Tony Shelton
BS Detector, Esquire
Filter service and Coil Cleaning – Why is it needed?
In order to understand the need for this service we need to understand the basic workings of an HVAC unit.
I wrote out a long explanation and was about to start making drawings when I remembered a site I came across a long time ago. This is as simple as it gets:
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/1-how-air-conditioners-work-video.htm
Here is a more detailed look at that information including pictures and drawings but will take a little time to read.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/ac.htm
If you’ve looked at the link and come back here, then you know that there are two places on an air conditioner where air passes through and changes temperature:
The Condenser or hot coil has hot gases inside it that need to be cooled down.
Condensers generally DO NOT have filters.
Why not? Filters reduce air flow. Reduced air flow reduces the efficiency of the coil in dispersing heat. Dirt on the fins reduce efficiency also, but cleaning is cheaper than maintaining filters in most cases. (The exception to that would be in climates that experience lots of hail where a filter is useful in protecting the condenser.)
The Evaporator or cold coil has cold gases inside it that soak up the heat from the building as the air passes over it.
What happens here basically is that the evaporator coil sucks all the heat out of the air leaving you with cold air coming out the vents.
Evaporators are more difficult to access and clean. The liability is higher because your chance of flooding the space below is greater. Therefore the cost to clean them is usually triple the cost of cleaning an evaporator.
Because of this filters are a much wiser choice than a bare coil.
We have determined now that there are three points where air passes through and those points need to be kept clean:
Condenser, Evaporator and Filter
What happens if they don’t get cleaned?
Condenser – Temperatures will rise inside the coil until the compressor burns out. It would take 15 years of cleaning to equal the cost of one compressor. Additionally too much resistance from buildup will cause the condenser fan to run hot till it burns up.
Evaporator – Temperatures will lower inside the coil until the unit freezes up. Two or three times of freezing and the coil will crack requiring replacement. It would take about four years of filter changes to equal the cost of one evaporator.
Filter – see evaporator above.
Following is a residential study showing a monthly savings of about $10.00 per ton by keeping the coils and filters clean and maintaining the proper Freon charge. You do the math, if it costs $40.00 to clean a 3 ton unit and you save $180.00 (cooling only half the year) by doing so, you have just made yourself $140.00 this year while reducing the danger of equipment failure at the same time!
http://www.aireserv.com/pdf/LSUStudy.pdf
Here is a study showing electrical savings of units through condenser coil cleaning alone.
http://www.airguard.com/downloads/ENERGY-2520USE-2520CLEAN-2520DIRT-2520COILS.pdf
That is why our service is needed.
Someone has to do it.
If I need my pool cleaned I get a pool cleaner. I don’t pay a repair technician to come out and spend 2 hours cleaning my pool at technician rates. The pool cleaner is more experienced in cleaning pools because that is what he specializes in.
That is what we are. We specialize in clean air flow. We don’t clean ducts, we don’t do repairs, we don’t modify the systems. We simply clean coils or filters and change filters when necessary.
Our purpose is to save money for our clients by making their equipment run more efficiently and make a profit doing so. Done properly our fee should be completely covered by energy cost savings.
We can do it cheaper than an HVAC company because we don’t have to use highly paid and trained technicians.
Our methods are fast enough to allow us comparable income with the HVAC companies while at the same time being low priced enough to attract HVAC companies to USE us as subcontractors.
In order to understand the need for this service we need to understand the basic workings of an HVAC unit.
I wrote out a long explanation and was about to start making drawings when I remembered a site I came across a long time ago. This is as simple as it gets:
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/1-how-air-conditioners-work-video.htm
Here is a more detailed look at that information including pictures and drawings but will take a little time to read.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/ac.htm
If you’ve looked at the link and come back here, then you know that there are two places on an air conditioner where air passes through and changes temperature:
The Condenser or hot coil has hot gases inside it that need to be cooled down.
Condensers generally DO NOT have filters.
Why not? Filters reduce air flow. Reduced air flow reduces the efficiency of the coil in dispersing heat. Dirt on the fins reduce efficiency also, but cleaning is cheaper than maintaining filters in most cases. (The exception to that would be in climates that experience lots of hail where a filter is useful in protecting the condenser.)
The Evaporator or cold coil has cold gases inside it that soak up the heat from the building as the air passes over it.
What happens here basically is that the evaporator coil sucks all the heat out of the air leaving you with cold air coming out the vents.
Evaporators are more difficult to access and clean. The liability is higher because your chance of flooding the space below is greater. Therefore the cost to clean them is usually triple the cost of cleaning an evaporator.
Because of this filters are a much wiser choice than a bare coil.
We have determined now that there are three points where air passes through and those points need to be kept clean:
Condenser, Evaporator and Filter
What happens if they don’t get cleaned?
Condenser – Temperatures will rise inside the coil until the compressor burns out. It would take 15 years of cleaning to equal the cost of one compressor. Additionally too much resistance from buildup will cause the condenser fan to run hot till it burns up.
Evaporator – Temperatures will lower inside the coil until the unit freezes up. Two or three times of freezing and the coil will crack requiring replacement. It would take about four years of filter changes to equal the cost of one evaporator.
Filter – see evaporator above.
Following is a residential study showing a monthly savings of about $10.00 per ton by keeping the coils and filters clean and maintaining the proper Freon charge. You do the math, if it costs $40.00 to clean a 3 ton unit and you save $180.00 (cooling only half the year) by doing so, you have just made yourself $140.00 this year while reducing the danger of equipment failure at the same time!
http://www.aireserv.com/pdf/LSUStudy.pdf
Here is a study showing electrical savings of units through condenser coil cleaning alone.
http://www.airguard.com/downloads/ENERGY-2520USE-2520CLEAN-2520DIRT-2520COILS.pdf
That is why our service is needed.
Someone has to do it.
If I need my pool cleaned I get a pool cleaner. I don’t pay a repair technician to come out and spend 2 hours cleaning my pool at technician rates. The pool cleaner is more experienced in cleaning pools because that is what he specializes in.
That is what we are. We specialize in clean air flow. We don’t clean ducts, we don’t do repairs, we don’t modify the systems. We simply clean coils or filters and change filters when necessary.
Our purpose is to save money for our clients by making their equipment run more efficiently and make a profit doing so. Done properly our fee should be completely covered by energy cost savings.
We can do it cheaper than an HVAC company because we don’t have to use highly paid and trained technicians.
Our methods are fast enough to allow us comparable income with the HVAC companies while at the same time being low priced enough to attract HVAC companies to USE us as subcontractors.