HVAC & Generator Blog | First Choice Heating & Cooling

What You Didn’t Know About the Efficiency of Electric Furnaces

September 26th, 2022

Efficiency. It’s one of the big buzzwords of the 21st century. When people shop for home appliances, they look for efficient devices that can lower energy demands and help the environment. Efficiency ratings can create confusion for homeowners, however, and one good example is with furnaces.

Furnaces are the most common type of heating system found in residential buildings, and they account for an enormous amount of either natural gas or electricity consumption during a year. The right high-efficiency furnace can make a huge difference in utility bills. Unfortunately, when it comes to electric furnace efficiency, people unfamiliar with how efficiency ratings work can make assumptions about how much energy the furnace could potentially save. We’ll clear up this misunderstanding to help you look for the right electric furnace for your household.

The Incredible Secret of Geothermal Heating and Cooling

September 12th, 2022

geothermal-heat-pump-diagram Geothermal heating and cooling may seem a bit like magic to homeowners—especially for homeowners who only recently found out that a geothermal HVAC system is a possibility for them and not something that’s out of reach. A geothermal heat pump has much greater energy efficiency than a standard air source heat pump, and it manages to pull off this trick through the simple concept of placing loops down in the ground rather than having the heat pump release and draw heat from the outside air.

What makes using the earth so much more efficient than the air? We’ll let you in on the secret in this post…

Why Your AC Won’t Shut Off

August 15th, 2022

air-conditioner-plastic-grill When it’s hot, you want your air conditioning system to run for as long as necessary to get your house cool. There is such a thing as too long, however! Air conditioners are designed to run in cycles where the compressor comes on for 15–20 minutes and then cycles down until the thermostat registers the need for more cooling. If you start to notice that your AC never seems to cycle down or the fan runs continuously, you may need to have air conditioning repair in Brighton, MI.

Signs Your AC’s Compressor May Be in Trouble

August 1st, 2022

Close-up of an air conditioner unit with exposed components for AC compressor replacement.

The second half of summer often places major strain on home air conditioning systems. The heat increases and forces more work from an AC that’s already done plenty of it. Routine maintenance in spring goes a long way to helping an air conditioner make it through this time of the year, but maintenance isn’t magic. We recommend you pay attention to strange behavior from your AC at the end of summer and call us for air conditioning repair in Burton, MI when anything crops up. Spring is ideal for getting your AC tuned up, so problems like compressor strain are less likely later in the season.

For example, a part of your AC that can encounter problems from wear and tear at the end of the season is the compressor. This is the most vital part of an air conditioning system because if it fails, it’s often more cost-effective to replace the entire AC rather than just the compressor. If you catch compressor issues in time, our technicians may be able to rescue it with less expensive repairs. Issues like refrigerant loss can damage compressors quickly if left unresolved.

Is a Zone Control System a Good Choice for Your House?

July 18th, 2022

inside-air-duct When it comes to central heating systems and central air conditioners in Fenton, MI, we’re the local HVAC team you can trust. One special service we offer to improve HVAC systems is adding zone controls. A zone control system allows a homeowner to set the heating and cooling system so it only sends conditioned air to certain rooms and not others. We can install zone controls as part of a new HVAC system, and we can also retrofit older HVAC systems to make use of them.

Zone controls provide a number of great advantages to improve comfort, convenience, and energy use in a house. Not all homes will get the same benefit from zone controls, however. In this post, we’ll help you see if zone controls are a good option for your home.

The Sounds of an AC in Good Shape

July 4th, 2022

woman-listening In previous blogs, we’ve listed several ways you can detect if your air conditioner is in trouble and needs rapid repair service from our professionals. Odds sounds coming from the AC are one the most common warning signs of trouble.

But this brings up a good question: what sounds should you hear coming from your air conditioner when it’s running well? You probably don’t think about it that much because an air conditioner working as it’s supposed to will often fade into the background of your mind. To help you better understand when your AC needs repairs, we’ll look at what your AC sounds like when it doesn’t need repairs.

Comparing Tank and Tankless Water Heaters

June 20th, 2022

tankless-water-heater-small-on-wall We offer a range of models of water heaters in Burton, MI for our customers. There are two broad options: the conventional and familiar storage tank water heater, and the less common tankless water heater. Both types have benefits and drawbacks, and there is no automatic “right” answer for which is better for your home. You’ll need our water heater experts to help you discover whether a tank or tankless water heater fits your household’s needs and your short-and-long-term budget plans. To get you started, we’ll provide a basic rundown of the strengths and weaknesses and these water heaters.

How Much Electricity Does Your AC Use?

June 6th, 2022

piles-of-money Summer is a time when people see a rise in their electric bills. There are several reasons for increased electrical use after the lull of spring, but the biggest source is air conditioning systems. When you start to run the AC in your home for the first month of summer heat, you know you can expect to see a rise on your next electric bill.

There are ways you can keep this under check. We recommend always having air conditioning maintenance done in spring to stop the AC from declining in energy efficiency. As soon as you notice anything wrong with your cooling system, call us for AC repair in Burton, MI—not just to prevent the system from breaking down, but to keep the malfunction from draining energy. Maintain a steady setting of 78°F on the thermostat during the day when people are home.

But no matter what conservation steps you take, you’ll still see an increase in electrical use because of how much electricity the AC consumes to run. And how much is that…?

6 Misconceptions About Geothermal Cooling and Heating

May 23rd, 2022

geothermal-energy-concept Although geothermal HVAC systems are becoming more common for homes, this technology is still new to many. Because of this, people often have misconceptions about how geothermal heating and cooling works and how useful it is.

We’re going to look at six of the major misunderstandings about geothermal heating and cooling.

How Dirty Coils Affect Your Air Conditioning

May 9th, 2022

ac-coils We’ve already written our seasonal blog to remind our customers about the importance of scheduling regular air conditioning maintenance with our technicians. But an extra reminder never hurts, and in this case we want to talk about one of the essential jobs we do during maintenance and why it’s so important—cleaning the refrigerant coils of an AC.