Ductless Air Conditioning Systems

I was invited to attend a certification class for Fujitsu Ductless Air Conditioning Systems last year. Am I ever glad I accepted the invite. These things are the best. I plan on putting several into my own home.

I installed one for a customer, Bruce, about a month ago. He was sitting there and suddenly called out that it wasn't working. Well, turns out the thing was so quiet we couldn't even hear it!!!!! And apparently it works so well that it doesn't even get turned up off the lowest setting. It works that good! I've started to install one in neighbors Kate & MJ's house. They might be getting a second unit for the upstairs.

If you thought you couldn't have central air installed, you might want to think again. I hate tying up a window in each room with a window unit. These systems have no ductwork that needs to be run through the ceiling or under your floors. There's no unit to go in the attic to feed cold air through that ductwork. These systems hand on your wall, are about 12 inches tall and 32 to 36 inches wide. They do need to be mounted about 8 inches down from the ceiling to allow proper air flow. A small hole is punched through the exterior wall to allow for the pipes to be connected to the outside unit, which is about the size of a suitcase. Sometimes, the inside unit can even be mounted on an inside wall which is what I'll be able to do for Kate and MJ.

I'm really looking forward to putting in my own!

Spring seems to have finally made the decision to make its appearance this year. I was almost beginning to think we would bypass it altogether and move right from winter to summer. Granted, the days are a little cooler than they should be but at least the tremendous amount of rain has stopped. Everyone knows about the major storms we’ve had and all the damage that had been caused. Driving around and seeing all of the fences down, roofs damaged and worst yet, all of the trees that had been uprooted and destroyed. Wow. So many old-growth trees lost for good. I hope those of you who suffered damage from the storms have been able to get repairs underway and completed. An childhood friend of my wife actually caught video of the huge pine tree in her yard falling over ever so slowly and landing on the neighbors’ house. Thankfully there was no damage to speak of but the timing was incredible. My own neighbor had a pine tree that just started leaning over so they decided to have it taken down just to play it safe. I have to admit I will certainly miss that tree. It was on the north side of my house and did a wonderful job of blocking a lot of that north wind that we get during nor’easters. It also provided a good deal of privacy for the corner of the enclosed porch. While we didn’t suffer any damage (thankfully) I’m sorry to say we did have several neighbors who did, especially roof shingles that took off. So many of them landed on our property, I had four garbage pails full! Pretty much everyone has had repairs done or almost completed.

If you had water in your basement around your heating and water heater systems or around your central air system, be sure you get the units checked for any unseen damage. Don’t assume that they are fine because everything had dried out. Water damage can short out systems and cause electrical problems. Have a simple inspection done by a qualified heating and a/c person can prevent problems later down the line. Air conditioning is going to be needed very soon. You don’t want to flip that switch, hear that infamous “pzzzzzzzzzt” sound and then have the power short out. Have your system checked by a certified and licensed HVAC mechanic for the proper coolant levels, the wiring, the evaporator drainage (haven’t we had enough water damage already?) and proper cooling. Remember, the coolant in an air conditioning system requires special certification to be worked with. Don’t tempt fate (and the EPA and DEP) by using an unlicensed company. Just releasing some of the coolant can lead to fines and jail time for improper handling.

It's Finally Here!

Summer finally arrived. That was the longest Spring I can remember. It's hard to believe that it took until the second week of August for us to hit the 90 degree mark. By now we've usually had about 30 of them! Think about it, in roughly two months, it'll be Fall already. That would be the absolutely perfect time to get your furnace cleaned up for the Winter season.

Yes, I know you are probably wondering why bother but remember what I said earlier? One day soon you are going to realize that it got chilly rather quickly and your wife is going to ask for the heat to be turned on. What are you going to do when you flip that switch and nothing happens?

Want another reason to take care of it now? The parts that might be needed are cheaper now than on a day where it's below 60 outside. But you might not need parts. You might just need a cleaning and a tune-up.

Always take care of your heating and/or cooling units during their down season. Its easier on you and easier on me too! Who wants to work in a hot attic? Or in a cold basement when it's 15 degrees outside! Doing the job off season will make you happier in the long run so call now.