Myth 1: Hire your air conditioner technician on Craigslist.
The internet has gifted us with a variety of options to go to look for an air conditioning service technician, but be careful because not all are comparable. While the Better Business Bureau shows you information on whether a company is accredited based on their organization’s history and practices, other sites are available to anyone wanting to post an ad. For example, Craigslist lets anyone post an ad promoting their services, despite whether or not they’re actually qualified, licensed and bonded, or have the proper training and knowledge.
If you decide on a company or individual without having the ability to identify their qualifications and skill set, it could end up costing you more over time. If the serviceman or woman doesn’t know how to properly service your specific air conditioning system, you could end up needing a second, more experienced technician to correct their mistakes and it could end up costing you multiple Trip Charges.
Myth 2: Choosing a small business is better.
Working with small businesses can be great for some minor home services – it’s wonderful for the local business, good for the economy, and maybe even wonderful for your pocket book. But be careful: small companies or one-person businesses could let you down. If something fails, they may simply disappear and not be around to fix it, or they may not have the workforce to get you taken care of quickly, which is a problem if your AC goes out in the extreme temperatures of summer.
Spending a little bit more for a bigger, more established and reliable company can come with benefits that help offer you more assurance, including a one-year satisfaction guarantee, expert workmanship, a large certified work force that gives you service 24/7/365, and the confidence that they’ll be a call away in the future if you ever need them again.
Myth 3: It’s fine to use any type of refrigerant in your AC.
With the government putting an end to the making of R-22, many homeowners are seeing the cost of refilling their AC system’s refrigerant rising. It may seem like an easy fix to just replace your R-22 with a different and lower cost refrigerant, but if an AC service technician recommends this, you likely want to call for a second opinion.
Manufacturers detail the exact refrigerant the system is designed for, and previous to 2010, it was typically R-22. Regardless of the extreme decline of the production of R-22, those air conditioners are still designed for it, and replacing R-22 with a different refrigerant may not only cause damage to your air conditioner, it could invalidate your warranty. An invalidated warranty could cost you a lot more in future parts due to potential damage.
Myth 4: You don’t need annual A/C system maintenance.
A lot of people who aren’t having trouble with their air conditioner may think they don’t truly need routine maintenance. It’s operating fine, so why spend the money on a tune-up, right? Don’t forget the fact that a yearly AC tune- up is priced around $79 while repairs will run you around $500. Not to mention, most manufacturers demand yearly maintenance to keep your warranty valid, so skipping your routine tune-up could cause you to lose your warranty, meaning a big payout if your air conditioning system decides to die on the hottest day of the season.
Myth 5: Finding out about the contractor isn’t necessary.
It’s important to make sure you do your due diligence before picking an air conditioning service business, especially if you feel a particular company is putting pressure on you. As we mentioned in Myth #1, some domains don’t demand a company to be qualified to advertise their services. It’s important to know their qualifications and history so you don’t have to pay for the same service multiple times.
Social media reviews, testimonials from friends, and an a great accreditation grade with the Better Business Bureau will all assure you of the type of company you will be trusting your business to and help you figure out if they are best for you. Angie’s List, Google+, and Yelp are all good places to start your homework. Remember, don’t be afraid to ask for previous customer testimonials. You could have to invest your hard-earned money with your AC contractor, so invest a little time and research to ensure they are the best company for you.
Myth 6: It costs you more to turn your thermostat to a higher temperature while you’re not at home.
Long-term, it will actually cost you more to leave the thermostat at a cooler temperature throughout the day than to increase it 10 degrees while you are away from your home. It usually will not take an exorbitant amount of extra energy to get your home comfortable once you return, depending on variables of the home.
A programmable thermostat lets the temperature to be increased or decreased from a tablet or phone so you can just adjust the temperature cooler before arriving home, so your home is cool and comfy when you enter. This decreases your energy over the course of the day, as well as decreasing your cooling bills.
Myth 7: Always running ceiling fans will help cool your home.
Fans help keep people cool, they don’t truly decrease the temperature of the home by themselves. In fact, fans (comparable to refrigerators) actually heat up homes. The motor that is forcing your fan to run creates heat, which can put heat in the air in your family’s home. An efficient ceiling fan can help level the temperature of the room and may contribute to cooling air by circulating, but if nobody is beneath the fan to feel the breeze, all the fan is doing is blowing through energy and money, especially if the air conditioning system is already on. So keep ceiling fans off when no one is in the room and extra air circulation is unnecessary.
Myth 8: Where the thermostat is installed doesn’t matter.
Thermostats read the temperature surrounding it to choose whether it needs to turn on the AC to cool your home. Installing a thermostat in the bedroom will only make sure that bedroom reaches the temperature that the thermostat is set on. Once that bedroom is cooled, the air conditioner will shut off and the remaining floor or home may be a lot warmer. If the thermostat is placed near a warm window or an appliance, it may always think the temperature is much higher than the living area actually is and keep running your system, raising your cooling bills.
Myth 9: Lowering your thermostat way low will help it cool more quickly.
Lowering your air excessively may only make your air conditioning system work longer, it won’t get to a colder temperature any faster. If your thermostat is says 77, but you really feel better at 75, then put it at 75 and it will run until it reaches that temperature. Putting the thermostat on 73 won’t make it cool to 75 any faster, and it will make your system run longer, wasting money and energy.
Myth 10: It’s acceptable to change your air filter annually.
Depending on the health conditions of the people living in the home, and the type of air filter you use for your AC, your air filter might need to be swapped out as often as every month. Skipping the replacement of the air filter often enough not only means for your AC to work harder and lower efficiency, it could also exacerbate respiratory illnesses like common allergy symptoms.
Call Matz-Rightway today to inquire about your air conditioning system or to set-up your complimentary in-home consultation.