Tag: cooling

Duct Cleaning: A Smart Investment?

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What’s more important than being able to breathe clean air? It’s integral to the health of you and your family, and it’s something that might take more work than you’d hoped for. It seems like a fresh air filter for your HVAC unit should do the trick, but does that always work?

One possible solution to purifying your air involves cleaning out the ducts – where a lot of air-quality problems can originate. But is duct cleaning just an old wives’ tale? Does it actually help your home at all? Here is a quick breakdown from the heating and cooling experts at Roman Electric!

Your System Works Better

All the dust, dirt and other icky obstructions in your ducts make it harder for the air to reach you and your family. Eventually, that adds up as your HVAC system struggles to properly ventilate.

The most obvious benefit to investing in a duct-cleaning service is the noticeable improvement in performance you’ll receive. Your HVAC unit will be able to funnel air quicker and more efficiently, which results in you enjoying better indoor air. Cleaning the ducts and optimizing your HVAC unit’s performance will also lower your energy bills, leaving more money in your pocket every month!

Healthier Air

Another unfortunate consequence of dirty ducts is the loose health hazards that get carried into your home. As that air blows through your ducts and filters through your home, it brings with it some harmful airborne particles that can lead to nasty health problems.

If you’ve noticed a strange uptick in respiratory issues that don’t have an easy explanation, it could be due to some problems in your ducts. A professional duct-cleaning service will remedy that issue in no time and get your air back to normal.

Doesn’t Always Address the Root of the Problem

There are a few reasons that not everyone chooses to invest in duct cleaning, however. For one, there isn’t any guarantee that cleaning your ducts will get rid of the root of whatever problem you’re encountering. It may fix the immediate symptoms, but unless the actual underlying factors get fixed, you could just run into the same problem shortly into the future.

If you do decide to have your ducts cleaned, then be sure to get clarification from the technician who will be performing it. Make sure they’re taking care of whatever issue is leading to impure air – not just getting rid of the effects on the surface. Ask them to tell you exactly what they’re doing and how it will help.

Got Dirty Ducts? Let Us Help!

Getting your ducts thoroughly cleaned by an experienced professional can save you lots of headaches and money down the road. If you’re wondering why your energy bills have gotten high for no reason, or if you and your family have been experiencing some head-scratching health issues, it could be due to icky ducts. Let us help you out! Roman Electric’s team of meticulous and experienced technicians will have it back to normal in no time – give us a call at 414-369-3798 for the most reliable service in Milwaukee today!

How Long is My Air Conditioner Supposed to Last?

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We’ve just about made it through another summer. Temperatures will start to cool down soon, and your air conditioner has put in another year of great work. But you noticed that it’s starting to struggle a bit more than it used to — is it time to get another one? How long is my air conditioner supposed to last?

The AC experts at Roman Electric have your back. We’ll get into the specifics of the shelf life of your AC, and what you can do to make sure it lasts as long as possible. And no matter what, whether you’re looking for a replacement or just want the best tips to keep your AC going, give us a call!

Give It Some Time

 If you purchased a brand new AC unit, you should expect it to last a while. Most units are designed to last anywhere from 15-20 years after they’ve been installed, with some leeway on either end of that range depending on certain factors.

If it’s been close to two decades since you first had your AC unit installed, then you should get some replacement plans in order. Your unit won’t be able to keep going for too much longer, and you’d hate to be left in an uncomfortable home. Better yet, get a jump on things and have it replaced before it gives out.

How To Make Sure It Lasts That Long

Even though AC units are designed to last a long time, there’s no guarantee just how long. Like any other appliance, your AC unit needs care, attention and proper regular maintenance to ensure that it keeps on chugging until the end of its lifespan.

Here are a few tips to make sure that happens:

  • Schedule routine maintenance. Most experts will recommend that you have your HVAC system tuned up twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall. That way your home will be adequately prepared for the two biggest times of the year when the weather changes.
  • Don’t overdo it. When you need your AC the most in the summer, consider increasing the temperature a degree or two higher than you’d usually set it. Obviously you’d rather have the coldest temperature possible, but too much strain on your AC will lessen its efficiency and shorten its lifespan.
  • Replace your filter on time. Make sure to swap out your HVAC filter on a regular schedule. When your AC has to push air through a clogged and dirty filter too much, it’ll have to increase the power to reach the desired temperature, making it work harder than it needs to. This will result in more breaks and repairs, as well as higher energy bills.

Roman Electric: Your Milwaukee AC Experts!

With these helpful tips, your AC will stand a better chance of lasting as long as it should. And when your AC is on the fritz, just let us here at Roman Electric know! Our team is trained and has extensive knowledge in dealing with a variety of AC problems. They’d be glad to help you and your family return to an enjoyable and comfortable home.

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 for the best service around today!

 

Why You Should Get a Summer Tune-Up for Your AC Unit

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Nothing’s more crucial to keeping your home cool and comfortable in the summer than having an AC unit that provides a steady stream of clean, refreshing air. You might take it for granted, but the second it goes out you suddenly realize how important this equipment is.

Now that we’re roughly halfway through the summer, your unit has already been putting in plenty of hard work pumping cool air throughout your home. Although you might not think a tune-up is what your home needs right now, it’ll help quite a bit. Let the experts at Roman Electric help tell you why you should get a summer tune-up for your AC unit!

It Resets and Recalibrates Your Unit 

As we mentioned, your AC unit has already been hard at work performing cycle after cycle of cooling your home. All that work adds up and takes a toll! Minor misalignments and issues can grow and become serious issues if you’re not careful – and because the AC is going most of the time anyway, these things get worse in a hurry.

A summer tune-up for your AC unit will reset anything that has gotten knocked off-course. It will also help recalibrate its efficiency to ensure that it lasts all through the summer.

You Avoid Expensive Repairs

Another side effect of ignoring small issues is that they can quickly grow into much more serious and costly problems. If you don’t take care of minor things while they’re still manageable, then they have the potential to spread into major repairs before you know it.

Simple Ways to Reduce HVAC Costs

When you enlist the services of a professional to come perform a summer tune-up on your AC unit, you’ll get the trusty help of a trained expert to identify and correct these problems while they’re still correctable. They’ll even fix and restore things you wouldn’t have noticed without their help, saving you lots of money down the road.

It Freshens the Air for Fall and Winter

A cool, crisp fall is one of the most enjoyable times of year, and it’s a nice reprieve from the harsh summer as you get a break before winter arrives. One of the benefits of a summer tune-up is that it’ll help your AC unit perform with higher efficiency, which means your home’s indoor air quality will be at its highest. This way you’ll enjoy clean air during the fall and avoid the myriad health problems that are associated with dry winter air.

Is Your Furnace Ready for Fall?

One Less Thing to Check Off Before Winter

Speaking of winter — you’ve already got a long list of home-related conditions to adjust and check to make sure you’re ready for the colder weather, and priming your AC unit to handle it shouldn’t be a hassle. When you get a tune-up now, you’ll avoid having to keep track of it as your mind is trying to juggle a million other things in preparation for the end of the year and the weather conditions that those months carry.

Roman Electric: Your Milwaukee Tune-Up Experts

With the watchful eye and steady hand of technicians who have decades of experience like the ones at Roman Electric, your home will be good to go for the upcoming seasonal change. Our team has the tools and knowledge to turn your home’s air system into a comfortable environment that will last, and we won’t rest until we’re sure you’re satisfied.

For the best service in the Milwaukee area, give Roman Electric a call at 414-369-3798!

3 Causes for Ice on Your AC

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A working air conditioner is one of life’s greatest pleasures, especially when you’re trying to survive the hotter temperatures of the summer. Even though the middle months aren’t as intense here in Milwaukee as they may be in other parts of the country, we still encounter some pretty hot times.

One of the most frustrating things that can happen, though, is when the AC gets a little *too* cold and it ices over. Figuring out how this even happened in the first place can be stressful and difficult, and often you’re left irritated and still stuck with an icy AC. The AC experts at Roman Electric have compiled a few of the reasons why this might be happening so that you can get a better handle on why you’re dealing with this problem!

Not Enough Airflow

One of the key parts of your air conditioner is the evaporator coil. As the final stop in the air-cooling cycle in your home’s air system, it’s responsible for holding the cooled liquid refrigerant that has been circulating. Air blows over the evaporator coil, absorbing the cool gas and carrying it through your vents.

When the evaporator coil can’t get rid of the cool air, though, the temperature around it steadily drops. When it gets too cold, the air condenses, creating liquid. And when the liquid continues to get colder, it freezes. Inadequate airflow prevents your AC system from moving the cool air through your home, leading to a buildup of ice.

Make sure your home’s airflow has enough power behind it so this doesn’t happen!

Low Refrigerant

As we touched on earlier, refrigerant is key to your home’s air conditioning. It’s a liquid that changes states into a gas and back again as it travels through the AC system, and without it you wouldn’t have any cold air at all! So when you’ve got leaky refrigerant, your AC system isn’t going to know how to handle it.

When there’s a leak, the mixture moves through the various tubes and coils at the wrong speed, and this throws the whole cycle out of whack. The chemical will flow incorrectly, and it will start to clog up at various points through the system. As the cold air blows over this stagnant refrigerant, it’ll freeze and cause a buildup of ice.

Finding a refrigerant leak can be tough since it may be small, but an expert will find it for you in no time!

Broken Components

Of course, there’s a chance you could have a broken piece of machinery somewhere. Whether it’s a blocked drain, a broken blower motor or a cracked/tangled refrigerant line, there are a lot of potential issues that could result in excess ice forming.

All that is a long-winded way of saying that there are more than one or two possible reasons why there might be ice forming on your air conditioner. If you’ve noticed some and aren’t sure why it’s there — or if you do know why and just want someone to fix it — let Roman Electric make it go away!

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to speak to our AC experts today!

Common HVAC Complaints in Milwaukee

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From the outside looking in, it might not seem like Milwaukee has much to worry about when it comes to AC problems. But those people would be surprised! If you’ve lived here for any amount of time at all, then you know how easy it is for something to go wrong. Despite our notoriously cold winters, the summers aren’t anything to laugh at.

Here are a few of the more common HVAC complaints we here at Roman Electric tend to get from our Milwaukee neighbors. If you experience any of these, don’t wait around in the hopes that they’ll fix themselves. Time is of the essence, so get in touch with the pros you can trust!

Abrupt Increase in Cooling Costs

You should have an idea of how much your energy bills should cost at the different points of the year. Winters will probably be more expensive if you have your heater running constantly, and the summers might be a little less costly if you avoid turning the AC on full blast all the time.

So when your costs spike all of a sudden, that will understandably set off some alarms in your head. When this happens and you don’t know why, let us figure it out for you!

Strange Noises in Your Home

If you’ve been in your home for a while, you’ve gotten accustomed to the usual creaks and squeaks you hear. Most of them are harmless, so you’re good at ignoring them since they haven’t been a problem up to this point.

All it takes is one or two unusual sounds to raise some questions, though. When the ducts start rattling, or when the AC starts groaning, it’s time to call a professional to come take a look. This might just be the newest member of the “sounds you can ignore” club, but it also might mean something more serious.

Inconsistent Airflow

The first job of an HVAC unit is to funnel air through your ducts and out the vents. So when the air isn’t coming out at the right temperatures – or at all – you should rightfully be concerned. While we can’t say that you’ve clearly got a mechanical problem on your hands, you’d rather be safe than sorry. If you let a technician inspect your system to check for an issue, you’ll at least know for sure one way or the other.

It might be because your ducts have an obstruction, or it could be the system working out a minor kink that won’t be a problem in a day. Either way, it’s something a professional will figure out for you.

Roman Electric: Milwaukee’s Go-To HVAC Service Provider

If your home is experiencing one of the above issues – or another one entirely – don’t wait around hoping that it’ll go away. Oftentimes, kicking the can down the road can make things worse. Prevent the problem from becoming worse by calling Roman Electric at 414-369-3798 today!

Simple Ways to Reduce HVAC Costs

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What’s the one thing that drives most of our decisions at home? It’s saving money, right? Any time or place we can come up with a way to cut costs without sacrificing too much of our livelihood, we usually take it. But it’s hard to do that with certain things like our home appliances, especially our HVAC unit.

Fear not! It is possible to save a significant amount of money on your heating and cooling costs. The ways to do that don’t require a full-scale overhaul – in fact, they’re pretty simple. Read on, and let the HVAC experts at Roman Electric help you figure out a couple of handy ways to reduce HVAC costs at home!

Make Use of Your Ceiling Fans

The fans that are installed in our rooms do quite a bit to help regulate temperature. In the summer, they help keep us cool, and they cost far less to operate than your AC does. But did you know that they can be just as effective in the winter?

If you reverse the direction that ceiling fans rotate when the weather gets colder, the fans will blow warm air down instead of cold air. But since ceiling fans don’t *actually* affect the temperature of the air – they just blow the existing air over your skin – you only need to run them when you’re in the room.

Seal Leaks Throughout the Home

Over time, your home may spring leaks through certain areas where air flows regularly. Places like your ducts and in the cracks of your doors and windows (which can eventually widen), can help you lose valuable cold (or warm) air.

Make sure to seal these up to prevent any airflow loss. If left unattended, the leaks will force your HVAC system to work significantly harder to achieve your desired temperature, spiking heating and cooling costs.

Use a Smart/Programmable Thermostat

Depending on the season, our thermostats can account for a massive portion of our energy bill. If you like to leave these on for a big part of the day, then you will pay the price. But with a programmable (or smart) thermostat, you can save a ton.

They allow you to adjust the temperature based on when you’ll be using it the most. Meaning, if you’re not home for the majority of the day, then you can set the thermostat to shut off until you usually return home. You’ll avoid running up the cost of heating or cooling a home you aren’t there to enjoy, and that saves you quite a bit as it adds up.

Account for Extra Heat Sources

If your home is situated in such a place where it absorbs natural sunlight more than usual, then you probably overcompensate with your HVAC unit to combat the excess heat. But this isn’t efficient. It means you pay more in the long run to fight the heat, costs that pile up quicker than you realize.

To naturally avoid this problem, invest in some blackout curtains for rooms that endure direct sunlight, and be sure to always close your blinds/curtains when you can. Also, avoid doing or using anything that will add more heat to the interior of your home throughout the day.

 

Saving money on heating and cooling costs doesn’t need to be difficult! With these tips, you’ll be on the path to enjoying a lower energy bill without sacrificing your comfort level at home. And for more comprehensive strategies, just ask Roman Electric!

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to speak to a heating and cooling expert today, and we’ll work with you to ensure you’re staying comfortable year-round.

Can a Ductless Air System Save Me Money?

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It’s hard enough finding ways to save money throughout the day, and that’s before you come home and crank on the AC or heater. It may be more appealing to sit down, kick back, and enjoy the fresh air your HVAC system is circulating, but for some of us, there’s a little voice in the back of our heads that won’t let us forget how much money it’s costing to run the air.

There’s got to be a cost-cutting alternative, right? With all the different ways that people have figured out how to save money, doing so with an air system has to be possible too, doesn’t it? Well, thanks to a ductless air system, it is possible. One of these systems can save you a surprising amount of money through ways you didn’t know were possible!

They Help — Just By Being Installed

If you’ve got a traditional air-circulation system in your home, then you’ve got a series of ducts that carry the air from the HVAC unit to your vents. But what happens to ducts as they age? They leak. Air escapes through cracks or separations, meaning your unit has to work harder to get the right amount of air through to your living room, or wherever you are.

With a ductless system, though, the unit is situated right there in front of you. It uses copper tubing, which won’t fall apart like ducts can. As a result, they won’t leak — meaning they stay efficient and less expensive!

You Can Divide Them Into Areas

One of the biggest pluses to a ductless air system is the unmatched freedom and customization that they afford you. When you get one installed, you’ll receive a remote for each individual unit. This lets you adjust and control how hot or cold you want each one, meaning it’s totally up to you to determine the temperature of different areas of your home.

Does one member of your family like their room warmer than the rest of you do? Not a problem. With a ductless system, they can create whatever environment they want without forcing a central air system to choose one temperature for the whole home! What about a spare room that doesn’t get much foot traffic? Now you don’t have to waste money heating or cooling it!

The savings that the zones in a ductless air system provide add up over time, and you’ll be shocked when the energy bill comes in!

They Use Less Energy, Period

On top of all those benefits, a ductless system just doesn’t use as much energy as a traditional unit does. It doesn’t have to work up the power to carry a ton of air throughout your home through ducts. As a result, it doesn’t require as much energy to achieve the same result.

And, as an added bonus, the air reaches you quicker!

Roman Electric: Providing Air System Solutions to Milwaukee

Here at Roman Electric, we pride ourselves on helping our neighbors achieve the perfect heating and cooling situation. Thanks to our unmatched technical expertise and wealth of experience and knowledge, you’ll be in good hands. From the first step of the process until the job is finished, you can count on us!

Give us a call at 414-369-3798 today!

Energy Efficiency for the New Year

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What’s at the top of your to-do list this year? Is it to start eating healthier or to get back in the gym? What about cleaning out the big spare room that still has a bunch of useless boxes in it? Maybe it’s something else entirely! All of these are good, but have you considered re-evaluating how energy-efficient your home is?

You’d be surprised at how much of a difference even a few energy-efficient tweaks to your home can make. With all the different ways we try and better ourselves in the new year, why not try and save a few bucks on the energy bill as well? Here are a few ways to help increase your energy efficiency in the upcoming year!

Use Energy-Efficient Windows

It might not seem like windows are responsible for losing a lot of energy, but they are! According to the Department of Energy, windows are responsible for anywhere from 25 to 30% of residential heating and cooling energy usage.

By upgrading to energy-efficient windows, you’ll prevent a lot of that excess energy from escaping from your home – saving you money in the process!

Inspect Your Insulation

Another area that valuable heat can get lost is in the places where your home’s insulation isn’t as effective as it once was. If it’s been a while since your insulation has been reinforced, then heat will escape through the cracks and gaps.

Give your insulation situation a lookover as best you can, or give a professional a call if you can’t look at it yourself. Installing new insulation can end up making your home’s air system much more efficient.

Use Power Strips

If you’re like the majority of Americans these days, you’ve got more electronics than you know what to do with! And while you might do a good job of making sure you turn them off, they still may be sucking up valuable energy.

Even when they’re turned off, appliances use something called residual, or “vampire,” energy when they’re plugged in. But by using power strips, you can avoid this problem entirely. Plug a few appliances into a power strip, and you can turn them off all together – ensuring you don’t waste electricity. As a bonus, they’ll be better protected against power surges!

Run Full Laundry Loads

It’s tempting to just wash clothes as-needed, whenever the clothes closet starts to empty. However, that wastes plenty of energy and water since the washing machine needs the same amount of energy to wash a load no matter how much is being washed.

Maximize its performance by waiting until you have full loads of laundry before washing clothes. Your wallet will thank you!

Roman Electric: Serving Milwaukee since 1929

When you need professional electrical help in the new year, you know who to call! Roman Electric has long been a household name in the area for a reason. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to find out why our service is second to none!