Last month’s inaugural home improvement help line session was a resounding success with numerous questions posed. Since then, many people have asked me about their air conditioners, what constitutes a good system, what is wrong with theirs and how to avoid the costly mistakes our sellers made. There truly is no greater area for saving thousands of dollars in home improvement and preventative maintenance than on the air conditioner. As I said before, a $.79 air filter could have saved over $5,500 in an entirely new system.

Simply put, change your air filters every three to four weeks! Mark it on your calendar. Any new filter should do, but we prefer the simple, traditional air filters than those new allergy reducing, thick air filters. We will discuss the area of allergies in a minute. Changing out your air filters allows your AC system to run efficiently, quickly cool your house and doesn’t allow dust and dirt to build up on your AC coils ? a potential costly mistake.

If you haven’t been as diligent on changing filters, as you probably should, we recommend that you have a licensed air conditioner serviceman inspect your coils, condenser and furnace for any potential problems. Simply cleaning your coils will lower your monthly electricity bills, put less strain on your system and reduce the build-up of dirt, dust, mildew and potentially mold that can accumulate in your system and your ducts.

Secondly, if you see that your emergency drain line (usually a plastic PVC tube extending out the side of your home by your roof) is leaking, you may have problems. You may have clogged drain lines. Simply pouring bleach through your drain lines every few months may help to eliminate any potential disasters. If your emergency drain line continues to run, please have someone check your AC system. If it is not inspected shortly thereafter, you could have water coming through your sheetrock or a potential mold hazard down the road.

Wash out your outside condensing unit to ensure that there is proper airflow into your AC system from the outside. I recommend that you get a water hose with a spray nozzle (that doesn’t damage the grills) and wash out your outside unit, at least once a month. What happens is that when your AC unit is running and say your yard man edges and mows around your unit, it sucks all that dirt, dust, grass and pollen into your system and can clog it, preventing your unit from efficiently running. Simply washing it out on a periodic basis can help preserve the life of your major investment! We recommend that you may even want to put stones, rocks or pebbles around your unit to keep the dirt, lawn mower and weed-eater away from your system, while maintaining a nice looking area.

Now it’s time to go inside your home into the wet sauna called your attic! When you go up there (preferably in the morning or evenings) the first place you want to look at is your main AC system(s). This aluminum-looking box (called the plenum) is where you want to focus. One of the greatest wastes of your money is sitting right there. It amazes me how inefficient your AC system can be. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in attics only to see that the AC system has so many cracks and leaks in it that it is air conditioning your attic! Be very careful, but feel around this area to see if you can find major areas where cool air is blowing. Look at where this box connects with your air ducts and see if the have been properly secured or if air is blowing out the sides. By simply resealing this with proper casting, or glue/tape combination, you can immediately reduce your energy bill. You can get these materials quite inexpensively from Home Depot or Lowe’s and do it yourself. If your attic has not been re-surfaced yet, just be careful not to step off of any of the 2x4 beams into your ceiling, twist an ankle, crack a pipe or pull out any wiring! Trust me, it’s not as difficult as it may seem, just be careful in this awkward area of the home!

While up in the attic, look at your ducts. In many of the older construction here in Greatwood and Sugar Land, lazy builders simply laid the air ducts on the floor above the insulation and failed to properly secure and hang your air ducts. Make sure that your air ducts are off the ground to prevent condensation (mold maker) and any rodents who may want to make your ducts a new permanently air-conditioned home! You can re-tie these and get them off the attic floor, but be careful because you will be working around fiberglass, which is exactly what it says it is, “fiber-glass”. You may want a professional to handle this, but re-hanging your ducts may also preserve the life of your system and create a more efficient AC system.

While looking at your drain lines to bleach them or washing out your outside AC system, make sure that the copper lines and drain lines are properly insulated and securely taped, and that moisture or condensation do not accumulate in these areas and cause sheetrock damage or help to freeze your system. If you are outside and you see frost or a chunk of ice on your copper piping, you need to make sure that your lines are properly insulated. If they are and it still ices up, you probably will need to call a serviceman!

Make sure that you have the proper duct layout in your home and that in each room you have the proper airflow box at your ceiling or wall. Clearly a smaller room does not need a huge box, but rather a smaller 8”x12” box. Your rooms on the west side of your home may need to have bigger boxes so more air can ventilate and condition these areas.

Lastly, make sure that you have the proper system size in your home and that your outside and inside unit sizes match up. Depending upon the size of your home, you will want a 3,4,5 ton unit, etc. For super efficiency, we recommend a 12-16 seer system and a zoned system to control the airflow between less used rooms, depending upon the efficiency rating and amount of money you want spend. One of the greatest ways you can reduce the strain on your AC system is by simply installing blinds, drapes or shading your windows.

New Home Improvement Product Update: The air conditioning business is slowly adapting to the times. What people want in their air conditioning systems is a super-efficient way to quickly cool their home and lower their electricity bills. In addition, mold is becoming a major problem hiding within your air conditioning systems and your air ducts. This may potentially lead to an enormous amount of health problems, especially those with asthma. Today, we are installing a new product that helps to kill any mold, mildew, and bacteria found in your AC system and duct work. These are new ultra-violet lights that can be installed into your existing air conditioning system and kills the above-mentioned problems. Not only can this help with your health, but it also can give you that peace of mind that the moisture in your AC system won’t cause you to make a huge mold claim on your insurance! Secondly, there is a new dehumidifier part that can be installed onto your existing AC system that quickly takes the humidity out of the house, your ducts and the rest of the system. Since Houston is one of the most humid places on this planet, our AC systems needs help in reducing the strain put on the units to run efficiently. This is like an additional kick boost especially made for humid, mold creating areas, such as Houston.

Next month: “A Home Portrait: Let Paint & Molding Transform Your Home”

If you have any questions or comments about this article, next month’s article or any other comments/questions, feel free to either call or email your neighborly, turn-key solution - Ames Home Improvements, LLC at: 281-343-5600, Garrett_Ashmore@tamu.edu.

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