Category Archives: AC

Summer does not usually have mercy and hot days accumulate one after another, so the need for a breath of fresh air becomes essential, especially when summer is spent in the city. The hottest season of the year coincides with the high season of air conditioning purchases, as they are the quintessential solution to the ravages of high temperatures.

Its use in the home, which has spread considerably in the last decade, implies taking certain considerations before acquiring the equipment: From the type of air conditioning to the refrigerators, there are different parameters to consider before choosing the correct option and not die of heat in the attempt.

A very small piece of equipment can operate in a forced way, spending a lot of electrical energy and, consequently, generating a greater economic cost. The solution is not to choose a very large piece of equipment either because reaching the programmed temperature very quickly can make it start and brake all the time.

To know how many fridges the air conditioning has to be, you have to multiply the cubic meters of the room (m2 * height) by 50. Example: a 20 m2 room with a height of 2.5 m has then 50 m3. That room would need an air of 2,500 fridges: 50 m3 x 50.

Before launching into the first offer you find, that there are at this time of year, we leave you a series of tips so you know which AC unit is the one that best suits your needs.

-The types:

The so-called split is the most common for installation at home. Their preference is based not only on their very good performance but also that they are the easiest to install since the internal and external units are easy to mount and only a small hole in the wall is required to pass the pipes of the refrigeration system.

There are also so-called window or compact air conditioners, more and more in disuse because their installation is somewhat more complex, due to the extra cost that a masonry work requires since the external and internal units are part of a single module. Their performance is less than that of the split and their technology is somewhat more outdated, making it less and less frequent to see them in homes.

A third option for the home environment are portable air conditioners, which need a window for the hose and are usually much louder and less powerful. There are several types, some include condensation air outlet and water evacuation in the same tube; others eject separately, and some add an outdoor unit. The tubes must be connected to the window to expel the hot air, for this purpose, a kit is usually included that makes installation simple, sealing the opening and preventing it from re-entering the room.

-The fridges

When choosing a piece of equipment, it is important to pay special attention to the fridges, since these allow you to have a reference to the unit’s cooling capacity. It is usually used as an equivalent of a negative kilocalorie since it measures the absorption of heat. It is worth noting that in other countries the BTU (British Thermal Unit) is used as a measure, which is equivalent to 0.252 kcal: a frigory (or kilocalorie) is equivalent to about 4 BTUs.

A quick calculation to know the approximate number of refrigerations necessary for the refrigeration of a room is to take its cubic meters (length x width x height) as a base and then multiply it by 50. For example, a room 4 meters wide, by 5 long and 2.5 high results in 50 cubic meters; therefore, a minimum of 2,500 fridges will be needed to optimally refrigerate it.

-Inverter?

The Inverter is an electronic component that alters the speed of the compressor. This technology allows you to reach the desired temperature more quickly (the motor works up to 30% above its power in this phase) and regulates the compressor so that it slows down to the minimum necessary to maintain these values, making it possible greater energy savings. Thus, the temperature fluctuations are reduced and a margin between + 1ºC and -1ºC is maintained. Whenever the budget allows it, it is convenient to choose a unit equipped with an Inverter, since it guarantees better performance and lowers energy consumption.

-Consumption

The consumption of the air conditioners is estimated through the EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio); the higher the number, the greater the efficiency and the lower the unit’s operating cost. This index is also reflected in letters, with A being the most efficient and G being the least efficient. Today, practically all splits are in the A and B range for cooling and A, B, and C for heating. It is important to take this index into account to be sure that the equipment purchased guarantees efficient consumption.

Finally, do not fall into the temptation of equipment on offer that does not satisfy our needs 100 percent; Fortunately, reviews, and forums abound on the internet with information on almost all the equipment available on the market, so it is good to research and know the product well before making the final decision. An extra tip: It is always better to go ahead and buy in winter when prices are usually lower.

There are many factors that go into the formula to calculate the refrigeration of air conditioning that an AC unit must have to cool an environment. With this value we will be able to know which air conditioning to buy, remembering that the interior temperature sought is less than 25ºC.

Next, we will see what the factors are and how they influence the formula to calculate the fridges or watts of our air conditioning equipment. It is important to mention that the same formula applies to a split, mini-split, air conditioning, or portable equipment.

To make an approximate calculation of the power that an air conditioning unit needs to have to cool a room, it is necessary to take into account some factors. Below we explain what they are and how they intervene in the calculation.

Surface conductivity

Each material has a different conductivity of heat, depending on how much heat it passes through. Then, a different K constant is assigned depending on whether the walls are insulated or not and whether the windows have a single or double glass.

The value that the constant K will take is:

• 0.692 (W / m2 / ºC), when the walls are insulated.
• 1.09 (W / m2 / ºC), when the walls are not insulated.
• 5.8 (W / m2 / ºC), when the windows have a simple glass.
• 1.62 (W / m2 / ºC), when the windows have a double glass.

Surface to air conditioning

At this point we have to calculate the square meters of each wall, separating those that are isolated from those that are not. The surface of each window must also be calculated, differentiating those with double or single glass. Nor should we forget to add the surface of the ceiling and the floor. We will assign the letter S to the total surface to be air-conditioned.

Maximum outside temperature

Depending on the area where the house is located, it will have a maximum outdoor temperature in summer and winter. If we want to refrigerate, we are interested in knowing the thermal amplitude between the internal temperature that we want to obtain and the maximum external temperature in summer.

For example, if the desired interior temperature is 25ºC and the maximum in summer is 40ºC, the thermal amplitude, indicated as ΔT will be 15.

Air conditioning power calculation formula

When we have the calculation of the three previous factors, we can calculate without any problem the power that the refrigeration equipment would have to have to achieve a temperature below 25ºC.

The formula is as follows: P = K x S x (ΔT)

P indicates the power in kW, K is the material conductivity constant, S the surface, and ΔT the thermal amplitude.

Ventilation

Although this calculation is basic, it will give us an idea of ​​what air conditioning to buy for a certain room. But there are other factors that also intervene in the power calculation is the ventilation of the room.

Through this formula, heat loss due to air renewal is calculated.

PVentilation = (Specific weight of air x Specific heat of air) / 0.86 x V (number of vents) x ΔT between indoor and outdoor air.

The value obtained through this calculation is added to the power obtained.

Flashing coefficient

The letter C defines what is called the flashing coefficient and is intended to provide a little security to the power calculation. C varies from 1 to 2, depending on how much the home is used. The less you use the more the blinking coefficient will be.

So, if the house is used daily, C = 1.1, on the other hand, a weekend house will have a value of 1.4. This coefficient is multiplied by the total power of the calculated house.

If the air conditioner works perfectly, it is very likely that the cause is that it does not have enough power to remove heat from the environment.

In those cases, it is very useful to know how to calculate the refrigeration of an AC. In case the air conditioning has enough power, the problem can be found in poor maintenance.

Among the most common reasons for a lack of maintenance are the following: lack of cleaning in filters, lack of gas, among others.

Generally, when we see that the air conditioning does not cool we tend to think that the problem lies in the lack of gas, we mistakenly think that the gas in an air conditioning must be changed, replaced or recharged from time to time.

However, there are times when this thought is quite incorrect since if the air conditioning installation is well done and no pipes have been broken by friction, vibrations, etc., the gas should not be lost and could remain inside the machine. and installation for years.

For these cases, it is important to observe in general each of the possible factors that make our air conditioning unit not cool and discard one by one. Guisan brings you a simplified guide of possible reasons why this happens:

Gas leak

This is one of the most common possibilities of why the window air conditioner does not cool. Although it is equally valid for split or duct air conditioners, the gas leak can be or can be found in 3 parts of our air conditioning, in the refrigeration installation (copper pipes and connections/welds), in the outdoor unit or in the unit interior, the first being the most common for units that have been installed for a short time and the last two for units that have been installed for a longer time.

Dirty filters

Many people forget that keeping some filters clean is essential not only for the correct operation of the unit but also to reduce consumption, not to force the operation of the machine and maintain a cleaner environment since these are in charge of filter the air in our home.

Dirty indoor fan

Another problem although much less common is the accumulation of dirt in the fan (impeller) of the indoor unit, this problem usually occurs with much more virulence in the only cold units and less in the heat pump units, it is also more common in Smoking environments, factories or premises where sprays such as lacquers or paints are used since they help fix dirt, this cleaning is a very easy way to fix an air conditioning that does not cool if you forget to do it, since It may be that your problem if your air gets too cold.

Dirty interior or exterior exchanger

If we have talked about the importance of keeping clean filters in our air conditioning for its correct operation, the same or more important thing is to keep the exchangers clean, since that is how its name indicates where the exchange of cold or heat occurs and is a fundamental part of our air conditioning equipment, all window, splits or duct air conditioning units have two heat exchangers, one inside (internal heat exchanger) and the other outdoors (external heat exchanger) although in window air conditioning units it may not seem that the two are together in the same unit.

Starting capacitor

The starting capacitor is in charge of giving the necessary current to the motors of our air conditioning equipment so that they can start, generally, these equipment have 3 motors, the motor of the external fan, the motor of the internal fan, and the compressor and of 2 or 3 capacitors.

Other possible factors

With the proliferation of inverter air conditioners, many of the equipment breakdowns are related to electronic boards, making it rather difficult for someone who does not have the necessary training to determine and repair the fault, so it is always advisable to contact the official technical service. for you to find out and solve the problem since the current units in their electronics part have become quite complex.

We rarely pay attention to our air conditioning systems, until a problem arises. Imagine that your air conditioner stops working just in the summer when HVAC technicians are busier. You would probably spend days bearing the intense and suffocating heat at home.

Of course, repairs are less expensive than installing a new heating and air conditioning system, but the cost of an old heating and air conditioning system can continue with periodic repairs and inefficient operation.

So when should you finally make the call to replace your heating and air conditioning system? How old is your heating and AC system? Hopefully, you may have information on when all the components of your heating and air conditioning system were installed.

– Age of product

If your unit is already 10-14 years old, it is common for these systems to start to fail in terms of efficiency. We know that technology is advancing very fast and now there are more modern types of equipment, and it is likely that the repair of your air conditioning will be more expensive due to the difficulty in obtaining certain parts, or that even the parts are discontinued, therefore it will be better to consider buying a new one.

– Refrigerant

A refrigerant gas leak is one of the most common problems when repairing air conditioning. The solution is not only to supply gas to the appliance but also to repair those faults that trigger the problem. A licensed technician will be able to seal leaks, check proper operation, and then supply gas to the equipment. However, sometimes it is cheaper to buy a new air conditioner than to buy new parts, and in that case, it is convenient to take into account that the new air conditioners use a more eco-friendly type of refrigerant so it would be a “win-win” situation.

– Power bill

High bills could be the result of faulty machinery. An inefficient air conditioning system operates more frequently while using more electricity without adequately cooling the home. Many utility companies provide comparative tables of how their bills have changed month to month and year to year. Often, they also provide an average temperature for each day of the month, data that can help you identify if changes to your bill are related to outside temperature or something else. Newer refrigeration systems will also tend to be more energy-efficient than previous models. Investing in a system with an energy-saving system could bring you dividends in the future.

But if it keeps failing…

Whether your system has reached the end of its useful life or not, having several serious repairs consecutively indicates that the system has reached the end of its functionality. Remember that systems last only as long as they are well maintained, and some simply won’t last as long as others.

People whose air conditioners are located near windows or in the yard can benefit from the new and quieter air conditioners being built today. If you have already fixed a problem but it keeps failing, it is better to reduce your losses and replace your unit.

It is important to be aware of each of these factors and keep their environments and spaces fit and prepared, not only for the seasons that require their use but also for those in which it is essential to have reliable and safe equipment. You may contact us by phone or mail for further helpful information.

You cannot stop a tropical storm or hurricane, but you can take steps to protect yourself and your family. If you live in a risk area, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises you to be prepared for the hurricane season. The season in the Atlantic is from June 1 to November 30 of each year.

It is always important to be prepared for a hurricane. Your planning this year could be different due to the need to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Public health and emergency response professionals have recommendations to help you prepare, evacuate, and shelter safely in the event of severe storms, while protecting and protecting others from COVID-19.

Storms don’t just bring rain and wind. They also cause power outages that can leave you without the comfort of your AC system and other appliances for hours or days. Make sure you take special care with your HVAC, so it can stay cool between storms.

At Guisan Air Conditioning we share 6 steps you can take before, during, and after a storm to minimize damage to your AC system and get it running faster when you turn it on again:

Pre-Cooling Your Home:

If you think your power can be turned off during a storm, go ahead and cool your house ahead of time so you can stay comfortable until power is restored. Place the thermostat in a cooler position than normal, close curtains and blinds, and keep doors and windows closed to keep cold air inside.

Disconnect electricity from your air conditioner:

Electrical surges from lightning during a storm can damage your air conditioning unit. There is also a possibility that dirt will stick to your outdoor unit and start the engine. Stay safe by turning off the power to your AC system. We recommend that you turn off the power on your thermostat and circuit breaker.

Cover your outdoor air conditioning unit:

This step is only really necessary if you are expecting a hurricane and strong winds. After you have turned off your air conditioner, cover it with a tarp or plywood to protect it from flying debris. Strong winds can knock down branches and trees that could damage your unit if they fall on it. Be sure to remove the cover as soon as possible. Keeping your unit covered for a long time can trap moisture that leads to mold.

Secure the unit:

If you have an elevated air conditioning on a second floor, be sure to secure your outdoor condenser unit with hurricane straps to keep it in place during strong gusts of wind. If your area is prone to flooding, we suggest you contact your AC contractor to raise your unit for better protection.

Check for damage before resetting your air:

This is one of the most important steps. Don’t forget to assess storm damage before turning the system back on. Flooding or flying debris could have damaged your unit and turning it on may worsen the problem. Also, storm winds cause disconnections inside your air conditioning unit, which could lead to leakage of toxic refrigerants. Turn on your air conditioner as soon as it seems safe. This will prevent mold and mildew from installing.

Contact an HVAC professional:

If you have problems or need repairs, it is safest to call an HVAC expert near you to inspect your AC system for damage after the storm. That will give you professional peace of mind that you are operating safely and properly.

Luckily, we as Guisan and Air Conditioning can offer great plans in HVAC service in Miami to fulfill any conditioning system solution you may request. We can also help if it turns out that you need to buy a new HVAC system. Read this article to know whether is better a repair or an AC replacement or contact them by phone or mail for further helpful information.