Do you schedule your annual physical exam around your birthday every year? Maybe you’re still in “back to school” thinking and visit your doctor each late summer. Perhaps you see your healthcare professional each spring, to shake off the winter blahs and make sure you’re healthy and well to enjoy summer weather.
As summer approaches, your home’s AC system will also need a “physical” – a checkup to ensure all equipment is running as it should. Just like your healthcare professional takes your temperature and pulse, checks your blood pressure, and listens to your lungs and other organs, your Maertin Heating and Cooling technician does much the same for your HVAC system.
Your Maertin Heating and Cooling HVAC technician begins assessing your system’s current performance. Just like a nurse takes your temperature, your HVAC technician will use a thermometer in their check-ups to see if their “patient” is running hot or cold. Where a nurse will check additional measurements like oxygen levels and blood pressure, your HVAC technician will use similarly specialized equipment to gather a full range of air quality measurements.
Our professionally trained HVAC technicians also use special wireless gauges that allow them to measure the characteristics of the refrigerant in your cooling system. These readings can be used to fine tune the system settings and detect any possible issues. Just like the clip a nurse sticks on your finger to measure your pulse and oxygen level, these gauges measure pressure, temperature, and moisture and help your HVAC technician identify optimal settings.
Your HVAC technician will use a psychrometer to check the air characteristics throughout your HVAC system. At its most basic, a psychrometer is a tool for measuring relative humidity by comparing a dry-bulb temperature with a wet-bulb temperature and then performing calculations to arrive at the conclusions.
Your Maertin HVAC technician’s psychrometer is a bit more advanced. In addition to measuring dry- and wet-bulb temperatures, our modern psychrometers can measure and compute relative humidity, dew points, and other moisture ratios that are essential to efficient home heating and cooling.
Much like your doctor uses a stethoscope to listen to various parts of your lungs, your HVAC technician will use the psychrometer and other tools to take readings from ducts, plenums, registers and grilles. They may use wireless digital refrigerant gauges to sense pressures, temperatures and the amount of moisture in the air to determine the proper superheat and sub-cool on your air conditioning system. Superheat shows the amount of heat your refrigerant has gathered; when the reading is too high, it means you don’t have enough refrigerant in your system. The correct subcooling levels means your refrigerant is remaining in a liquid state, giving you the best possible cooling performance and energy efficiency.
These measurements can then be compared to identify potential inefficiencies in the system and to ensure whole-home comfort. Where your doctor will look at your vitals and make certain recommendations, your HVAC technician will look at their measurements and make precise adjustments.
Unlike your annual physical, your HVAC check-up will also include routine maintenance and cleaning. Because air conditioning works not just by lowering the temperature but also by removing air-moisture, AC systems have a tendency for moisture to build up in unwanted places – or to dry up, leaving scales and sediment behind.
Your HVAC technician may also use safe, specialized, acidic cleaners that help clean your system and keep humidifier drains clear.
While your physician will typically recommend an annual exam if you aren’t managing chronic health conditions, we here at Maertin Heating and Cooling recommend checkups twice a year – once in the spring to ensure your AC is in top condition before hot weather, and once in the fall to prepare your furnace for freezing weather.
Get your AC ready to keep you healthy and comfortable this summer! Call Maertin Heating and Cooling at 708-479-9350 or click here to schedule your maintenance appointment now.