There are several factors to consider when choosing an AC contractor. Remember, a quality installation is vital to the long term good health of your new system. A poorly installed heat pump or furnace will drastically lower the efficiency of the system and result in less-than-expected savings on your energy bill. How do you ensure that your contractor will properly install your new system?

The answer is simple. Although most homeowners are unaware, installing an AC system requires the issuance of a mechanical permit from the City or County Building Department. It is the responsibility of the contractor to purchase this permit and to install all equipment in accordance with the strict guidelines of the Florida Mechanical Code. Upon completion of your installation, a mechanical inspector from the city (or county) will come to your home and inspect all work done by the contractor. Any code violations and/or substandard work will be listed by the inspector and must be corrected by the contractor before the work will be approved. This is an important protection that all homeowners should utilize when purchasing a new AC system.

Greens Energy Services routinely pulls permits on all new installations. Our customers know that Greens is committed to installing all new equipment under the most stringent guidelines and in full compliance to all applicable codes and regulations. Upon completion of the installation our Start-up technician performs a comprehensive check of all new equipment to ensure not only that it is operating properly but also that it is totally code compliant. An appointment is then made for the mechanical inspector to come to the home and inspect our work.

Unfortunately, many local contractors prefer to do their work without obtaining a permit. Last year an estimated 60-70% of new AC installations were done without any type of permit being pulled. This allows the contractor to install equipment without having to follow the mechanical or electrical codes or have their work inspected by a third party. Pay attention homeowners. Do not allow your AC contractor to tell you that a permit is “not required” or “unnecessary”. It is an important protection for you and any contractor who refuses to permit his work certainly does not have his customer’s best interests in mind.

Many utility company and consumer tip websites recommend having a certified technician check and service your air conditioner on a regular basis to find and eliminate potential problems before they cause costly and unexpected breakdowns. Most major manufacturers’ warranty programs even mandate regular preventive maintenance for their extended warranty agreements to be honored!

Few things are as unpleasant on a hot summer (or a cold winter) day as coming home to find that it’s actually more comfortable outdoors than inside your house! “What’s this going to cost?”, or “How long will it take to get this fixed?” are common questions asked in response to the anxiety felt when an unexpected repair need is encountered. Regular maintenance is a good way to help prevent this from happening. A year round maintenance plan like Green’s “Energy Saving Agreement” provides for proactively scheduled service calls to clean and check your system. Our technicians are factory trained to maintain and adjust your system for peak performance and energy efficiency.

Dirty coils waste electricity and contribute to expensive (and preventable) repairs by reducing air flow. Keeping coils clean is the key to long-term, reliable operation, and healthy air. That’s why we include it in our preventive maintenance schedule. Cleaning coils proactively (before they get dirty to the point of having to be removed from the system for a high pressure washing) saves hundreds of dollars in the cost of the cleaning alone, not to mention the energy that is wasted by operating a system with plugged up coils.

In addition to the maintenance of the heat transfer surfaces of the system, we’ll check all of the electrical and refrigerant circuit components for proper operation to make sure that your system is working to peak performance and capacity. At the completion of the service, we’ll present you with an inspection report detailing the condition of your system and any recommendations we have for corrective action, if required.

There’s one more benefit to join our family of “Energy Saving Agreement” customers. We extend a 15% discount on parts and labor to all of our planned service customers for their system repairs. So call us today, and let us help you start saving time and money on your home comfort needs.

You’ll be glad you did.

In April of this year my A/C broke. When I was told I needed to buy a completely new A/C system I wasn’t very happy. Obviously right now no one wants to spend money, but this is Florida and cool air is crucial. I was presented with prices for for the cheapest unit and some energy efficient units. The energy efficient units were more expensive and I was looking for the cheapest A/C unit I could find.

Then I was told about the rebates I could receive for an energy efficient A/C unit:

• One from the manufacturer of the A/C system
• One from FPL
• a $1,500 tax credit

After the rebates I spent only $700 more for a 17 SEER, energy efficient system. I was told that I would save a lot of money on my A/C bills (we had been paying an average of $550 a month;$650-$700 over the summer). I was expecting to save about $100 a month, but when I got my first bill I was beyond thrilled to see a $200 electric bill. This summer our bills never went over $280, which meant we were saving over $400 a month!

I have to admit that I didn’t believe the sales people when they told me that I would save a lot of money. Sales people always promise things and they don’t always happen, but in this case my home is cold all the time, we keep it at 73, and my electric bills are so much cheaper.

I couldn’t be happier and I recommend Greens energy and energy efficient A/C systems  to every one now.

J.L. Miller

Help me with home energy savings

HLN Money Expert Clark Howard
For more tips, visit CNN.com/ClarkHoward

STEPHEN:
The heating system and air conditioning in my house is 21 years old. A contractor has told me that I can spend $5,700 on a new gas furnace that will be 90% efficient and a heat pump that will be 15 seer. This will qualify me for the $1,500 tax credit for energy savings. Is it worthwhile for me to make this investment?

CLARK:
If you plan to stay in your house for a lengthy period of time, it will pay off for you right now with the bonus of the tax credit. And it will definitely pay off for you over the long haul in what you’ll save on energy in winter and summer. But you have to patient, because it is “eventually”. You’re not going to make this money back in two or three years. Depending on the climate where you live and the relative cost versus the energy bills you’re paying now, it could be a 10-year payback. If you want to get a feel for that, go to energystar.gov and look at their calculators to see if the payback is a reasonable period for the length you plan to own your home.

First and foremost, check your air conditioning filter to see if it is dirty and if so, remove the dirty filter and install a new filter. Plugged filters restrict air flow by creating a pressure drop.

Next, walk around your house to see if any cold air returns have anything such as couches, rugs or cabinets obstructing the vent. If anything is obstructing the vent, then remove these obstructions so that the cold air return, which is an air intake, can draw in enough air.

Last, but not least, walk around your home to check to see if all supply registers (heat vents that blows out air) are open. All supply registers should be open.

A popular homeowner misnomer is that by shutting off certain vents throughout the house will cause other vents to blow harder. This simply is not true, because CFM (a measurement of air flow, cubic feet per minute) is determined by the pipes diameter and only so much CFM can ever blow out due to the size of the round, regardless if other registers are shut off or not. Shutting down too many supply registers usually causes more harm than good by creating pressurization problems with the overall duct system that, in an extreme case, can actually cause your system to short cycle on a high limit whereby, increasing the cost on your utility bill while working key HVAC components and parts to reduce their life expectancy.

Greens Energy Orlando Offers:

• Residential Air Conditioning Services
• Commercial Air Conditioning Services
• Commercial and Residential Heating Services
• Petroleum Supplies and Equipment – Residential and Commercial
• Backup Generators
• Emergency Repair Services
• View our online specials

Set your thermostat to 78 and keep the fan switch on auto while you are home during the summer months

Move the thermostat to 82 when you are not home when running your air conditioning

Keep thermostat at 68 while heat is running

Lower thermostat to 65 when you are not home while running your heater

Have a programmable thermostat installed

Use ceiling fans. Turn them off when you leave the room.

Clean your Air conditioning filter once a month

Keep your inside doors and vents open to allow the air to circulate more efficiently.

Keeping the blinds and drapes closed during the day will help prevent solar gain

Have your duct system checked for leaks

Consider replacing old unit and install Energy Star qualified model

Weather strip around A/C unit
Weather strip around doors, windows.