Understanding your A/C system
Understanding your A/C system
Here is a couple of things to know about your A/C system.
1st --- If your system was sized properly and installed correctly, then the following will apply.
Furnace and Air Conditioning systems are sized based on heat loss/ heat gain calculations of a given dwelling. Not to bore you with all the tech stuff of how one house can be different from another, A/C systems are all sized here in the St. Louis area for a 95 degree ambient air temp. This means that if it is 95 or hotter, in theory, your A/C system should stay running as it is getting rid of the same amount of heat as the house is absorbing. The higher the temp gets above 95 the more it begins to "loose ground" on the desired temp. And why your system cycles on and off when it's cooler than 95. Here in the STL area we have approximately 1000 cooling hours and 2000 heating hours per year as a general rule of thumb.
One way you can do a quick check on determining if your A/C system is cooling properly is to Stick a thermometer in the return air as close as you can before it enters the furnace/air handler. Take another temp reading as close as possible after the evaporator coil (the "A" coil)in the supply air duct.....after taking the 2 temp readings subtract the supply air temp from the return air temp.
The acceptable range for this is 18 to 22 degrees, with your preferred target temp being 20. If you are out side of those ranges then something is wrong and you are paying too much to cool your house.
And as stated before. Clean the Condenser coil of the outside unit. Grass clippings, dirt, and especially cotton wood seeds can dramatically reduce the airflow across the coil and cause the unit to use alot more energy than it needs to just to over come the airflow restriction.
Understanding your A/C system
Here is a couple of things to know about your A/C system.
1st --- If your system was sized properly and installed correctly, then the following will apply.
Furnace and Air Conditioning systems are sized based on heat loss/ heat gain calculations of a given dwelling. Not to bore you with all the tech stuff of how one house can be different from another, A/C systems are all sized here in the St. Louis area for a 95 degree ambient air temp. This means that if it is 95 or hotter, in theory, your A/C system should stay running as it is getting rid of the same amount of heat as the house is absorbing. The higher the temp gets above 95 the more it begins to "loose ground" on the desired temp. And why your system cycles on and off when it's cooler than 95. Here in the STL area we have approximately 1000 cooling hours and 2000 heating hours per year as a general rule of thumb.
One way you can do a quick check on determining if your A/C system is cooling properly is to Stick a thermometer in the return air as close as you can before it enters the furnace/air handler. Take another temp reading as close as possible after the evaporator coil (the "A" coil)in the supply air duct.....after taking the 2 temp readings subtract the supply air temp from the return air temp.
The acceptable range for this is 18 to 22 degrees, with your preferred target temp being 20. If you are out side of those ranges then something is wrong and you are paying too much to cool your house.
And as stated before. Clean the Condenser coil of the outside unit. Grass clippings, dirt, and especially cotton wood seeds can dramatically reduce the airflow across the coil and cause the unit to use alot more energy than it needs to just to over come the airflow restriction.
