Professional Heating & Air Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Kenner’

How You Can Tell You Need Air Conditioning Repairs

Thursday, May 15th, 2014

Before the summer arrives, have any lingering air conditioning repairs taken care of. It’s likely that you’ve already needed to turn on your AC for a few days, so take some time to pay attention to its operation and look for any indications of faults or malfunctions. If you do notice anything amiss—as we’ll go over in a moment—don’t hesitate: call for professional technicians to come to your home and remedy the problem.

Keep A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning in mind when you need air conditioning repair service in Kenner, LA. We have 24-hour emergency service to make sure you have your cool house restored to you in no time.

Signs It’s Time to Call for Air Conditioning Repairs

The clearest warning sign you can receive from your AC that it has operational problems is when it starts making strange noises. If the air conditioner makes grinding and stuttering sounds when it starts up, then it is “hard starting,” which could point to a number of issues in the motors or the compressor. Clicking sounds indicate capacitors about to fail. If you hear a hissing sound, like escaping gas, then you have a refrigerant leak and need to call for repairs to seal the leak and recharge the lost refrigerant as soon as possible.

Should you detect a loss in cooling power or a drop in airflow coming from the vents, the air conditioning could be experiencing major problems. Although you may feel tempted to let these problems go and hope they’ll get better, they won’t. You could have dirty coils, blocked airflow, broken fans, burnt-out motors… all of which will require professional repairs.

An indication of repair needs that some people often overlook appears on utility bills. As you get your first bills for the air conditioning season, compare them to the bills from the same time the previous year. If you see a surprising rise in costs, it might come from an air conditioning system that is running with a malfunction. Call for technicians to investigate and find out what’s wrong. Some repair problems are difficult to detect at first, but with knowledgeable HVAC specialists on the job, it will soon be fixed.

Schedule Maintenance As Well

Even if nothing seems wrong with your air conditioner this spring, you will still need to make a call to a trustworthy HVAC company to arrange for a maintenance visit. A tune-up and inspection will catch any repair problems that might otherwise escape your notice and give you time to have them repaired.

A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning offers a quality maintenance program to help you get ready for summer. Along with the inspection and tune-up for your AC, you’ll also receive a 10% discount on parts and labor and priority scheduling for your air conditioning repairs in Kenner, LA.

Tags: Air Conditioning Repair, Kenner
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Air Conditioning Tips for the Coming Summer

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Louisiana summers are hot and humid, and home air conditioners are necessary to make the season pleasant. But you cannot just switch on your air conditioning when the heat arrives and expect the system to work its best. You can end up wasting money on power bills, running into numerous repairs, and receiving less effective cooling. You don’t have to spend a few hours a day working with your AC to get the proper cooling level from it, but you can take a few steps and change some habits to improve its performance during the summer. We’ll share some valuable AC tips for the upcoming season.

Whenever you need to have professional HVAC technician service for your air conditioning system in Kenner, LA, call on the team at A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning. We have technicians ready to help you 24 hours a day so you won’t have to sweat out a broken AC for long.

Tips for Better Air Conditioning Operation This Summer

Schedule a maintenance session: You should never miss an annual maintenance visit for your cooling system. Regular attention from an HVAC professional will keep an air conditioner working and free from unnecessary stress. This will stop your electrical bills from rising, fend off repairs, prevent a sudden breakdown, and generally extend the air conditioner’s service life. Although we advise maintenance during the spring, it’s never too late to schedule it.
Stay away from the lowest setting on the thermostat: How low does your thermostat go? Likely around 60°F, and that is rarely the level of cooling anybody requires, no matter the heat outside. If you put your thermostat on the lowest setting, it will force the system to work longer (no, it won’t cool down your house any faster), drain energy, and put extra pressure on the components. All this for a temperature that most people won’t even find comfortable. By raising the thermostat up to 72°F, you will have the right comfort level and save between 24% and 36% off your energy bills. (Each degree higher is a 2–3% savings.)
Change the air filter monthly: The air filter protects the AC from debris that enters the return vents. During regular operation, the filter will become clogged with dust, lint, hair, and other pollutants. This is enough to cause the air conditioner to strain due to low airflow, and it may also lead to icing along the coils. Change the filter once a month to keep the system efficient. (You should also change it during the off-season, but once every three months is usually sufficient when the AC isn’t running regularly.)

Start Off With Maintenance

There’s still time this spring to jump ahead of the weather and have regular maintenance done. Contact A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning and ask about our regular maintenance program, which also includes a 10% discount on parts and labor, plus priority scheduling. We’ll help keep your air conditioning in Kenner, LA healthy all summer long.

Tags: Air Conditioning, Kenner
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Add Some Upgrades When Installing a New Air Conditioner

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Spring is here and that means summer can’t be far behind. Here in Kenner, LA, our air conditioning service technicians are standing by to install new cooling systems as replacements for older or more worn-out air conditioners. Now is the perfect time of year to replace your existing air conditioner, since temperatures are still mild and you won’t feel the heat during the time it takes to perform the installation. You might also want to add some upgrades when installing a new air conditioner, taking advantage of new advancements to improve your system. What kinds of air conditioning upgrades should you consider?

A brief list of some of the more popular options appears below:

Zone Control Systems

Zone control systems are often associated with ductless air conditioning systems, though variations can easily be installed in existing centralized systems. They consist of a series of valves and shutters placed in your ductwork that divide the home into specific sections. Each section has its own thermostat and control panel, allowing you to control the temperature individually rather than heating the house all at once. For example, you could turn the air conditioner up high in the kitchen while you cook over a hot stove while leaving it off in the living room where another family member is watching TV. You can even turn off the air conditioner in parts of the house you aren’t using, helping you save money on monthly bills in the process.

Thermostats

Thermostats often make a fairly painless upgrade, since new units can often be installed in the exact same spot the old one was. New thermostats often contain a host of attractive features, including smart systems that learn to adjust the temperature based on your regular habits, and remote activation systems that let you turn on the air conditioner when you’re away from home.

Regardless of what you have in mind, you can use a professional HVAC service to add some upgrades when installing a new air conditioner. The experts at A-Professional Heating and Air Conditioning provide quality air conditioning services in Kenner, LA. Give us a call to make an appointment today. You’ll be glad you did!

Tags: Air Conditioning, Kenner
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What Qualities Should I Look For In An Air Conditioning Service Company?

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

Having too many choices can create as many headaches as having no choices at all. When you need professional air conditioning service in Kenner, LA, the most basic Internet search will turn up a ream of companies looking your business… but only a small number who deserve it. How do you make as choice between them?

When you look over possible AC service companies, there are a number of factors you can focus on that show you the company offers quality work and pure professionalism. Here are some of the qualities to put at the top of your list when deciding on which company to hire.

A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning is proud to offer some of the best service for air conditioners in Southeast Louisiana.

Look for these qualities in a professional AC service company

24-hour emergency service: Air conditioning malfunctions and breakdowns wait for no man or woman. They happen at the most inconvenient times, and it will do you little good to rely on a company that doesn’t offer emergency service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Make sure you look for repair technicians ready to jump on the job no matter if it’s 11 pm on Tuesday or 3 am on Saturday.
Extensive services, local business: Dealing with a company that offers little in the way of other services and can only perform work on a narrow range of comfort systems can be difficult and won’t give you the results you need. Dealing with a large company that covers many states can result in impersonal work where your repair and maintenance jobs are simply “the next thing on the daily schedule.” Aim to find a company between these: local and focused, but offering the same diversity of services you might expect from a large corporation.
Handles indoor air quality services: A company that also does work such as duct cleaning, duct sealing, and installation of air purifiers, filters, and dehumidifiers is a company with air conditioning knowledge that goes far beyond the single cabinet and the components inside it. These contractors have experience with the whole network that circulates air through your home, which makes them far more than basic repair technicians.

Since you are already on our website, take a tour of all the services we offer here at A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning. From heating and indoor air quality to air conditioning service in Kenner, LA, we have all the comfort bases covered. (We even handle Commercial HVAC, which brings an extra layer of experience to our work.) Whenever you need AC repairs on the double, call us any time of the day or night.

Tags: Air Conditioning, Kenner
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How to Prepare Your Heater for Summer

Monday, March 24th, 2014

We haven’t reached the full bloom of warm weather yet in Kenner, but we’ll arrive there soon. Air conditioners will switch on, and heaters switch off, and we can expect the situation to stay the same until the fall. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore your heater entirely as the cooler season winds down. You have a prime opportunity now to prepare your heater for its summer vacation so it will roar back to life when you need it in the fall and winter.

Here are some tips for what you can do during this time of the year to prep your heating system for summer. Our technicians at A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning can assist you with your heating in Kenner, LA whenever you need us… we’re on call with 24-hour emergency service.

Some heating preparations for summer

Catch up on maintenance: Did you have regular maintenance done on your heater last fall before the winter weather started? Don’t fret if you forgot or put it off; at least your heater made it through the winter. But you can’t trust it to keep going without a check-up, so schedule maintenance now if you haven’t done it in over a year. It’s never too late for an inspection and tune-up.
Get to any repair issues now: It’s a big mistake to let a repair need in a heater slide because the weather is about to get warmer. That current small malfunction, like a clicking from the furnace cabinet or low airflow from the vents, might have turned into a huge malfunction—or even a breakdown—when you switch the heater back on in late fall. Have repairs taken care of now, while HVAC technicians still have easy appointment openings.
Schedule duct cleaning: If your forced-air heating system chugged away all winter, it has probably drawn a large amount of dust into its ductwork. Because your air conditioner will use these same vents, you don’t want to give it any difficulty. Schedule duct cleaning to make sure your heater and air conditioner are ready to handle the airflow, and so you’ll receive superior indoor air quality.

Keep in mind that you might need to turn your heater on at some point during the summer, such as on rainy nights. It’s always a good idea to have your heating system ready to help you. Keep it in the best shape possible with spring preparations. Call A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning for further help with your Kenner, LA heating system service needs.

Tags: Heating, Kenner
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What Problems Can Fireplace Maintenance Address?

Monday, February 17th, 2014

Few enhancements to your home are more inviting than a fireplace near the middle of your living space. A fireplace isn’t only a cozy addition to your lifestyle; it can also serve as an effective secondary heat source to help your main heating system.

Fireplaces are no more dangerous than a furnace or boiler—provided they receive routine maintenance once a year from experts in fireplace repair. You may have heard that fireplaces only need maintenance every five years, but this is false. Problems can start developing in a fireplace after only a year without a check-up, so make sure to schedule maintenance annually. Contact the fireplace experts at A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning to get started, or call for any heating repair service in Kenner, LA you need.

Here are a few issues you can avoid with your fireplace through regular maintenance:

Smoke or exhaust entering your home: The most immediate danger a fireplace in need of maintenance can pose is from poor ventilation, leading to smoke flowing out into your house. There are different causes for bad ventilation (broken damper, animal nests), but a maintenance check can catch almost all of them.
Fire hazards: It’s the worst-case-scenario for a fireplace… the fire getting out of the hearth and into places where it shouldn’t be. Cracks inside the chimney liner can permit heat to escape through to other areas of your home, making it possible for fires to break out on upper floors or on your roof. Cracks in the firebox are also potential hazards. Maintenance will look for all possible places where a fire might get out of the fireplace.
Creosote build-up: The No. 1 problem that can afflict a wood-burning fireplace is the development of creosote. Creosote is a shiny black substance that starts to appear on the fireplace bricks and in the chimney. It is unburned wood energy, often resulting from poor insulation, and is highly combustible, making it a major danger. Checking for creosote is an important part of maintenance, and technicians will be able to tell you if you need chimney sweeping to eliminate a possibly hazardous build-up.

Because fireplaces are seen as durable, almost invincible, homeowners often put off necessary maintenance. Don’t make this mistake: treat your fireplace as you would any heating system for your home and schedule an annual maintenance visit. A–Professional Heating and Air Conditioning offers trained fireplace technicians to make sure you receive the important heating repair services in Kenner, LA you need to keep enjoying the pleasures of a warm hearth.

Tags: Fireplace Maintenance, Kenner
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