Benefits of Planned Maintenance

Did you know your heating and cooling equipment accounts for approximately half of your household energy costs throughout the year? The heavy activity of your system also leads to a lot of wear and tear. This makes it important to have your equipment inspected regularly so that fine-tuning can take place. HVAC maintenance plans are excellent for addressing these needs through pre-scheduled service.

What Is Planned Maintenance?

Much like a car, a house requires routine attention and maintenance to its HVAC components to assure long life and provide you with peace of mind.  You can protect your system, extend its life, and save money on your energy bills with a regular maintenance schedule.  With a preventive maintenance checkup or a one-time service, we provide not only maintenance for your heating and cooling equipment, but also assurance your system is functioning properly.  By not properly maintaining your HVAC equipment, you are robbing yourself of benefits, including:

• Improved energy efficiency levels
• Lower utility costs
• Better home comfort control
• Stronger circulation of air
• Early identification of worn or broken parts
• Reduction in seasonal repair needs
• Extension of system life
• Access to the latest information about trends in HVAC technology
• Assistance in planning for the eventual replacement of system components
• Help with home performance and indoor air quality questions
• Savings on repairs, equipment and additional services

A Planned Maintenance Agreement Includes:

• 2 maintenance service visits (one fall, one spring)
•  Basic Checklist
•  Inspect filter & replace if necessary (Pleated filters, Space-Guard filters & Humidifier pads are extra)
• Inspect, clean & recalibrate the thermostat
• Inspect all safety controls & check for visual defects
• Lubricate all moving parts
• Inspect, clean & adjust the fan blower & blower components
• Check all electrical connections on unit
• Check fan motor amperage against rating
• Check static pressure
• Spring Checklist
• Clean condenser coil
• Chemically treat drain pan and drain lines for sludge build-up and clean/flush condensate drain lines
• Inspect evaporator for restrictions and condition (does not include cleaning)
• Check starting capabilities
• Inspect capacitor
• Check compressor amperage against rating
• Check system for proper refrigerant charge
• Check temperature drop at evaporator coil
• Cycle system for proper operation
• Fall Checklist
• Check all electrical wiring for loose connections & damaged insulation
• Inspect flue for restrictions
• Inspect for cracks in heat exchanger
• Clean Burners
• Check safety controls for proper operation
• Check and adjust gas pressure
• Inspect heat strips & check amperage rating
• Measure temperature rise
• Test for Carbon Monoxide
• Cycle system for proper operation
• 10% discount on any repair
• Priority service scheduling
• Itemized list of service

Why do I need a service twice a year?

Service is needed before the start of each cooling and heating season.  Different maintenance procedures are performed for your cooling system than for your heating system.  Because your comfort system works so hard during the year, a number of components need adjustment, calibration, lubrication, and cleaning each year.  Your system will still work for a time without the maintenance, but not as efficiently.

Routine maintenance will prevent potential problems from becoming major malfunctions with the system that could result in replacement of key system components.  Without maintenance it is not a question of, “Will my equipment fail?” but rather, “When will my equipment fail?”   With a Planned Maintenance Agreement from Elite Service Co, you can rest assured in the knowledge that your equipment is being maintained and is running in peak condition.

 

For more information about our Planned Maintenance Agreements, call Libbie at 918.610.7300!

Energy Audits

For existing homes, energy audits can locate energy leaks, allowing you to identify and correct problem areas. We can help you keep your conditioned air inside and at an appropriate temperature while helping you save money. We realize that is today’s economy, everyone is becoming more energy and financially conscious. Elite can work with you for the design choices that are most cost-effective for you.

Walk-Through Energy Audit

The best way to determine how to cut your energy costs is to audit your home’s current energy use. A walk-through assessment is the easiest and least expensive means of identifying and evaluating energy use in your home. An energy audit’s purpose is to identify places n the home where energy is being wasted and prioritize the projects needed to fix them. The end result is intended to reduce the amount of energy the home needs to operate and keep occupants comfortable. While the word “audit” may sound ominous, a home energy audit is just the first step in the process of lowering energy bills by making a home more efficient.

If you own the home, there is a clearly defined benefit for your efforts. Many have found that conducting a walk-though energy audit results in significant benefits not only in occupant comfort, but with new ways to save energy by identifying energy problems. You’ll start saving money on your energy bills as soon as you identify and fix energy wasters.

Advanced Energy Audits

Advanced energy audits go on step further. We use sophisticated software to model your home and analyze how it uses energy. The software helps identify deficiencies in your home’s thermal envelope and makes recommendations on how to correct them. In addition it produces reports on current energy usage along with expected energy usage based on improvements done to the home.

An Advanced Energy Audit includes:

Duct Blaster Leakage Testing – Combines a small fan and a pressure gauge to pressurize a house’s duct system and accurately measure air leakage of the ductwork. This test will show how much of the conditioned air in the duct system is being lost to the outside and increasing the cost of operation.

Blower Door Testing – A diagnostic tool designed to measure the airtightness of buildings and to help locate air leakage sites. A blower door consists of a calibrated fan for measuring an airflow rate, and a pressure=sensing device to measure the air pressure created by the fan flow. The combination of pressure and fan-flow measurements is used to determine the building airtightness. Knowing the airtightness of a building is useful when trying to increase energy conservation or decrease indoor air pollution.

Infrared Thermal Imaging – A thermal imaging camera can show you exactly where your energy dollars are being wasted. At the same time, we will give you suggestions on how to reduce the amount of leakage in your home.

For more information, or to schedule an energy audit, call Elite Service at 918.610.7300.

Whole House Energy Efficiency

At Elite Service, we take a whole house approach to heating and air conditioning.  By using a whole house approach, we are able to assess the efficiency of the home's entire envelope rather than just the HVAC system.  By doing this, we can find areas of energy leakage in your home.  This allows us to properly size your equipment for maximum efficiency and energy reduction instead of installing a larger system that will simply cover up existing problems, resulting in higher energy bills.  

There are many ways your home can lose energy:

• Hot air coming in the windows makes the new HVAC system work harder to cool the house in summer.
• Heat loss through an un-insulated attic makes it work harder to heat the home in winter. 
• Gaps in the aging ductwork make the system work harder all year round.

However, that efficiency will not be as high as it could be unless you fix leaky windows, increase attic insulation, and make repairs to aging ductwork. 

How Does a Whole House Approach Benefit Me?

The whole house systems approach is important for many reasons:

• Knowing about and being able to correct the energy wasters in your home's envelope help to create a home that is comfortable year round.
• Higher efficiency means less energy usage, which saves money by lowering utility bills.
• With lower energy use, the home is drawing on less non-renewable resources, thus reducing your carbon footprint.
• Sealing areas of air infiltration and installing a more efficient HVAC system will dramatically lower the dust and allergens in your home, creating a healthier living environment for your family.

How the Whole House Approach Works

Each home is a unique combination of factors which influence the efficiency of the entire home. When taking a whole house approach, it is important to consider these factors in making decisions to increase your home's efficiency levels. The important factors include the home site, its orientation and the local climate. It also involves the home's current appliances, electronics, insulation levels, air sealing, lighting, HVAC systems, water heating and openings in the home's envelope.

Making a home more efficient involves making incremental changes while keeping the budget in mind. Here is a sample plan for improving your home's efficiency:

• You will need to address openings in the home's building envelope. Check your windows and doors for leaks. Use caulk and weatherstripping to close those gaps. Also check your home's exterior for places where pipes and wires enter the house. Make sure those have adequate insulation and covering.
• Check for problems with your HVAC ductwork. Older ducts can have gaps in the seams. They may have loose joints or not fit the vent openings properly.  They may be completely detached from the system.   
• Check the level of insulation you have in the attic, exterior walls and crawl space. If the insulation isn't at recommended levels, add more.
• Make sure to have the HVAC system checked and tuned once a year. This helps it work at a more efficient level.
•  As your old incandescent light bulbs burn out, replace them with more efficient compact fluorescent lamps or LED bulbs.
• Ceiling fans help the home feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Select Energy Star-rated fans for the most energy efficiency.
• Choose a double-pane window with a low-E value made from wood or vinyl-covered wood.
• As the water heater nears its end of life, replace the older unit with a higher efficiency model. Energy Star rated ones are best.
• As old appliances die off one by one, replace them with Energy Star-rated options.
• Upgrade your HVAC system. Over the past couple of decades, manufacturers have made incremental improvements to the efficiency levels of furnaces, heat pumps and other HVAC equipment. 

The list may seem overwhelming, but that's where Elite comes in.  If you are thinking of making energy improvements to your home, consider having one of Elite perform an energy audit for you.  One of our certified energy auditors will evaluate your home and provide you with a consultation based on his findings, taking all of the guesswork out of the process.  After the consultation, you will be provided with a report that will give you suggestions for energy improvements.  

For more information on improving your home's energy efficiency, contact Elite at 918.610.7300.