Causes of A/C Problems and How to Fix Them

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If your summer in Arlington, TX last year comes like a nightmare due to a malfunctioning A/C, it is probably the experience you don’t want to repeat this year. Now that the 2019’s spring had started and the hot months are inching closer, don’t leave your comfort to chance once again.

Read on below to know the causes of A/C problems and the solutions on how to fix them.

Refrigerant Leaks

As a sealed system, your A/C should not leak refrigerant. But when it does, it could have a great impact on your unit’s efficiency and performance. It can even affect your health due to emitted greenhouse gas. Call a professional A/C service in Arlington, TX to track down refrigerant leaks.

Tripped Breaker

As one of the main causes of no-cool calls in Arlington, TX, a tripped breaker is a simple problem that is best left to the hands of experts. The problem may sound as simple as a bad capacitor, a bad breaker, or loose wiring, but doing them on your own or delaying professional solution can lead to far more expensive repairs.

Turned Off Switch

Some air conditioners, particularly the indoor units come with a wall switch for safety purposes. However, this switch is often confused with a light switch. If you switched it off accidentally, your unit will surely not start. Check your switches if you notice your A/C fails to kick in. If it is not the cause of the problem, call an air conditioning company in Arlington, TX for repairs.

Thermostat Issues

With the switch of weather, your thermostat should also change its mode of operation. Try to recalibrate it at its most efficient setting suited for hot weather. Besides this simple issue, your thermostat can also experience mechanical problems like loose wiring, breaking switch, and voltage spike. When this happens, call the experts right away.

Clogged Drain Line

Besides cooling, your A/C is also capable of pulling the moisture out of humid air inside your home. The moist is drained out, and as it continually works, algae can grow in drain lines and clog them, resulting in water damage. Call your local technician to clear your drain lines.

Don’t let your air conditioner bring you down these hot months. Remember, it is designed to provide comfort; not to make your season stressful and costly. So, if you experience problems with your A/C and need someone to fix it right away, we can help.

Spring HVAC Maintenance Checklist

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Annual maintenance is essential for your heating and cooling system in Arlington, TX. It helps keep your equipment running in peak efficiency, condition, and performance all year long. But what is the ideal season to do annual maintenance? Our experts at Hightower Service recommend doing it in the spring to get your system ready for the extreme summer heat.

Here’s the spring heating and cooling maintenance checklist:

Inspect your air handler to ensure proper operation.
Clean and adjust your blower components for proper airflow and greater comfort level. Take note that poor airflow can reduce your unit’s efficiency by up to 15%.
Change your air filters at least once every three months or whenever necessary.
Inspect all electrical connections and repair broken and exposed wires. Also, measure the current and voltage on motors. Faulty electrical connections can lead to fire hazards and reduced lifespan of your unit’s major parts.
Check the performance of your outdoor fan motor and compressor.
Clean your A/C’s condenser and evaporator coils. Dirty coils can reduce your unit’s performance and cause your system to run much longer, reducing your unit’s lifespan and increasing your energy costs.
Check your refrigerant for low charge or leaks and replace or adjust it whenever possible. Insufficient or too much refrigerant can affect your unit’s efficiency, overall performance, and lifespan.
Check your air conditioner’s drainage hole. It is found at the base of your unit. Use a wire or paper clip to poke through your drainage hole to make sure it is free from blockage.
Check your thermostat’s setting to know if it regulates the most efficient and comfortable temperature level for your home.
Lubricate all the moving parts. Parts without proper lubrication may cause friction and consequently, increase your energy consumption.
Check your HVAC’s condensate drain. A plugged condensate drain may result in water damage and poor humidity levels.
Inspect your system’s controls to ensure safe and proper operation. Check its starting cycle to make sure it starts, runs, and shuts off properly.
Check all gas or oil connections, burner combustion, gas pressure, and heat exchanger to prevent fire hazards and health-related problems due to gas poisoning.
Check your outdoor unit for debris and blockages.
CALL THE EXPERTS! This is the most important tip you should not forget to get all the listed works above properly done.

Our team at Hightower Service have been helping many homeowners in Arlington, TX and nearby locations for all their spring HVAC maintenance needs. We do fast and reliable services without hidden charges. Request a service call today!

Benefits of Aeroseal Duct Sealing in Your Arlington, TX Home

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Do you know that a typical home can lose up to 40% of heating and cooling energy due to leaks, gaps, and holes in the duct system? That is like throwing money out of the window since you have to pay for the energy you did not use. Lower your energy cost while enjoying greater comfort and savings with Aeroseal duct sealing.

Here are the benefits of Aeroseal duct sealing in your Arlington, TX home:

Better Sealing Technology

The Department of Energy has called Aeroseal’s patented technology as one of the most beneficial energy technologies designed for American consumers. Besides being effective and affordable, Aeroseal is also known for its innovative sealing application for residential and commercial ducts. Technicians inject smog of aerosolized sealant particles into sealed ductworks. The particles adhere together, block the gaps, and seal the duct holes from the inside.

Improves Home Safety

Poor indoor air quality can put your and your family’s health at risk. Dander, dust, and other air irritants can trigger allergies while mold spores can cause damage to your home’s structure. By improving your ductwork sealing through Aeroseal technology and by investing in indoor air quality products, you can reduce the occurrence of health risks and improve your home’s safety.

Improves Energy Efficiency

Leaks present in your duct allow the conditioned or heated air to seep into attic or crawlspace. This scenario does no good to you and your family’s comfort. Besides discomfort, it can also leave you empty pocket. Improve your duct sealing with Aeroseal technology to keep the heated or conditioned air in and pay less on your monthly energy bill.

Improves Home Comfort

Leaks in your ductwork rob the heated or conditioned air from rooms. If you notice hot and cold spots in selected areas of your house, chances are your ductwork may be damaged or poorly sealed. Aeroseal duct sealing can keep all areas of your home comfortable by preventing hot and cold spots and balancing the temperature throughout.

Need Aeroseal Duct Sealing in Your Arlington, TX Home?

Our team at Hightower Service, Inc. can help if your goal is to improve home comfort, energy efficiency, and home safety. Using Aeroseal technology for duct sealing, we can get back comfort and savings you once lost. Set your appointment with us today!

Signs & Symptoms of a Bad Capacitor on a Gas Furnace Blower

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The blower motor in your furnace blows hot air through the ducts and into your home. Its capacitor works like a battery and stores the energy needed by the blower to work properly. But with a bad capacitor, your blower cannot function well and may put your family’s comfort at risk.

A bad or faulty capacitor can exhibit many signs and symptoms. Read on to know some of them:

Humming Sounds

The humming sounds created by the blower are indications that the capacitor has electrical problems. There’s no other way for you to capture the issue, but to listen closely to your blower. To do this, turn up your thermostat and wait for the heating system’s blower to start up. Using a screwdriver, open your furnace’ access panel and then lean close to your blower’s housing to hear the strange noise inside. If you hear a humming sound, schedule a professional inspection immediately.

No Power

A bad capacitor prevents the blower from functioning completely. If your unit stops working and you suspect the issue roots from your capacitor, check it right away. Before checking, make sure the fuse that controls the heating system is switched ON. Once the furnace receives power, turn up your thermostat and observe if your blower starts to work within the next few minutes. If you see no response coming from it, your capacitor is definitely failing. For complete inspection and diagnosis of your capacitor, call the experts.

Erratic Motor Operation

Since your capacitor acts like a battery and holds the charge necessary for the blower motor to run properly, it should always stay in peak condition at all times. But with a bad capacitor, your blower motor might run slowly, get extremely hot, and work strangely. Now, if you notice your heating system’s motor frequently short cycles or acts weird, call the experts to test the capacitor.

Do not let your furnace unit bring you down this winter season just because of a simple capacitor issue. A simple problem like this, however, can cost you a lot when left unchecked for a long time. So before the problem gets worse, contact your local heating and cooling company. Our team at Hightower Service, Inc. helps fix the issue with your capacitor. We can do some test to determine whether your capacitor requires repair or replacement. It is your comfort that matters to us most this cold season. So set your appointment with us today!

3 Energy-Saving Thermostat Setting Tips for Winter

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Arlington, TX is now experiencing the cold! While some homeowners are outside doing fun winter activities, others are stuck inside their homes figuring out how they can make their space sustainably comfortable and efficient. On a cold winter day, sometimes it only requires a correct thermostat setting to feel comfortable and save on energy consumption.

Here are the three (3) energy-saving thermostat setting tips you can follow this winter:

Set Your Thermostat’s Fan Setting to Auto

Your thermostat has AUTO and ON switches that allow you to control the device fan. When selecting a setting, we recommend the AUTO so you can find a balance between energy efficiency and comfort. The AUTO setting tells your system fan to run only during the heating cycles, and once the target temperature is met, your thermostat signals your heating unit and fan to shut off. This setting helps you save energy because the fan does not run constantly.

But if the system is set to ON, your heating unit’s blower might keep running, and the cold air might blow through your vents. This results in an uncomfortable indoor environment and bigger energy usage.

Set Your Thermostat to 68 Degrees

You can keep the costs in check and save more energy by keeping the temperature at 68 degrees during the day. According to Energy.gov, reducing your thermostat’s temperature from 10 to 15 degrees for 8 hours a day can help you lower your energy consumption from 5 to 15% each year. Depending on your comfort requirement, one good idea to consider is reducing your thermostat’s temperature at night while everyone is asleep or during the day when everyone is out for school or work.

Use a Programmable Thermostat

A programmable thermostat could be your valuable solution if you are serious about saving energy. Installing the device in your home lets you program your temperature without manually changing the setting throughout the day and night. It automatically adjusts the temperature inside your home multiple times.

You can manually override its automatic setting when needed without interrupting your daily programming. Depending on your schedule, the device can easily while automatically reducing the heat if you are at work or asleep and raise it when you are about to come home.

Here at Hightower Service, Inc., we help educate our clients on how they can save energy as part of our heating and cooling services. If you need more energy-saving tips for your specific problem, feel free to contact us, and we’ll be glad to hear your story.

How a Dirty Furnace Filter Can Affect Your Comfort and Savings this Winter?

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It’s not every day that you think of your furnace air filter until it gets dirty and causes problems in your unit and living space. This cold season, consider including filter cleaning and replacement on your priority list to avoid costly repair issues.

Here are the problems caused by a dirty furnace filter this winter:

Obstructed Airflow

Most homeowners ignore replacing their air filters as long as they feel the heat from their units. What they don’t know is that they are not getting the most of efficient and proper heating due to obstructed airflow. Blocked airflow does not only consume more energy but can also cause stress to the vital components of the unit as it doubles the effort to meet your heating demands.

Uneven Indoor Temperature

Hot and cold spots can occur inside your home if proper airflow is restricted by the clogged or dirty air filter. The dirt, debris, and other tiny particles accumulating and thriving on your air filter can cause temperature imbalance in each room, resulting in great discomfort to you and your family.

Skyrocketing Energy Bill

Clogged air filter plus the excessive effort of your unit is equal to a high energy bill. Clogged air filter unquestionably causes your unit to work harder to meet your comfort needs this winter. As it doubles the effort, it also doubles the utility cost you receive every month. Bring back the normal operation of your furnace by changing its air filter regularly.

Costly Unit Repair or Early Replacement

A clogged air filter may sound like a simple thing and replacing it could solve the issue right away. But the problem is many homeowners tend to ignore this simple DIY task. They only realize their negligence when they are facing costly unit repair or early replacement.

Poor Indoor Air Quality

A good indoor air quality is important for your health. However, this is often compromised due to a dirty air filter. If your unit operates with a clogged filter, it can blow contaminated air inside your home and increase the risk of respiratory illnesses, allergies, and other health problems. So be sure to keep your furnace filter clean to protect your family from potential health risks.

You don’t need to be an expert to replace your air filter at home. All you need to do is to change the old and dirty air filter with the new one at least once every month. If you have more questions about indoor air quality and proper airflow, call our team at Hightower Service, Inc. today.

5 Steps to Ductless Heat Pump Deep Cleaning

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Have you ever wondered how professionals perform a deep cleaning on ductless heat pumps? Are you curious about the steps they do to achieve the cleanest possible result for your unit? Let us take a look! Our experts at Hightower Service, Inc. will reveal the cleaning steps to let you understand how we tackle your dirty unit at home. Read on to know how!

Step One: Install the Plastic Protective Splash Bib

The front cover of your indoor ductless heat pump unit is removed first. After that, the custom bib is applied at the top and bottom part of your unit to protect your floor and walls from used cleaners and water during the cleaning process.

Step Two: Apply A Coil Cleaner

After attaching the custom bib, a foaming coil cleaner is applied in your coil. Allow it to sit there for a few minutes. The solution removes the stubborn dust and dirt that had accumulated in your unit for quite some time. Eliminating the debris ensures efficient operation and guarantees that your fan can absorb enough heat as it blows.

Step Three: Use a Coil Cleaner to the Unit

When the cleaner has spread all over the place, we can now spray it off. Here is when the installed bib becomes useful. The water used to spray or clean your unit runs through the plastic bib and into the bucket or any container placed on the floor. This ensures that your floor and wall won’t become messy throughout the cleaning process.

Step Four: Spray the Barrel Fan

You may never know it, but your barrel fan is where most of the gunk, dirt and other debris are hiding. You will be surprised to see the amount of dirt living there as they are removed from the fan. Now, to take the dirt out, the barrel fan is sprayed using pressured water.

Step Five: Reassemble the Unit

Once cleaning is done, all the dismantled parts are wiped clean, dried out, and reassembled. After reassembling the parts, the unit is turned on to give you fresher and cleaner air. And before leaving your home, murky water and collected dirt are disposed, so you don’t need to worry about disposing of them.

That’s it! So whether you have a new or old heat pump unit at home, you should talk to your local HVAC company to conduct a deep cleaning service for it. Speak with our team here at Hightower Service, Inc. to get a heat pump deep cleaning done. Call us today!

Programmable Thermostat vs. Smart Thermostat: Which Is Right For You?

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Buying a new thermostat is not an easy task and often, you would see yourself stuck in the middle of too many exciting options. Two of the sought-after choices available in the market today are the programmable thermostats and smart thermostats. You can upgrade to any of these devices to seamlessly customize your indoor comfort and curb the wasted energy this cold season.

But before you decide to buy one to pair with your heating system, make sure to understand some considerations so you can avoid buyer’s remorse in the end. On this post, we will highlight the points about these thermostats, so you will know which one is best for you.

Programmable Thermostats

Programmable thermostats are great when it comes to energy saving and customization. You are free to set your preferred temperature each day, and you don’t need to worry about manually adjusting the temperature because you’re all set as the days get a bit colder. These devices understand your comfort preferences, and they carry out necessary temperature shifts to make your home livable throughout the winter season. By automatically turning the temperature up and down, you can surely save money on energy bills.

Things to Consider When Using Programmable Thermostats:

These devices have higher upfront costs, and they are more complicated compared to other equipment.
You need to talk with a pro before buying to make sure that these devices are matched with your current HVAC system.
You need to understand correct temperature programming to enjoy 100% functionality of programmable thermostats.
Hire an expert to install a programmable thermostat for your home.

Smart Thermostats

Smart thermostats can help eliminate human error in adjusting the temperature and they have become the top choice of many modern and environmentally-savvy homeowners. With these devices, you can schedule and control the temperature (using a smartphone, app, and Wi-Fi) even if you are away. You can even receive energy reports and notifications if the air filter needs replacement.

Things to Consider When Using Smart Thermostats:

Smart thermostats can only be installed if you don’t have other temperature-controlling equipment (like a programmable thermostat) used at home.
These devices are best to use for smart homes.
Expert setup and installation are necessary for these devices.

Can’t Decide? Speak With the Pro!

Buying the best thermostat for your home is crucial, and if you do not want to end up spending money for nothing, you need to make better decisions before purchasing. Hightower Service, Inc. can help you select and install the best thermostat that fit your budget and comfort needs. Call us to get started!

5 Easy Weekend Projects that Help Reduce Heating Cost

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High energy prices plus extremely chilly temperatures can equal terrifyingly high heating costs. This has been the mutual calculation that many homeowners expect prior to the cold season. But issues like these do not need to bother you this winter! If you want to beat the icy weather and save more cash at the same time, clear your schedule for the next weekend to begin simple home improvement tasks.

Here are some easy weekend projects that will help cut your heating cost:

Spot and Repair the Air Leaks

Small gaps and cracks around your doors, windows, fireplace, ceiling, and walls can let the cool air seep in. Spend a little time this weekend to spot these cracks and repair them using weather stripping, caulk or spray foam. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, sealing these air leaks can make you save energy by up to 30%.

Invest In Programmable Thermostat

Programmable thermostats can help you regulate your indoor temperature and control how your heating system works even if you are away from home. With that, you are guaranteed with a cost-efficient way to curb your heating costs.

Seal Your Heating Ducts

According to the Consumer Reports, nearly 40% of heated air is wasted with leaky ducts. So, have your ducts checked by professionals and seal the spotted leaks using duct sealing technology. Not only does it give you improved indoor comfort, but it also maximizes your annual saving up to $850.

Add Insulation

Properly insulated attics and floor openings can result in great energy savings. According to the Consumer Reports, insulation can help close the gaps in the surfaces and prevent the “stack effect” from happening. The U.S. Department of Energy also noted that insulation is among the most effective ways to reduce energy wastage. So, make sure to call your local contractor to perform professional insulation this weekend.

Schedule a Heating System Tune-Up

One reason why you need to get a tune-up is to be sure that your unit is working as efficiently as possible. Efficient operation means your unit consumes less energy and you save a lot of cash on your heating bills. Call your local HVAC contractor now to get your heating system ready for the cold season and let it operate at its most efficient possible condition.

While some of these home improvement tasks simply require a little expertise for DIY works, others might necessitate professional efforts. If you need assistance, Hightower Service, Inc. can help you and your neighbors in Arlington, TX and surrounding areas lower your heating costs. Set your appointment with us this weekend!

Different Types of Furnaces Explained

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Furnaces are considered the most economical and efficient systems available for home heating. While this brilliant money-saving benefit seems prevalent, many Arlington, TX homeowners are not aware that furnaces come with different varieties. Explore your options so when you have to buy a new unit soon, you are sure which one to pick.

Here are the different types of furnaces available for you.

Gas Furnaces

Gas furnaces are less expensive and installing them is easy-peasy. Unlike electric-powered units, gas furnaces can cost less when based on the price per unit measurement. Before buying this unit, make sure you are living close to a gas network to make the most of cost-efficient heating. Here are the common types of gas furnaces:

Single-Staged Furnaces

Standard single-staged furnaces contain gas valves that open and close during the operation. The gas that flows into the unit is consistent at a high rate and it cannot be adjusted. In the market, potential buyers can find lots of efficient single-staged furnaces that will only utilize around 80% fuel per year.

Two-Staged Furnaces

Unlike the one we have above, two-staged furnaces can work both at low and high rate. This feature makes the unit completely adjustable and convenient to use. If you have a thermostat at home, you can use this unit with it. Let your thermostat read the heating load of your home so you can adjust it with your furnace.

Oil Furnaces

Oil furnaces are ideal to use for homeowners without access to renewable fuels. Oil heating is considered the safest way to heat your home during the cold months. Fuel oils are the stable, non-explosive, and combustible products that address some of the safety concerns, which surround other forms of fuels.

Electric Furnaces

Electric furnaces are using the heat to equally dispense warm air inside your home. Inside the unit, you can find 3 to 7 heated electric resistance coils. With the help of these coils, the unit moves the air through your ductwork system and your home. Electric furnaces require less maintenance and they are less expensive than other furnaces. Also, this is the best option if you are away from a gas network site.

Contact Our Furnace Experts at Hightower Service, Inc.

Any of these furnaces can provide dependable heating for you and your family at home. But the question is: Which one of them will suit best to your needs and budget? Here at Hightower Service, Inc., we help you make a sound choice if the need to replace your old heating system has arisen. Contact our team today!