold gas runs through a set of coils that allow the gas to absorb heat and cool down the air inside the building.
So, when did this all start? In 1902, upon his graduation from Cornell, Willis Haviland Carrier, created the fundamental basis for the air conditioning formula we still use today.
For such a brilliant discovery it is an interesting note that Carrier said he received his 'flash of genius' while waiting for a train. It was a foggy night and he was going over in his mind the problem of temperature and humidity control. By the time the train arrived, Carrier had an understanding of the relationship between temperature, humidity and dew point.
Willis and six other engineers formed the Carrier Engineering Corporation in 1915 with a starting capital of $35,000 (1995 sales topped $5 billion). And because of this rich history, Raymond Plumbing and Heating has been a local distributer for Carrier comfort systems for over 50 years.
You can read more about “The Father of Cool” at http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa081797.htm
For more information about the technical stuff – check out
American Society of Mechanical Engineers.