For emergency service requests AFTER OFFICE HOURS, please call us on our emergency help line at 503-234-7331. E-Service Request Forms received after office hours will be answered the next business day. Address Line 1 (required) Which of these fuels do you use in your home? Electric Natural Gas Propane Fuel Oil Wood Do you own or rent your home? What year did you move into your home? What type of home do you have? Single-family detached Townhouse/Condominium Apartment/Duplex Mobile/Manufactured Home Other What is your home's construction type? Wood Frame Steel Frame Other Including yourself, how many people live in your home? Select the statement that best completes this sentence: "Someone is home... all of the time most of the time some of the time not at all What is the heated/cooled square footage of your home? What year was your home built? 1990 to Present1980 to 19891970 to 19791960 to 19691950 to 19591940 to 19491930 to 19391920 to 19291910 to 19191900 to 1909Before 1900

How would you describe your home's foundation? Slab on grade Enclosed crawl space (no foundation vents) Open crawl space (has foundation vents) Full basementcentral ac units in india On average, at what temperature do you set your thermostat?do portable ac units use a lot of electricity What is the level of insulation in your attic?how does hvac work video Are your walls insulated? Are your floors insulated? On a windy day, which best describes the amount of air leakage around your windows? Very drafty Moderate air movement No draft What is the condition of your door's weatherstripping? Which one of the following best describes the type of windows in your home? Single pane - without storm windows Single pane - with storm windows Double pane - without storm windows Double pane - with storm windows Triple pane - without storm windows Triple pane - with storm windows

Which one of the following best describes the type of exterior doors in your home? Hollow wooden Solid wooden Insulated metal Do you have a storm door? What is the condition of your ducts? Poor Average Good Unknown (Your ductwork, in the attic, basement,or crawl spaces, is the piping that carries the heated and cooled air from your unit to all of the rooms in your home. The ducts should be covered with insulation, and the joints should be taped.) What is your main source of cooling? What is your main source of heating? Do you use a programmable thermostat? Heading back home after a weekend of camping yesterday, I saw the first signs of fall, a few Aspen leaves touched with gold and yellow. The nights are beginning to cool and soon the winter heating season will be upon us. If you are looking to have central A/C installed in your home, now is the best time of the year for this type of project. Just as it is easier to find a good deal on a wood or pellet stove at the end of the heating season, fall is a good time to get a deal on an air conditioner.

You can also find contractors who may be into the slow work season between summer and winter repair service.Whole House Cooling Central air conditioning is installed in many new homes that lie in areas that see intense heat and or humidity. Stepping into an air conditioned home from a muggy 90-degree day is indeed a relief. If you have an older home and have been using window units, a central A/C unit would be big improvement, for both convenience and efficiency. Central air conditioners are often more economical to run than many separate units installed in many rooms. The convenience comes with avoiding the seasonal installation and removal of these window units. If your home has a central forced air heating system, the installation of central air is a relatively easy task because the duct work and air handling fans that distribute the air are already in place. Adding a cooling coil into the existing air handling system saves the expense of a new or secondary air handler. Homes that have baseboard, radiant and other ductless systems will require a more involved A/C installation.

If your home falls into this latter category, there are other options available that may prove less costly or intrusive to install.Air Conditioning Basics Conditioned air is air that has been “conditioned” this usually means that it has been cooled down. When air is cooled it also loses a lot of its humidity or moisture by the process of condensation. Lower levels of humidity in conditioned air allow our bodies natural cooling process of perspiration / evaporation to be more effective, and therefore make us feel cooler. Basic laws of physics and thermodynamics control how this whole process happens. Some people wrongly believe that air conditioners and refrigerators “make cold”, while in fact, they move heat from one place to another. In a refrigerator you can feel the heat that is removed from the inside by placing your hand near the outlet vent. In air conditioning, an evaporator coil removes the heat from the air that flows through it, this heat is then released somewhere else by a condensing coil.

In split systems this condensing coil is usually located outside the home. Locating the condensing coil outside also minimizes the noise that accompanies the compressors and fans that these systems require.New Ducts and Air HandlersIf your home is one that lacks a central forced air heating system, A/C can still be installed, it is just going to entail more work and expense. These costs will vary by the configuration of your home. Single story homes can be readily equipped from the attic, basement or crawlspace if present. Multi-story homes may need more complex ductwork to span the different levels or have redundant systems installed to be served from multiple areas. Obviously the more intrusive the work the greater the cost. The backs of closets often provide a “chase” that is used for running ductwork from a basement to a second floor. A large portion of the expense of these installations comes from new air-handling systems that are already present in existing forced air-heating systems.

Costs and Alternatives to Central Air Retrofitting an older home can be complex. One alternative to a central system may be installing fixed wall units in just a few rooms. These work much like a window unit but do not need to be installed and removed each season. Cost for these systems run about $2500 per room, a central system can run $7000 to $8000 for a typical 3-bedroom home. Costs can vary by region so check with your local installers for your location. Designing your project based on costs, and impact to your home is something to do first. Ceiling fans by comparison are quite economical, with costs around $50 to $200. Home design can also play a role in heating and cooling, in the desert South West, adobe homes, which have been around for centuries, are naturally cool compared to other buildings. Super-insulated homes, earth sheltered and earth-bermed homes also have lower cooling requirements and may be completely passive in their cooling design. Evaporative coolers and whole house fans are other low cost options.