Air Conditioning

5 Ways to Prepare Your Home for the Summer Heat

Written by Kevin on May 20, 2013. Posted in Air Conditioning, Ductless. No Comments on 5 Ways to Prepare Your Home for the Summer Heat

Top 5 Ways to Prepare your Home for the Heat of Summer

Summer is right around the corner—and with it comes barbecues, long days at the beach, fruity drinks, sunburn, seasonal allergies, heat exhaustion, and sweaty, uncomfortable nights in a humid bedroom.

Instead of being cooked alive by the heat in your own pajamas, take action to keep your family comfortable all summer long. And before you run out and buy the first window unit you can find, consider that other long-term solutions will help you beat the heat more efficiently.

Read on to find out what steps you can take to ensure your home is prepared for the summer’s rising temperatures.

Without modern AC, you may be stuck with those desperate summertime solutions like putting a bowl of ice behind a fan, or taking extra-long gazes into the freezer (it really doesn’t take 5 minutes to find the frozen French fries!). But with central air conditioning or ductless air conditioning, you have a cool, comfortable home for seasons and seasons to come.

Window units are very heavy and very difficult to install. They require lots of storage space in the winter and fall, and they aren’t very efficient in the long run. But with central air, you’ll get efficient cooling that reaches every room in your home, not just one. Granted, these systems still require some maintenance, but it’s nothing that can’t easily be completed by a Bob Jenson Air Conditioning technician! (And it never requires throwing out your back trying to lift a massive window unit.)

Filter Replacements

The most effective of those maintenance chores is replacing the filters. When your central air sits idle for the fall and winter, bugs and dust can build up, reducing the flow of air and wearing out your AC’s components. Moreover, when filters are in use for too long, they also accrue grime and dirt and eventually cease to filter at all.

Replacing these filters keeps the air in your home clean and fresh; which is absolutely necessary if you or your family members suffer from allergies. Plus, filters help maintain a comfortable environment, which makes the cooler air feel natural.

Insulation

When most people think about installing insulation in their home, they assume it will keep their home warmer in the winter. Well, they are correct. But insulation also keeps your home cooler in the summer.

Without insulation, heat is free to move through the floors and walls of your home, including your roof. In the summer, this means that the heat outside will constantly move into your home, making it much more difficult to keep cool. It’s exactly like trying to pour water into a bucket riddled with holes.

Insulation prevents this free movement of heat. Without heat trying to invade your home, your AC unit can more easily maintain comfortable levels, which is cheaper and less burdensome on your electrical system’s circuit breakers.

Circuit Breakers

If you’re having an air conditioning unit upgraded or installed, you may need to have your breaker box upgraded to better handle the higher electrical load your home will experience. This bill can run as high as several hundred dollars, but it definitely beats after-the-fact repairs from a blown breaker box.

Our technicians will recognize when your home needs upgrades in vital areas. Trust our experts for the most honest assessments and estimates of what it will take to make your home cool again.

Practicing Reduction

Reduce energy consumption by cutting back on the amount of things you plug in on a daily basis. Don’t run all your appliances at one time, especially when there’s no reason to. Doing so can create heat, and it will increase your bills. Keep lights low and don’t put your AC on the most frigid setting; increase your system’s longevity by practicing moderation.

Even if your AC unit is working at acceptable levels, it’s worthwhile to get a professional inspection from our skillful technicians. We can spot problem areas before they occur, preventing that horrible experience of having your AC cut out on you during a major heat wave.

Bob Jenson Air Conditioning has been helping Southern California residents upgrade their air conditioning and sleep comfortably all summer long, since 1977. Give them a call today, after all, there’s nothing worse than never being able to find the cool side of the pillow.

Does Upgrading your Air Conditioning System Save You Money?

Written by Kevin on April 29, 2013. Posted in Air Conditioning, San Diego. No Comments on Does Upgrading your Air Conditioning System Save You Money?

Should you Upgrade your Air Conditioning? San Diego Residents Read On!

With the cost of energy ever increasing, many of us are looking for ways to cut down on our utility bills. The biggest use of energy in our homes today is our appliances. Out of all of our appliances our air conditioning system uses the most electricity, up to 40% of our utility bill, especially during summer months. So how do we cut back on the monthly bills without losing our comfort? It may be time to look at the benefits of upgrading your old air conditioning system with something that provides better cooling at a higher efficiency. This info-graphic will show you how efficiency equals savings for years to come!

Tips for saving cash on your next air conditioning system:

A new air conditioning system is certainly an investment into your home, your family and your comfort. That being said who doesn’t want a great deal? There are 3 things that can help offset the cost of a new comfort system:

Manufacturer Rebates

Check with your trusted air conditioning contractor to see if any brands are offering a rebate on high efficiency equipment. Since most top brands have comparable equipment take advantage of the brand that will save you some cash!

Tax Credits

Tax credits for air conditioning systems are still available for high efficient units. Ask a trusted contractor to see if the equipment your looking at qualifies. You can look at the bottom of this page to see the requirements.

Financing Options

A great financing plan can help you start saving on your electricity bills right away and get the comfort you were missing. This is a great way to offset the upfront cost of a new system. Whether you finance or not ask your trusted contractor what they offer and see what’s best for you!

Get a Free Estimate!

A trusted reputable HVAC company will not charge to sit down and help you decide on the best, energy saving equipment for your home. Make Bob Jenson AC one of your calls for a free estimate on your next air conditioning system, today!

Commercial Air Conditioning: Save Money and Create a Comfortable Workplace

Written by Kevin on April 22, 2013. Posted in Air Conditioning, commercial. No Comments on Commercial Air Conditioning: Save Money and Create a Comfortable Workplace

Commercial Air Conditioning

Remember the days before air conditioning?

Of course not. Commercial air conditioning has changed the way people live—and the way companies do business—for the better. Don’t even think about operating in a professional environment in the vicinity of San Diego without air conditioning — or face a sure mutiny from your employees!

Consider installing a state-of-the-art HVAC system, even if you have a commercial air conditioning system already in place. Upgrading your old equipment can create a more comfortable atmosphere for you and your employees, and it can save you money. After all, isn’t that the bottom line?

Comfort without the Cost

Comfort means a lot of things to a lot of people, but those people definitely know when they are uncomfortable.

A commercial air conditioning system is designed for maximum comfort with the lowest amount of energy expenditure. This is achieved when the HVAC system’s temperature and humidity maintain constant levels regardless of the exterior temperature. Instead of increasing and decreasing the indoor environment to compensate for extreme heat and cold outside, the interior simply remains comfortable.

Take a minute to imagine a radiator heating your office. When that thing comes on, it just keeps putting out heat until everyone nearby is totally uncomfortable. This creates a poor environment, and therefore can decrease productivity among your employees.

Commercial air conditioning systems, though, allow you to set your system to whatever climate you desire. Since it’s totally automated, you won’t need to constantly adjust thermometer controls to make it comfortable. (And your employees will never have to fight over control to that coveted thermometer.)

Perfect For Office Environments

If you’re cooling your office building with window units or some other outdated method, you’re tossing money right out the window. Commercial air conditioning units use roof-mounted or exterior ground compressors, which decrease the noise level (perfect for a quiet office environment) and make maintenance much easier.

Those compressors feed cooled air into the ducts built in your office’s walls and ceilings and enter your workspace through inconspicuous vents. You’ll hardly notice the air conditioning effects at all. In fact, such a comfortable climate is created that your employees won’t notice how nice it was until they step outside into the San Diego summer sun.

Air Quality Control

Achieving an ideal temperature and humidity is obviously the main goal of a commercial air conditioning system. But it does have another function that can improve air quality by removing impurities and contaminants: air filtration.

Everything airborne, from larger pollen and mold spores to bacteria, auto emissions, and even microscopic viruses, can be filtered out of your workplace using specially designed filters. The higher the MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) rating is, the smaller the particles that can be filtered.

That means your interior office climate won’t just be the perfect temperature and humidity, but the air itself will feel cleaner and fresher, and it will be, in fact, much healthier.

Talk about long-term budget implications—if your employees are breathing healthier air, their incidence of acquiring illness in your office can decrease significantly. Ergo, you’ll see a cost-savings in the healthcare budget and less missed work.

Budget Implications In The Future

Not only do you save money on health-related costs, you’ll save money through the ease and efficiency of maintenance as well. The thing about a commercial air conditioner is that it’s not only set up to maintain a controlled environment, but it’s also set up for easy repairs should that environment become unsatisfactory.

Due to years of experience in commercial HVAC, the experts at Bob Jenson Air Conditioning and Heating can arrive quickly, begin repairs quickly, and get your office back to normal. We even offer commercial HVAC maintenance plans that fit into any business’s budget—and it’s a good idea to perform preventative maintenance on a commercial system, especially before the heat of summer.

Talk to the Commercial Air Conditioning Experts!

Call us for a free quote—Bob Jenson Air Conditioning and Heating’s skilled technicians are ready to give you a quote and help answer all your questions about our commercial air conditioning products and installation. Summer is quickly approaching—get your new air conditioning system installed before the summer heat and your employees may just prefer to be at work!

Is it time to Replace your HVAC or Air Conditioning Ducting?

Written by Kevin on April 1, 2013. Posted in Air Conditioning, Ducting. No Comments on Is it time to Replace your HVAC or Air Conditioning Ducting?

Your Air Conditioning Ducting – Is it replacement time?

Spring is the perfect time for home renovation projects. The weather is ideal, the costs are good, and you’re probably already doing a little spring cleaning anyway, right?

While you’re looking for home improvement projects this year, don’t search any further than your existing air conditioning ducting. If your home uses duct-based heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and you don’t perform annual maintenance, you could be tossing money out the window and exposing your family to harmful toxins.

Read more below to find out if it’s finally time to replace your air conditioning ducting.

If it Looks Like a Duct…

Usually, the first hint that homeowners get that tells them its time to replace air conditioning ducting is the increased cost of heating or cooling their homes. If you see a higher energy bill, but the price you pay and the amount of power you use have remained constant, then you may have faulty ducting.

There are a few reasons your ducts could be in ill repair: cracks, holes, or other separations, and dust, grime, or other obstructions restricting airflow. Poor sealing and installation practices are another. These issues create higher energy bills for you.

Address these things as soon as possible; in fact, they should be taken care of before anything bad ever happens with preventative maintenance performed by professional air conditioning ducting technicians each spring.

But even annual upkeep can’t fight all the problems that occur, either due to old age or average wear and tear. Let’s look at what dangers can result from letting these problems go unchecked for too long.

And it Smells Like a Duct…

Mold—it’s perhaps the worst thing that can happen to your duct system. You’ll notice a moldy or musty smell coming from the vents in your walls.

Mold can form when holes or cracks in ducting release hot air into a cold environment, like the walls of your home. Picture an airplane ascending into the sunset: those white streaks you see left behind are condensation with no place to go. Around your ducts, that condensation collects on the wood behind your drywall. And that’s bad.

Moldy wood breeds lots of harmful toxins, as well as fungus—as in full-grown mushrooms. These toxins are pushed through your air conditioning ducting into all the rooms of your home, including your bedrooms. In addition to toxins, moldy wood is weak and porous and can invite even more problems over time, like termites, carpenter ants, and other pests.

Worst of all? You’re paying extra for that. Since a duct system with holes, cracks, rust or obstructions isn’t performing to peak efficiency, it will cost more for that inefficient system to maintain the temperature you set on your thermostat.

…Then it Must be Time to Replace That Duct!

The answer to all these problems is simple: replacement of your air conditioning ducting. It’s a necessary process in most cases, especially if you fear mold contamination or major leaks.

The benefits to new ducting are many: increased efficiency and lower costs; clean, fresh air instead of musty, toxic air; quieter airflow without obstructions; and the knowledge that you’re maintaining your home’s value instead of letting it decay from the inside out.

As a matter of fact, you may experience some of these benefits even if you don’t see any of the problems. If you are planning a home remodel or major construction that will alter the layout of your rooms, a new duct installation is an ideal solution to ensure each living space is receiving the correct amount of ventilation and air conditioning.

If you suspect that you have any problems that are causing your ducts to act abnormally or undersupply you with cool or warm air, call Bob Jenson’s expert technicians right away. We can come to your home at your convenience and conduct a thorough inspection of your ducts to see what problems exist and talk with you about the best course of action to take.

Many times old air conditioning ducting can be replaced quickly and easily, our friendly team will gladly help you get your duct installation up and running. Bob Jenson is known for their professional San Diego duct installation, and we have been since 1977.

Call today to find out how easy it can be to replace your HVAC ducting. Remember, now is the time for spring cleaning, so don’t wait to call!

Why Ductless Air Conditioning Should be your Next Comfort System

Written by Kevin on March 20, 2013. Posted in Air Conditioning, Ductless. No Comments on Why Ductless Air Conditioning Should be your Next Comfort System

Ductless Air Conditioning – Why Consider it?

How comfortable are you right now?

You’re probably not comfortable enough if you don’t have ductless air conditioning. San Diego residents have a lot of ways to cool their homes year round, but no systems offer the same level of all-around comfort and efficiency that ductless air conditioning does.

Think about it: window units and central systems are loud, extremely heavy, and hard to install, and they fail to maintain a constant temperature, especially when they’re called on to cool multiple rooms. And forget installing a duct system behind your walls if you don’t already have one—you’ll destroy your current living space and will most likely need a whole home renovation to cover the construction.

Interested in what ductless air conditioning is all about? Continue reading to learn all about how to make your home as comfy as it can be—without cutting into your life savings.

What’s a Duct?

If your home is older, or you live in an apartment or condo with thin walls, you probably don’t have ductwork installed. Ducts are essentially lightweight, insulated tubes behind your walls or in your attic that originate from a central HVAC system and lead to all the rooms of your home. These tend to leak over the years and lower system efficiency.

In older homes and houses with thin walls, a duct-based cooling system isn’t viable. In most cases, there simply isn’t the room to put flexible piping behind the walls or attic space; in other cases, it would mean the destruction of beautiful hardwood or the current decor.

This all amounts to one thing: you’re looking at quite a cost to have ducts installed in your home.

Why Go Ductless?

Ductless air conditioners are much, much easier to install and maintain—and since no major home reconstruction is required, they’re much cheaper too.

Ductless Air Conditioning Explained

Here’s how ductless air conditioning works: there are two major components, the larger outdoor unit and the smaller indoor unit, that act like efficient radiators to remove the unwanted heat from a room and provide comfortable cool air in return. The slim outdoor unit houses a compressor that pumps eco-friendly refrigerant thru small tubes to the indoor coil where it soaks up the heat from the home and returns back to the outdoor coil where it transfers it to the outside. If you ever put your hand over the outdoor fan you’ll feel the heat being released!

The indoor unit is generally mounted along the ceiling of an exterior wall where it can easily create cool air for your home while simultaneously removing warm air through its coil. Ductless units can be installed in many different locations because of their compact sizes and configurations. Since the indoor unit is installed directly onto the wall or in the ceiling, you won’t need a window unit any longer and are now free to see outside!

Benefits of Ductless

So now that you have a general idea of how the system works, we can go over the many benefits.

Your comfort. Ductless air conditioners are extremely proficient at maintaining a temperature you set via thermostat; its air recycling process ramps up to just what you need so you won’t hear the loud bangs and groans your old window unit or central system used to make, and you won’t experience fluctuating temperatures while you sleep—which is especially ideal if you have children or elderly family members beneath your roof.
Ease of maintenance. Since there are only two units and the intermediate tubing, troubleshooting and conducting preventative maintenance is much easier than if you have to search for problems behind walls or move a clunky window unit from a window.
Cost. Ductless air conditioning is highly efficient—both at supplying cool air and at saving you money. Ductless air conditioning doesn’t suffer the issues of losing energy through leaky ductwork so you can avoid a big utility bill. Also a ductless system can vary its output so you don’t over cool your home. This type of cooling doesn’t strain the system and allows the machine to work at peak efficiency for a longer amount of time. Fewer repairs mean lower costs.

Easy Installation

The technicians at Bob Jenson know a thing or two about ductless air conditioning. After all, we’ve been making people just like you comfortable in their own homes since the mid-70s. Our work is 100% guaranteed, and we only align ourselves with the best equipment—and the best employees. Our highly trained technicians are Safety Seal Certified and up-to-date on the modern techniques, procedures, codes and safety requirements.

Wasn’t it just the holidays? Summer in San Diego is coming fast. Are you ready to sweat it out for months with your old HVAC system? Call our office today to learn how easy it is to finally get comfortable.

heating and air conditioning maintenance

3 Reasons Your AC/Heating System Needs Regular Maintenance

Written by Kevin on February 20, 2013. Posted in Air Conditioning, Heating, HVAC. No Comments on 3 Reasons Your AC/Heating System Needs Regular Maintenance

Why an Air Conditioning Maintenance?

Say it’s really, really hot outside. You hit a button to turn on your HVAC unit. Your home fills with cool air. You relax, and probably take a nap.

But while you’re enjoying that cool air, a lot is going on inside of your air conditioning and heating system that you don’t know about. Over time, lots of little things can go wrong, and eventually that air is circulating a temperature and other things that aren’t ideal.

This is preventable, however. Regular air conditioning maintenance can help counteract the natural wearing down a machine experiences over the course of its usable life. It’s the same reason you get your car and bike tuned up and the same reason you switch out the blades and spark plugs on your lawnmower.

If you can prevent a huge inconvenience (and price tag) with a little preemptive TLC, isn’t that worth the cost of regular maintenance? Here are three reasons your AC/heating system needs check-ups by proven professionals.

Dirt, Grime, Dust, Bugs, and Other Nasty Things

Believe it or not, there are bugs inside of your walls. There is also dirt, dust, grime and other nasty things that can get caught in your HVAC unit and cause damage. Now, that isn’t to say your walls are overflowing with spiders and centipedes; but even the few ladybugs or flies that collect over time can cause trouble.

Picture a logjam on a river. The same concept applies here. Your vents may need cleaning, or at least the filters on the HVAC unit itself. The good thing is that this is an easy fix, and our repairmen can get it done quickly when they come for your routine maintenance appointment.

One Errant Spin

Here’s a major problem that can occur over time without any obvious causes. Whenever a machine utilizes rotating parts, there is a chance that those parts will eventually get out of sync. Any number of things could cause this to happen: extreme temperature fluctuations, surges (which we will discuss in the next section), age, and even nothing at all.

As the fan becomes more and more out of sync, the components that depend on it and that it depends on will also cease to function perfectly. Without properly synched components, your AC and your heat may no longer work up to capacity.

Hopefully you have preventative maintenance conducted before this happens. The experts at Bob Jenson can identify and quickly repair any components of your HVAC unit that are beginning to lose sync or integrity before they become major projects.

Raw Tesla Power

And now we get to perhaps the scariest of possibilities: electrical surges. Your home is powered by an alternating current (thanks in great part to Nicola Tesla). This current, like any other source of electricity, is prone to surges from outside your home and within.

For example, if lightning strikes your home, there’s a very good chance that high voltage current will surge through your electrical wiring at a greater capacity than most electronics can handle. These unprotected electronics blow out, which is why surge protectors were invented. Imagine a piece of string with an enormous knot tied into the middle. If the string is electrical current, the knot is a high voltage surge.

Now picture a string with several small knots tied a few inches apart. These smaller knots represent surges that come from within your home. These are much, much less devastating in nature than lightning strikes, but they can still do damage.

The solution here is to have your repairman test your electrical system to ensure your HVAC unit is protected from both high voltage surges and those normal, everyday surges. He or she will be able to tell if your unit requires a replacement surge protection unit or if yours just needs a bit of tweaking.

We’ve listed three common reasons that your HVAC unit needs regular routine maintenance, but this is far from a comprehensive list. If you suspect that your unit is beginning to act abnormally, or if it is already showing signs of disrepair, call Bob Jenson and schedule your thorough checkup. As the saying goes, prevention is the best medicine.