Hvac Lexington KY systems keep occupants comfortable and healthy by using convection and radiation to heat or cool a space. They also offer energy-efficient technologies to lower operational costs.
Understanding how HVAC works can help you get better service from technicians. It can also save you money on repairs and help you avoid dishonest handymen who may try to charge you more than they should.
HVAC systems keep us warm and cozy in winter and cool and comfortable in summer. They also filter and clean indoor air to ensure optimal health, comfort, and productivity in residential and commercial spaces. An HVAC system includes a heating unit, cooling unit, and ducts to move the air through the building.
The cooling component of an HVAC system is a heat transfer system that takes heat from inside your home and moves it outside via the condensing unit. The unit is powered by electricity and works with an air conditioner that cools your house by reducing humidity.
On sweltering days, your HVAC system will have to work overtime to remove the extra heat from your home. Extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, humidity, and wind can increase the strain on your unit, leading to high energy bills and reduced efficiency.
When it comes to cooling, you can help your system by maintaining regular maintenance and using efficient equipment. Air filters should be changed monthly to ensure your system has a good flow of clean air. This can provide sufficient performance, high energy bills, and repairs. It would be best to keep kepttrim bushes and other vegetation away from the outdoor unit to avoid blockages and maintain proper airflow.
You can also protect your HVAC system by adjusting your thermostat settings when the weather is hot and humid. When your home is at a lower temperature, your HVAC system will work less to cool the space and use less energy. You can also reduce your energy usage by turning off any appliances that aren’t necessary during a hot spell.
An HVAC system is a necessity in most areas when it comes to cooling. However, it’s important to consider a few things before committing to a system. If you are considering purchasing an HVAC system, ensure it is sized properly for your space and equipped with high-efficiency equipment. Also, keep in mind that an overworked AC can lead to high energy bills and may require frequent repairs.
Ventilation
Ventilation, the V in HVAC, brings outdoor air into a space and distributes it to help control indoor air quality. It’s important for people who want to stay healthy, but it’s also a vital part of building codes and standards. The goals of ventilation are to provide fresh air, to displace metabolic pollutants (carbon dioxide and odours) from the occupied space, and to remove the byproducts of combustion (e.g. carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides). Ventilation can’t be used as a substitute for source control of pollutants, but it helps dilute and displace them.
If your school’s occupants are complaining of stuffy rooms, or you see odours migrating from one room to another, that is usually a sign of poor ventilation. A proper ventilation system is essential to maintaining good IAQ and reducing energy costs.
Natural ventilation comes from open windows, door and cracks, but with today’s tightly sealed home construction, mechanical systems are needed to bring in air and vent it out. These include an air handling unit, ducts and return vents.
Air is drawn from the outside through an air intake and brought into the air handling unit where it passes through filters that remove dirt, dust and allergens. Depending on the type of ventilation, it may also be treated with chemicals to control gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air. Permanate oxidizers and activated charcoal are common in this application, although there are a number of systems on the market that can handle these contaminants without the use of chemicals.
There are a number of factors that determine how much outside air is brought in through a ventilation system, including the size of the building, the usage of the space and the weather conditions. The design of the ventilation system should take these into account to achieve optimum energy efficiency and occupant comfort.
When designing your ventilation system, consider incorporating features that will make operation and maintenance easier for your facility staff. For example, labeling system components can be an inexpensive and effective way of facilitating operations and maintenance of the equipment. These labels should be easy to read and durable enough to last the life of the equipment. Corrosion resistant damper actuators and links are an additional feature that can reduce maintenance requirements and extend the lifetime of your HVAC system.
Heating
In a hot climate, HVAC systems have to work harder to keep the home comfortable. This puts a lot of stress on the system and can cause it to break down. However, proper maintenance can help avoid this and save you money on energy costs.
Air filters should be replaced or cleaned on a monthly basis to ensure that the system is operating at maximum efficiency. A dirty filter blocks airflow and can reduce performance by as much as 50%. This can lead to increased energy bills and repairs, and can also affect the health of your family.
It is important to make sure that the ductwork in your home is properly installed and maintained. This can prevent a number of problems such as poor indoor air quality, increased allergies and asthma, higher bills and a shorter life span for the HVAC unit. It is best to hire a professional to make these installations and to have regular maintenance done.
Another thing that can affect the efficiency of your HVAC system is humidity. High humidity can cause the air to be stale and can make it difficult to cool the house. Keeping humidity low and using a dehumidifier can help to solve this problem.
The thermostat can also affect how well your HVAC system works. It is important to have a thermostat that is correctly sized for your home and is working properly. If the thermostat is not working properly, it can result in your HVAC system having to work harder than necessary.
There are other factors that can affect the performance of your HVAC system such as the age of the unit and the type of fuel it uses. An older system may be utilizing antiquated technology that can reduce efficiency and increase the risk of malfunctions. Investing in a newer system can save on energy expenses and improve indoor comfort.
Other things that can affect your HVAC system include the presence of pests such as mice and rats, and damage caused by bad weather like hail storms. Hail storms can dent the exterior units of your HVAC system and can also damage ductwork.
Filtration
Air filters capture particles in the air before your HVAC system blows heated or cooled air back into a building. These particles can be anything from dust, skin flakes, hairs, mold and bacteria to smoke, chemical vapors and other contaminants.
These systems generally use porous membranes to separate solid particles from fluids and gases. The solid particles are collected as a residue over the filter, while the fluid passes through and is discharged from the other side of the membrane.
The type of filtration your air conditioner uses depends on the type of contaminants you want to remove from your building’s air. For example, basic MERV 1 and MERV 2 filters are used in commercial or residential buildings and trap dust, pet hair, lint and other large debris. They aren’t effective at removing mold spores, however.
More advanced MERV filters are available to help with specific issues like allergies and asthma. Filters with MERV ratings between 5 and 13 offer better filtration by capturing airborne particulates like pollen, pet dander, dust mite parts and other microorganisms. They can also reduce the concentration of smoke, chemical vapors and other volatile organic compounds in the air.
High-performance MERV 14 and MERV 20 filters can be found in hospitals, manufacturing facilities and other locations where the air needs to be as clean as possible. These filters can also reduce the concentration of mold spores and other microorganisms in the air.
An alternative to air filtration systems is an ionizer. These systems release clouds of positive and negative ions that travel through the ducts. They stick to the contaminants and force them to cluster together, making it easier for a cloth HEPA filter to catch them.
Although these systems can make your building’s air healthier, they’re generally more expensive than a simple filter. This is because they require more energy to create a strong enough current to move the particles and gasses away from the HVAC system.
Some ionizers can be combined with air filtration or UV systems to improve a building’s occupant health. For instance, a system that delivers ultraviolet light in the upper level of a room can disinfect a great deal of the air, while keeping the ducts and coils cleaner.