R-22 Refrigerant Shortages Could Impact Your Comfort This Year: Get Expert Advice On How To Navigate Upgrades

Here in the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama, where we use our cooling systems most of the year, you should know about an important change in the kind of refrigerant you’ll be able to use in your air conditioner. The R-22 refrigerant that your A/C is probably using now is being phased out of production. Expect prices to climb and availability to fall as this phaseout progresses.

Actually, this is not a new development. An international agreement called the Montreal Protocol in 1987 established a phaseout of chlorofluorocarbons, which harm the Earth’s ozone layer. Over the following years, the protocol was modified and amended. A modification in 1992 established a phaseout of hydrochlorofluorocarbons. HCFC-22 is also known as R-22. One of its brand names is Freon. The U.S. is enforcing the protocol through the Clean Air Act, and the phaseout is scheduled to be almost entirely in force by 2020.

What does this mean if you own an air conditioner that uses R-22? There could be R-22 refrigerant shortages and R-22 prices are expected to double or triple, so the cost of maintaining your air conditioner could go up. You don’t have to run out and buy a new air conditioner, but you might want to consider doing just that. Why?

If you have an older air conditioner, it’s probably much less energy efficient than today’s models. A new model will help you hold down your energy costs.
You’ll know you’re helping the environment by making your carbon footprint smaller. Your new air conditioner will use an environmentally healthier R-410a.
If you really can’t afford to replace your air conditioner at the moment, make sure you schedule timely maintenance. Maintenance will help you avoid costly leaks and the need to replace your refrigerant. And schedule that maintenance sooner, rather than later, as the cost of R-22 will keep rising.

At Harbin Heating and Air, we can help make the right decision for your unique situation. Serving The Mississippi,Tennessee, and Alabama, we maintain cooling systems and sell a range of air conditioners. Give us a call or visit our website.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about air conditioners and other HVAC topics, visit our website at www.harbinair.com

Heat Gain: How It Undermines Your Hardworking A/C

The air conditioner in your Northern Mississippi and South west Tennessee home has been designed to keep you cool as efficiently as possible on the hottest summer days, but its job is often made much harder by heat gain, which can be caused by the sun, appliances that produce heat, and poor insulation in the home’s ceilings, floors, walls and attic. With the following tips, you will learn how to reduce heat gain in your home, which will help lower your utility bills and keep you more comfortable throughout the summer:

Shade Your Windows: Use awnings, curtains, blinds or shades to shade the windows and reflect the sun’s heat back outside during the day. Choose light-colored window treatments for the best reflectivity and look for products that have a low shading coefficient, which indicates how much shade a window treatment provides. Reducing solar heat gain alone can reduce your cooling bills by up to 25 percent.

Avoid Using Unnecessary Lights and Appliances: During the daytime, shut off any lights, appliances and electronics that you are not using, as they can produce extra heat. Use heat-producing appliances such as hair dryers, clothes dryers and dishwashers at night when it’s cooler and make sure to turn on the exhaust fans when cooking or bathing to remove excess humidity.

Check Your Insulation Levels: Make sure your home has adequate insulation to prevent heat gain. Ceilings and attic floors should have at least R-30, walls should have at least R-13, and floors should have at least R-19. Add more if necessary.

Seal Air Leaks: Use caulk, weatherstripping and expanding foam insulation to seal air leaks around doors, windows, damaged siding, plumbing runs and electrical lines outside and inside the home. Use door sweeps to seal the bottom of doors and foam gaskets to seal electrical outlets and switches.

Use Light Exterior Colors: Choose lighter-colored exterior paints, siding and doors when possible to reduce the absorption of heat from the sun. If you would like more information about reducing heat gain in your home, contact our cooling experts at Harbin heating and Air. We have served North Mississippi, south west Tennessee, north Alabama. since 1988.

Sizing Your New Air Conditioner

Have you been thinking about upgrading your air conditioner this year? If so, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with Manual J. By educating yourself on this valuable load calculation tool and insisting that your HVAC contractor uses it, you’ll enjoy the highest levels of efficiency and comfort possible.

What is Manual J and how does it work?

Manual J is a tool that’s utilized by heating and cooling professionals in order to determine the sensible and latent cooling loads of your home. Your home’s sensible cooling load will tell your contractor how much heat your air conditioner should be able to remove from your home on the warmest day of the summer, whereas the latent cooling load will reveal how much moisture it will need to be able to combat under worst-case conditions.

In order to calculate these loads, an HVAC technician must consider numerous factors including:

Home size in square feet
House orientation
Number of windows and window locations
Number of household occupants
Local climate
Heat-producing appliances
Current insulation levels
Why is Manual J so important?

Many homeowners make the mistake of believing that selecting a large system will cover all of their needs. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. An air conditioner that’s too large for a home’s cooling needs will run inefficiently and drive up energy bills. The system will cycle on and off frequently as it quickly blasts cold air into your house, satisfies the thermostat requirement and turns off again.

In addition to creating efficiency problems, this also renders the system unable to properly dehumidify your home. Ultimately, this could lower your indoor air quality and create health issues as a result of the growth of mold and mildew. Because of this, it’s imperative that homeowners hire a professional to perform a load calculation before purchasing and installing a new air conditioning system.

For more information on Manual J, or to schedule a professional load calculation on your home, visit our website at www.harbinair.com or contact the professionals at Harbin Heating & Air. We’re proud to serve residents of North Ms. North Al. & North West Tenn.

How to make your home more efficient

Setting up a energy evaluation inspection can help determine the issues with your home that is steeling your money every month when you receive your electric bill. At Harbin heating and Air we work closely with TVA, and (IHEE) In Home Energy Evaluation).  If you are interested go to www.Energyright.com or www.energy.gov to learn more.

The evaluation will diagnose issues with your home; like air leakage, with an explanation why your home leaks and a remedy to make the repairs. It looks for duct leakage, attic insulation, and windows and doors. When this is addressed properly the results normally reveal a 25 to 50% reduction on your electric bill.

Harbin Heating and Air Cond. Inc. services Corinth, Savanah, Selmer, Pickwick, Iuka, and the Muscle Shoals area.