How Often should I clean my Air Conditioner Coils?

This is a frequently asked question in the summer. Many people are confused about how often they should clean their ac coils. Should I clean once a month? Once a year?

Clean My AC Coil

Yuck! Cleaning your ac coils is not fun, but is very important to keeping the air quality up, and saving you money on your air conditioner bill and repairs. After years of build-up, dirt blocks the air conditioner unit from working properly, and can cause overheating which often results in a breakdown of your air conditioner.

Why should I clean at all?

Cleaning your air conditioner coils does a couple of things for you. First, it helps to decrease costly repairs and replacement to your air conditioner. Second, it can decrease your air conditioning bill as a cleaned out air conditioner will do a better job of cooling your home. Third, it can improve the air quality in your home. Keeping your air conditioner coils cleaned will reduce aiborne contaminates. These contaminates decrease the air quality of your home and can lead to heightened sinus irritation as well as increased asthma symptoms. Coil cleaning is necessary in keeping your unit running in perfect condition. How often the coils should be cleaned really comes down to personal preference. Well we are on the subject of decreased air quality, changing the filters in your home regularly will also increase the air quality in your home.

How often should I clean?

Good Question. I hate to say it, but like so many things in life how often you should clean your air conditioner coils is really an it depends answer. Generally, we recommend cleaning your coils at least once every 6 months. You will need to clean more frequently depending on your conditions. Do you live in an area with lots of construction and dust blowing around? Do you have a ton of leaves and other debris coming into contact with your air conditioner coils? If so, you will need to clean your air conditioner coils more frequently. Regardless of how frequently you clean we would highly recommend setting a regular maintenance schedule.

The cleaning process

Insistent on cleaning the air conditioner yourself? Let me give you my strong recommendation first. Call a heating and cooling expert to take a look at your air conditioner. There is a lot more to preparation for the summer than just cleaning your air conditioner coils. An inexpensive visit today can save you a costly repair visit tomorrow, not to mention a decrease in your air conditioner bill throughout the summer.

Having said that, on to cleaning your air conditioner coils. Make sure you turn off the power to your air conditioner. Get a garden hose and wash off the coils from the inside out. Note: this is the quick and easy way to clean your coils. Depending on the level of dirt you may need a more thorough cleaning. You may need your Refrigerant Pressures checked, and you will likely need your blower cleaned out if the coils are dirty. My final advice, get the quick check-up from a professional. The $75-$100 you save is not worth it in the long run.

Live in the Kansas City Area? Call the Olathe Air Conditioning experts at Priced Right Heating and Cooling. Furnaces installed for as little as $1,300. If you have we would be happy to answer them. 913-713-5911

Understanding Fibonacci Sequences

The Fibonacci Series

Let’s takes a look at the Fibonacci series, what it is and how it came about, the Fibonacci series relationship to the Golden mean and surprising prevalence in all of nature.

The number sequence known as the Fibonacci series was “discovered” by an Italian mathematician named Leonardo Pisano. The name Fibonacci is short for filius Bonacci which means “the son of Bonaccio” which makes some sense seeing as his father was named Guglielmo Bonacci. Over time Leonardo began to be known just as Fibonacci.  Just as in a western culture context a son of John simply became known as Johnson.

Put two rabbits together and before you know it you’ve got rabbits, rabbits everywhere. The issue of rabbits and their almost legendary multiplying capabilities has been known of for centuries. Being a mathematician Fibonacci became interested and set out to investigate how fast rabbits could reproduce under ideal circumstances. The results are now known as the Fibonacci series

When you take into consideration that a pair of rabbits reaches maturity in one month and the gestation period is also one month how many pairs will we have at the end of a year?

Month #0 there is 1 pair,

Month #1 the pair has mated but not yet given birth, so we still have I pair.

Month #2 our original pair has given birth, making 2 pairs.

Month #3 the original pairs births again, the second pair mates but they don’t give birth. Now we have three pair.

Month #4 our original gives birth, the pair born in month 2 gives birth and the pair born in month 3 mate giving us 5 pairs.

In month #5 every pair that was alive two months ago gives birth so now we have 8 pairs of rabbits.

I believe you get the idea but just for fun can you determine how many pairs of rabbits we would have at the end of two or three years? Have you determined from our example how the Fibonacci series flows? Every number in the series is the sum of the two numbers preceding it.  It goes like this:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55………… to infinity.

When Fibonacci uncovered the Fibonacci series, I am relatively certain he never knew how this ingenious numbering system occurs literally everywhere. The pattern of florets of a flower, the bracts of a pine cone, or even the scales of a pineapple these numbers are applicable to the growth of every living thing including human beings. For example we have 8 fingers, 5 digits on our hands, 3 bones in each finger, 2 bones in 1 thumb and 1 thumb on each hand. And the ratio between our forearms and our hand is known as the “Golden ratio” or “divine proportion”. The Golden ration is a number approximately 1.618 we know as Phi.

Phi, identified by Euclid two thousand years ago for its role in the construction of the pentagram and the ratio is found throughout nature including the shapes of galaxies containing billions of stars, and yes; even the technical analysis of the financial markets. When we recognize that the ratios of the Fibonacci sequence numbers converge on Phi their importance in how we as traders analyze the markets cannot be understated.

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KC Heating and Cooling

The Dangers of Furnace Repair

All right, you’re a handy guy. You changed your oil, fixed your garbage disposal, and even built that awesome bird house out back. Why shouldn’t you fix the furnace too?
It’s easy to see how Do-It-Yourself furnace repair can be very tempting, but the furnace is very different from the normal repairs you find in a house or car. An error in furnace repair or not properly spotting something could result in serious injury or even death. Unfortunately, you may not even notice there is a problem until it’s too late.

The importance of Experience and proper Tools

The best piece of advice I can give is if you don’t have the necessary experience and tools to properly fix your furnace, or if you are not absolutely sure of what you are doing, please don’t do it! The problem is that many people imagine that they can simply read a furnace repair article online or in a book and that that will be enough to fix any problems. That is untrue. HVAC repair experts actually go through training and schooling in order to master the skills necessary to properly repair furnaces and air conditioners.

The Danger of Injury or Death

The biggest risk of injury or death is from carbon monoxide poisoning. This risk affects not only you but everyone living in your house. Carbon monoxide poisoning can come from several sources but it most commonly comes from cracks in your firebox or heat exchanger. You can’t smell or see carbon monoxide. The most common symptoms are:

* General Symptoms, including dizziness, fatigue, and weakness.

* Neurological Symptoms, such as drowsiness, headache, and disorientation.

* Intestinal or Stomach Problems, including pain, nausea, and vomiting.

* Coronary Conditions, such as chest pain, wheezing, hyperventilation, and heart palpations.

The problem with furnace repair is that you need special tools to ensure that all leaks and other problems are detected. It’s also important to make sure that your furnace flame contains the proper amounts of both gas and air. These items are all covered with a service call. A good company should perform a complete system evaluation and explain your options for repair. They should also offer advice to help you make an informed decision. Finally, they should offer you upfront pricing so that you know what you will be charged.

Cost / Benefit Analysis

So now we come to the heart of the matter, the money. An average service call costs less than $100. How valuable is your time? Even if you can perform the repairs safely, how long will it take to research, take apart the furnace, inspect, repair, and worry if you did everything right? How valuable is your family? Is $100 to have a professional fully inspect your furnace and provide guidance worth your peace of mind? The best HVAC experts perform a complete diagnostic of the system and then provide a competitive quote. Some even offer free second opinions on major repairs.

Is there anything I should do?

YES! Change your furnace filters! The simplest and easiest way to prevent a crack from forming is to prevent your heat exchanger from overheating. This means, regular filter changes and making sure you don’t block your return air register. In addition, make sure that you get routine maintenance on your furnace every year. This will not only protect your family but save you money on repair and heating bills!

Live in the Kansas City Area? Call the KC heating and cooling experts at Priced Right Heating and Cooling. We have over 20+ years of experience. If you have questions we would be happy to answer them. 913-713-5911