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“Winter is coming.”  Yea, I started this off with a cheesy Game of Thrones reference, however it doesn’t excuse the fact that winter is actually coming.  With luck, when winter arrives here in Chattanooga we will not have to deal with the half-dead blue-eyed zombie creatures, but only some lower temperatures.  If you’re like me, some of you would rather deal with zombies as opposed to the cold weather.

My job during this time of year isn’t necessarily to keep you warm, no.  My job is to prepare you and your HVAC system for the cold shock it is getting ready to receive.  Granted we can keep you warm yes, but my point is, we are not in the full throws of winter yet.  We still have time to fix your system before it’s too late.

Let’s explain somethings, specifically how your heat works.  No, it’s not just flicking the switch from cool to heat.  We have 2 main styles:

Heat Pumps:  These things dominate the residential heating market and have since the 1940s.  They use a refrigerant cycle to absorb heat from the outside and bring it inside, where air blows over a coil and produces heat from your home.  It is essentially an air conditioner but the cycle is reversed.  The process uses all the major components of the typical HVAC heat pump system along with something called a reversing valve.  They work best in climates that don’t get too, too cold and where energy rates are cheap.

Gas Furnaces:  Some of you may have a gas furnace.  The gas furnace uses gas fuel to heat air either directly or indirectly.  The air is then blown through ductwork with a blower to warm the home.  These work very well and efficiency has increased dramatically over the years.  The limiting factor is living somewhere the gas company services.

There are other types but these are the 2 that we will concern ourselves with now.

With winter staring us down, we must, like I said above, prepare ourselves and our heating units.  We do this with regular maintenance.  Imagine your system is like you.  You have laid down to go to sleep.  After laying in the bed for a few moments you finally pass out.  That night you are getting some of the best sleep EVER!  You’re out cold.  An earthquake could not even wake you up.  In this scenario, we don’t have an earthquake, but we do have one of your kids.  During your slumber one of your kids comes in your room and shakes you awake.  “Mommy, I’m hungry.”  You wake up startled.  Keep in mind you were just having the best sleep of your life!  Now your awake, fuzzy headed with your night’s sleep cut short.

You are the child in the scenario flicking the thermostat from cool to heat.  When it gets cold enough during that night and heat comes on from its summer slumber we have essentially woken it up.
Resting components come to life and the heat magically starts working.  I mean, it is supposed to start working..

We would love to come out and service your system and get you ready for the cold season.  Southern people don’t do cold, so let us ensure the heat comes on.
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www.indoorairsolutionsga.com or 706-820-6041
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Trends are important, right?  We look to trends to determine certain things.  Sometimes we need trends to help us decide to wear.  Sometimes we need trends to tell us what to eat.  Sometimes we need trends to help us make some of our life decisions.  These trends should be somewhat predictable over time and help contribute something of value to our lives.  This value could be in the form of money savings or it could be something that increases our material quality of life.

Regardless, and whether we want to believe it or not, trends help us choose.

With Heating and Air, finding trends are not that hard.  In the Tennessee Valley, our weather is somewhat (emphases on “somewhat”) predictable.  We know summer time, specifically middle August summer, will produce heat and humidity.  It is just how it is.  Now, based on this trend we are able to assume certain things.  Among those things we can reasonably predict how your AC unit should be functioning.  Listed below are a few cause and effect scenarios for this time of year you may be dealing with, some of which you may not even be aware of.

1)      Your duct work is sweating, is trending.  Now, in years past we would just chalk this up to, “oh, it’s the South.  You have to put up with some sweaty duct work.”  False! Fact: You do not.  Your sweaty duct work could be contributed to insufficient insulation, poor installation, excessive humidity, bad vapor barrier or all the above.  Nevertheless, you do not have to deal with this.  Replacing this stuff is possible and affordable.  Rid yourself of increased power bills and excessive humidity.  Water is not your friend.  Get rid of it.
 
2)      Mice could be in your crawl space is trending.  This trend is a thing.  Especially this year for some reason.  These little critters will do a number on your duct work.  They will slice through it like butter.  This will cause your power bills to go up as well as your indoor air temperature.  Cute maybe?  Destructive, definitely.
 
3)      Your Evaporator coil is dirty is definitely trending.  Yes, it is.  You may of just had it cleaned, but it is still dirty.  It is just how it goes.  Our climate has a great deal of humidity.  We all know that.  That humid air passing over a cold Evaporator coil is the perfect place for dirt to cling to.  Over time dirt builds up more.  It then insulates and stops up the coil causing a myriad of problems ranging from poor air flow to frozen evaporator coils.  Its dirty, trust me.  Visit here for some good info:  http://www.indoorairsolutionsga.com/regular-maintenance.html
 
4)      College football starting is trending too!  I’m not going get into who is the best team… mostly because I want you to be our customer, still, we are excited!
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Anyways, look, this stuff can get pretty complicated, especially if you have more than one issue going on.  We are here to help out the North Georgia and Chattanooga area feel comfortable for less.  We are affordable and reasonable.  Let us know if we can help with some of these trends.

So, there are several questions one in the Chattanooga Area must ask themselves prior to making the decision to buy a new Heat and Air-Conditioning unit or repair the one you have.  This is obvious, right?  No one, not even Bill Gates (well, maybe Bill Gates), goes out and makes expensive impulsive purchases without weighing the value of it.

The key word here, and it is mentioned above is VALUE.  Value is different than cheap.  Value is different than inexpensive.  It does not suggest cheap.  It does not suggest poor quality.  It is a relative term that, based on the individual, one must consider on their own based on their circumstances.  Value for one person is not Value to another, basically.

So, here is the question:  How do you find Value?

Let’s establish two ground-rules:
1.       HVAC Units only last, on average, 15 years
2.       Heating and Air Companies want to sell you expensive things

Now let’s ask ourselves some questions:
1.       How old is your unit?
2.       How much have you sunk into it already?
3.       How much longer do you plan to spend in your home?
4.       Do I have realistic expectations?
5.       Is it really an HVAC problem?
6.       What is my budget?
7.       Do I have a good feeling about my potential future purchase?

Ok, that is enough questions.  Really, if you really want to simplify this, focus on the first question.  That is the main one.  How old is your unit?  Also, reference the 1st ground rule.  HVAC Systems last only about 15 years.  If you think about this, you can make a good decision.

You would be making a non-valuable decision to replace a compressor which will cost $600-$1000 on a 15-year-old unit.  This is because the likely hood of other components failing shortly after increase substantially with more time.  So, you could, at the 15-year mark, be spending 1000s on an old unit that has poor efficiency with a plethora of other problems.  When you should have just replaced it.  Replacing it would have saved you time (money), repair costs, parts cost and efficiency (power bill).

On the flip side, if you have a unit that is 6 years old and the unit’s other main components are functioning very well, of course, replace the component.

HVAC units are a lot like cars.  There are a lot of moving parts.  It is inevitable that something is going to break at some point.  The thing you have to consider is whether replacing or repairing has the real value.

We would love to be able to answer some of these questions for you.  This is a big purchase.  Choose someone that you trust.  Locally owned and operated.  Give us a call or visit our website:  423-710-4792 or www.indoorairsolutionsga.com
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Friends, fellow southerners, other-people-that-do-not-identify-with-one-of-the-other-two-labels-but-still-are-within-earshot-of-my-blog-and-its-contents, hear me now:

We are in the thick of it.  That is to say, literally, we are in some pretty thick air.  That’s right folks, humidity.  It is essentially water, water droplets or water vapor floating around in the air.  Most of us can agree, this stuff is not welcome in our lives.  I mean for the obvious reasons, right?  You feel sweaty.  You feel gross.  Maybe you feel greasy or uncomfortable.  Your clothes are sticking to you and your sweat glands are turning you into some Everglades swamp monster.  Hyperbole much, Jeremy?  I will digress.

For all of you not familiar with our climate, let me explain it to you.  We get 53 inches of rain a year.  Our climate has no notable dry season.  We typically get 5 inches of snow a year (the average snow for US cities is 25 inches) 121 days out of the year it is raining.  This equates to 41 percent of the year.  In more reasonable words, it is wet.  It is wet often.  We have the Gulf of Mexico to thank for the wetness. 

Furthering the conversation about Chattanooga’s Climate, we can discuss heat.  I love maps.  Maybe it’s a guy thing.  I am not sure.  Anyways, let’s look at Chatt Town’s latitude (the lines that go from east to west or sideways.  Chattanooga sets on the 35° 2' 44.2669 latitude line.  What’s this mean?  Well it basically means it’s hot.  It’s hot because it’s close to the equator.  We are in line with some fine countries like Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan.  Now, I know that most of us can figure out common denominators about these countries.  The biggest one is they’re all deserts, right?  Not desserts, but deserts.  The long and short of it is, Chattanooga and its surrounding temperate deciduous forests are forests and not deserts because of the Gulf of Mexico and our relationship to the ocean.  Thank you ocean.

I now have to make this about heating and air somehow.  Here goes:

This relatively humid and hot combo will do things to your comfort level.  This is especially true in your home where the air can sometimes be stagnate.  Little do we realize our AC units act as de-humidifiers.  You’re currently asking yourself, “Jeremy, how does my AC unit act as a dehumidifier?”  I will tell you fine people.

Basically, your AC unit pulls air through your home’s return air.  This air will be warm and full of water droplets.  As it pulls the air across your cold evaporator coil, the water droplets condense into actual water.  Are you following me?  It’s basically how rain is formed.  A billion water droplets are forced up into the cold levels of the atmosphear, cooled and condensed into one another and then rain comes down.  Back to HVAC…

So, your evaporator coil has condensed the water vapor into water.  The water then drains out of the house via the, guess what, that is right, the drain!
De-humidified air is then pushed back through your duct work leaving you feeling dry and subsequently cooler.

Here’s the hook.  If you’re still, despite having a normally operating AC system, feeling sticky or icky, give us a call.  You could actually have a legitimate excess humidity issue.  We can offer solutions to solve this problem.  It’s not abnormal, especially in basements or homes near water to have excess humidity.  We would love to help.  Thanks for reading.

www.indoorairsolutionsga.com
706-820-6041
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So, without being to cliché when talking about our employees, I will do just that, talk about them.  I am going to do this because our guys are objectively the best in the business and are deserving of praise.

The Heating and Air industry and the work involved is tough.  Crawling under houses in musky crawlspaces, working in 120 degree attics in insulation, working on your knees, random cuts and scrapes, heavy lifting and working off ladders tends to expose your work ethic quickly.

One of the better defining qualities of our employees is they are all local guys.  Either growing up in Chattanooga or North Georgia, they are our community’s people.  There is something to be said about that too.  Our small business effects the local economy via our employees.  It is a wonderful feeling knowing that our local guys, who service our local area help contribute to our local economy.  Shopping local is equal to shopping with Indoor Air Solutions.  We are grateful.

If you have been in the South long, you quickly realize that our climate is not for the faint of heart.  I’m talking about August 95 degree, 100% humidity weather.  Now, this doesn’t suggest that people not from here can’t tolerate it or we Southerners have some special superpower.  It does suggest, yes, our climate is well known for its heat and humidity, and if you’re from our Southern climate you can actually tolerate it a little better.  This is relative because one of the first things to be sacrificed with someone working in austere weather is work quality.  Our guys are tough and despite those uncomfortable situations, we will never sacrifice our quality.  Are our guys superheroes? No.  Are they close?  Yes.  However, the jury is still out on Melvin.  We think he may be at least a Jedi or something.  We are grateful.

Experience is gained over time.  Experience is gained through training.  Experience is also gained through making mistakes.  We have all these.  Our owner has been doing this for 30 years.  Our lead installer has been doing this for 26 years.  Our lead service tech has been doing this for 15.  We have 2nd generation folks working in the industry.  Our bookkeeper has owned businesses and has been doing accounting work for 20 years.  We do employ Veterans.  We do work for Government and Municipalities.  We do residential and commercial.  We do work in breweries, restaurants, $500,000 homes and $50,000 homes.  We are grateful.

I personally have been doing this for a long time too.  I remember my first time ever doing something associated with the Heating and Air Industry.  I was a 6th grade student at Rossville Middle School and we were told to job shadow someone.  Well, I was going to job shadow my dad.  I went to work with him and for the entire day I wrapped boots (vents).  I was 11.  I grew up in the Industry.  I was always the small guy so I was the guy who fit in the tight places.  This business gave me my summer spending money.  I bought my first truck.  It also developed my work ethic.  I am grateful.

One of our more recent hires is a High School Junior.  The first thing that sticks out when thinking about this kid is his exceptional work ethic.  It is awesome.  His work quality and commitment are above reproach too.  Now, while this guy could be laid up in bed sleeping till 1:00, he has decided to give us his time and learn a skill.  We are grateful.

The unsung heroes in our company are our employee’s families.  We are grateful for them.  When we ask our guys to pull 12 hour days for our customers, or we have to work on Saturday, we do not take your sacrifice lightly.  We are grateful.
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Our guys are the salt of the Earth.  They are all approachable and professional.  They have experience and work ethic.  They represent our community’s service industry.  We are truly grateful for them.
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Here is your scenario:  You live in Chattanooga and it is in the middle of Summer.  Its hot and muggy.  For the most part, your home cools quite well but there is that one room, maybe your bedroom, and it doesn’t quite get as cool as you’d like.  What do you do?

Before we decide on our options lets first understand what is happening throughout the system.  There is obviously air blowing through a series of ductwork in your crawl space and/or attic.  Assuming your unit and ductwork have been sized correctly for your home, the air flow will produce pressure.  This pressure is necessary for your unit to perform correctly.  I won’t go into detail why, but understand that there is a relationship between the size of your home, the amount of air flow into the home, and the size of your ductwork.

Now, let’s get back to solving the problem of that muggy room.  Here are our options:
1)       Add a Vent into the room
Pro:  An additional vent right into the room
       Con:  Could negatively affect pressure.  Labor intensive.  Potentially expensive.
2)      Close off Registers in other rooms
Pro:  User Friendly
Con:  Hard to correctly measure productive air-flow.  Could negatively affect pressure.
3)      Add Mini-Split
Pro:  Dedicated and thermostatic air.  Will not affect rest of systems or pressure.
Con:  Potentially Expensive
4)      Upgrade System
Pro:  Brand new.  Can adjust tonnage for new Heat Load.  New Technology.
Con:  Expensive. Unless your system has failed and requires replacement, this is obviously impractical.

Some of the more practical points here are obvious.  Sometimes it is ok to damper vents, sometimes it is not.  Sometimes it is ok to add a vent, sometimes it is not.  Your heating and air company will give you options that should be affordable and balance the system and its pressures.

Other things that need to be considered are your ductwork and the shape it is in.  Often times, ductwork, especially flexible ductwork, develop holes.  These holes are bad, not just for your comfort levels, but for the pressure in your system.  So, there is an off chance you may not need additional cooling but a minor repair.

Granted, you may actually need your ductwork replaced.  This stuff gets old.  It loses its effectiveness.  It also gets dirty.  It gets moist.  It gets cold.  Mice love it, and raccoons.  Obviously, because this stuff is in crawl spaces and attics (especially in the Tennessee Valley), the elements, along with the location of your ductwork will affect its life expectancy greatly.
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To sum this up, if you have a room or have several rooms that aren’t being heated or cooled properly, call someone.  You have options.  Of course, we would love it if you called us!  706-820-6041
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It is extremely common for the heating and air guy (especially in Chattanooga and North Georgia) to hear from the homeowner, “I think its low on gas.”  By gas the homeowner means refrigerant and the “low on gas” comment means the HVAC performance is sub-par.  Or maybe not sub-par, but it isn’t performing to the owner’s expectations.

Let us breakdown what exactly the issue is in very pragmatic terms:
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Homeowner- You
Me: HVAC Guy
Your Home’s Location: Chattanooga, Rossville, Cleveland, Ringgold, Etc...
Your Comment: “I think its low on gas
Problem: Not conditioning air properly
 
Now before we start to dive into specifics, understand a few things.  Mainly, don’t act like this is a, “putting gas into a car type of situation.”  It definitely is not.  Gasoline may provide combustion to move components to put your car into motion, but gas (again, refrigerant) does not provide the energy to make your system move or turn on.  Your system’s energy that makes the components function electrically is actually ran off just that, electricity.  Yes, that is right, it’s your power bill.
 
Also, this gas (or liquid) needs to be put in by a trained person.  That person needs to account for Super-Heated Vapor and Sub-Cooled Liquid.  They also need to pull vacuums and do brazing.  They also have to follow very VERY specific EPA guidelines.  ..and a lot more!
 
Now, if the system is powered by electricity what is the “gas (refrigerant)” for?  Yes, that is right again.  It is used to cool, and in some cases it heats coils that air passes over to supply conditioned air to your house.
 
See, refrigerants aren’t just air, or liquids.  They are, at different points in time during the refrigeration process, both.  Pressure and its influence on this gas produces liquids and gases.  Heat is exchanged during the evaporation (evaporation coil) and condensing (condensing coil).  Now, the process is a little more complicated than that, but this is very basic.
 
When you think your unit needs some more gas, and it very well may, know that this “gas” isn’t gas at all.  It is however, a substance that, depending on its pressure could be either gas or liquid.
 
Now, if in fact your system does require some refrigerant to be added to it, you likely have a leak.  Granted, all systems leak down.  Refrigerant leaks out through the metal.  It will leak out through brazing material.  It will also leak out through service ports.  But there is a distinct difference between an exceptionally slow leak vs a leak that, as you put in refrigerant, it comes right back out.  Those leaks need to be repaired.
 
Some Heating and Air Companies have no issue with shooting expensive refrigerant into a leaking system.  I mean, business ethics aside, you have to call them back out AND they then get to charge you more money for more work.  We do not do that.  We operate with high standards and would never cause a customer to recklessly spend unnecessary money.
 
Having someone to trust in Chattanooga, Rossville, Lafayette, Hixson, or wherever you live to come service your unit is important.  Keep in mind this stuff isn’t cheap but we can make it affordable.  In other words, we would love to give you some gas!  www.indoorairsolutionsga.com

Because we can.. and should..

We here at Indoor Air Solutions are cut from a different cloth.  Of course, it has to be stated and understood that as a business, we do operate with a genuine consideration for the profit motive, but it is our belief that business, especially those small geographic businesses in an area, they should serve as pillars within their communities.  To an extent, they should provide that charitable function within communities.  They should fill that void in between true profit driven organizations and the government sector.  What I mean is that business should have a place within our communities outside of just seeking to profit off the community members.  Our course tries to accomplish something for 2 types of people.

The first group of people are those who have had less than perfect pasts.  We understand that life is hard.  Sometimes the hand we are dealt and how we play those cards leads us down a road that has been less than exemplary.  We want to afford those people some good training.

The second group are those STEM college bound and VTECH kids.  Chattanooga and North Georgia have some smart kids floating around.  We aim to focus their energy on a specific career and immerse them into the heart and soul of air movement.

If you have not noticed, that is what this course seeks to do.  For far too long, blue collar work has been looked down upon.  The people that pick up your trash, pave your roads and crawl under your houses have not been as appreciated as those who preform society’s white-collar labor.  In previous generations those who performed blue-collar work were held in relatively high esteem.  These people served an irreplaceable role within our communities.  However now, I feel as though these people are looked upon as replaceable.  This is a travesty.

There is and will continue to be a shift, as our economy adapts to change, in how specific parts of our entire labor force garner respect.  What I mean is, as one sector is flooded with labor (or employees), a void is created within another.  Supply and demand tells us that when supply is high and demand is low, price will of course be low.  And vice versa.  We can apply these same rules to types of labor and the respect they garner.

One less spoken about appreciation for our type of labor and for those who preform it is the gratification one gets from performing it.  We get to do things with our hands.  We get to create things.  Imagine the gratification you would feel for someone who fixes your AC on a 98-degree day.  We get to feel that feeling from our customers.

With this course, we intend to equip our community’s youth with some necessary skills.  These skills will be the foundation for future careers.  The Heating and Air Industry is close to a 100 Billion dollar a year industry.  There is also a high propensity for entrepreneurship within this industry.  So, we will be suggesting to these kids that there is a reasonable expectation that, if one applies themselves fully to this industry, they can be successful.

The course starts May 27th at our shop with a start time of 9:00am.  All information can be found on our website.  If there are any further questions feel free to give us a call.  We are looking forward to helping our people.  www.indoorairsolutionsGA.com
 
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