If you’re thinking about signing up for a maintenance agreement from a Portland area HVAC contractor, you have the right idea. When you utilize maintenance agreements to the fullest, you can enjoy a wide range of benefits. Here’s a look at seven of them:

• Better energy efficiency: You get your car tuned up even when nothing’s wrong with it to improve gas mileage and ensure dependability. Enjoy similar benefits of an energy-efficient HVAC system when you tune up your furnace and air conditioner annually. Do so at a lower price than usual through a maintenance agreement.
• More cost-effective operation: Better efficiency means lower utility bills, which help maintenance agreements pay for themselves.
• Enhanced comfort: Another part of efficient operation made possible by preventative maintenance is the system’s ability to keep every room more comfortable, no matter how hot or cold it becomes outside.
• Problems found early: Issues can begin to develop without any outward indication until it becomes severe. When a professional inspects the system at the start of the season, he or she can pinpoint these issues while they’re still cheap and easy to fix, such as a fraying belt or loose hardware.
• Longer system life: Once you sign up for a maintenance agreement, you’re much more likely to schedule annual maintenance. A well-maintained system lasts years longer than a neglected one, which saves you money on replacement costs as well.
• Discounts and preferred service: With one annual fee, you enjoy discounts on future repairs and receive preferred service over non-contracted customers when an emergency arises. These benefits further decrease the payback period of maintenance agreements.
• Peace of mind: A contract with a trusted HVAC company provides the peace of mind you need to know your home will stay comfortable all season long with excellent service if emergency repairs ever arise.

At Roth Home & Cooling, we offer three Customer Care Plans so you can choose the exact benefits you want from us. It’s easy to sign up; just call (503) 673-6394 or contact us online. Our experience providing HVAC maintenance and other services to the Portland area dates back to 1976.

Over time, the air conditioner in your Portland area home loses efficiency due to factors such as dust buildup inside your system, loosened electrical connections, and moving parts that have lost their lubrication. Annual preventive maintenance includes a long list of essential tasks that will greatly improve system efficiency, lower your utility bills and extend the life of your system. Although your annual tune-up doesn’t include cleaning your A/C coils, it’s a good idea to schedule a coil cleaning in conjunction with your maintenance service.

Purpose of coils

Your air conditioner has two coils that work together to remove heat from your home.

• The indoor evaporator coil absorbs heat from the air in your home.
• The outdoor condenser coil deposits the heat energy outdoors.

Dirty coils

When your coils become coated with dirt, grime and even mold, the transfer of heat is inhibited and your air conditioner must work harder to keep your home comfortable, resulting in undue wear and lower efficiency.

Coil cleaning

Your qualified HVAC professional will clean your coils using one of three methods, depending on how dirty your coils are and the type of buildup on them.

• Low-pressure compressed air is used to clean dusty coils.
• Lightly soiled coils are scrubbed with a solution of water and detergent.
• Heavily-soiled coils require a foaming coil cleaner that’s sprayed on and allowed to sit for a period of time before being rinsed off.

Coil service  includes cleaning your condensate pan, which sits beneath the evaporator coil to catch condensation, The condensate pan is a breeding ground for mold and other biological contaminants that can cause clogs and reduce your indoor air quality.

Prevention

Help keep your coils clean by checking your air filter monthly and replacing it when you can no longer see through it. Keep the space around your indoor unit clean, and spray down your outdoor unit with a hose each month to remove debris trapped in the fins.

For more expert advice about cleaning your A/C coils, please contact us at (503) 673-6394, proudly providing comfort solutions to Portland area residents since 1976.

Hearing noise coming from your A/C and not sure what to do? There are some things you can do to troubleshoot the problem and see if the issue might be caused by a noisy A/C compressor.

By checking for the source of the noise, you can determine whether the noisy A/C compressor problem may require a simple repair or a much more costly one.

• Banging noises – Could be the result of a loose part, such as a piston pin or crankshaft. The loose or broken part will need to be completely replaced,
• Screaming or hissing noise – Be sure to turn the A/C off immediately if it does not shut itself off. This problem could be very dangerous, as it may be caused by too much internal pressure inside the unit. If the noise is a quieter one, the problem may be the result of leaky internal valves. Unlike a loud hissing or screaming noise, this type of noisy A/C compressor issue is not dangerous, but does mean your system is running at a level that is costly and inefficient.
• Rattling, rumbling or chattering noises – If these noises are heard during start-up, loose hardware could be the culprit. This could be something as simple as a loose bolt or broken spring. Other times, this problem could mean the compressor motor may have failed and while everything looks normal, the issue is coming from inside the sealed unit.
• Excessive clicking noises – Sometimes a failing thermostat or control system can cause the relays to click on and off excessively. In this case, it may be time to replace your thermostat.

For more expert advice about a noisy A/C compressor and other issues related to home comfort, please contact us at Roth Home. We’ve been serving the Portland area since 1976.

Air conditioning is the largest single consumer of electricity in your home this summer, accounting for as much as half of your entire energy bill. A thermal expansion valve is a feature that helps keep these costs down.

What is a thermal expansion valve?

This type of valve measures refrigerant flow through the system, automatically adjusting as cooling conditions change. When cooling demand is high, the thermal expansion valve opens wide. Likewise, when demand is low, the valve closes partway to reduce refrigerant flow.

The valve senses cooling load by measuring the refrigerant’s temperature when it exits the indoor coil. It senses that temperature increases indicate higher cooling load. In short, the thermal expansion valve creates a more efficient air conditioner.

Why this feature is worth looking for

If you’re shopping for an A/C, make sure the new unit has a thermal expansion valve. The reasons are many:

• Efficient cooling no matter what: Cooling loads vary constantly due to outdoor temperature changes, sunny versus overcast conditions, indoor heat gain fluctuations and other factors. A thermal expansion valve helps the air conditioner respond to these changes with great efficiency.
• Protection for the compressor: When cooling loads skyrocket during the dog days of summer, A/Cs with a fixed orifice or capillary tube (alternatives to a thermal expansion valve) may starve the evaporator coil of refrigerant. Conversely, on milder days, too much refrigerant can enter the coil and get into the compressor, potentially damaging it and shortening its lifespan. In this way, a thermal expansion valve protects the compressor.
• Energy savings: Tests show that air conditioners with a thermal expansion valve maintain a higher level of efficiency in a variety of conditions than those without this feature. This fact holds true even in situations where the air conditioner is charged improperly. (To make sure your air conditioner is charged correctly, have it installed and serviced by a trustworthy HVAC professional.)

To learn more about how a thermal expansion valve makes your air conditioner perform more efficiently all summer long, please contact us at Roth Home & Cooling in Portland today.

Portland area homeowners contend with high humidity throughout the year, averaging more than 50 percent above optimal levels inside homes, and often reaching even higher levels due to year-round moisture accumulation and air leakage through the home’s envelope. Whole-house dehumidification, in addition to air conditioning, offers Portland homeowners an effective tool for controlling indoor moisture, which provides many benefits for health, efficiency and property.

Why dehumidify?

Excessive moisture creates a host of issues inside homes, both in the living spaces and in basements, crawl spaces, attics and inside walls. Issues may include mold growth, which damages property and contributes to respiratory and health ailments; the proliferation of dust mites and other biological contaminants; and structure damage from the continuous presence of excessive moisture in porous materials.

Musty odors and higher cooling bills are two additional side effects of excessive indoor humidity. Mold quickly takes hold on any surface – such as wood, paper, cotton and leather materials, or even an oily fingerprint – that sustains their food source. Mold also may grow on an air conditioner’s evaporator coil and drainage components, which will send foul odors through the entire home.

Whole-house dehumidification

The benefits of whole-house dehumidification are numerous, especially for homeowners in humid regions like ours. A whole-house dehumidifier attaches to the duct system and removes moisture from the air with chilled coils, much like the evaporator coils of an air conditioner removes moisture. For Portland area homeowners, whole-house dehumidification makes perfect sense for two reasons:

• Year-round high humidity levels
• Generally moderate cooling-season temperatures (i.e. air conditioning is frequently unnecessary, but humidity removal is necessary)

If you have a powered whole-house dehumidifier installed by your HVAC professional, you can dehumidify your home without the need to run the air conditioner (or heating system) if it isn’t necessary for your comfort. The ability for you to remove moisture 24/7 without contributing to higher cooling/heating bills can allow your to affordably protect the health of household occupants and protect your property.

For more detailed information about whole-house dehumidification benefits, contact us at (503) 673-6394 today. We’ve proudly served residents of the Greater Portland area since 1976.

If you’re shopping around for a new cooling system, you may have been told to pay close attention to SEER efficiency ratings. If you don’t understand what the numbers mean, though, this won’t do you much good. To simplify your search for a high-efficiency A/C, here’s a quick guide to SEER ratings, and what you should look for.

What is SEER?
A cooling system’s seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) is a measure of its cooling output vs. the amount of energy expended to generate cool air. The more cooling that a system is able to produce per unit of energy that it consumes, the higher the SEER rating will be. Or another way of looking at it, the higher the system’s SEER, the more efficiently it will operate.

What is considered to be a “good” SEER rating?

As the minimum standard for cooling equipment in this country, a SEER rating of 13 is considered to be on the low end of the efficiency spectrum. If you’re hoping to be eligible to earn a $300 federal tax credit for energy efficiency, you’ll want to look at air conditioners with higher SEER efficiency ratings. In order to qualify for these incentives, central A/Cs and heat pumps must achieve at least a SEER 16.

How can I optimize my system’s SEER?

Without proper proper installation and maintenance, your high SEER air conditioner may not perform as expected. In order to maximize efficiency, your HVAC contractor should pay attention to:

• Airflow – Airflow should be measure during system installations and annual tune-ups. Adequate airflow is needed to lock in SEER and to boost home comfort levels.
• Refrigerant charge – Overcharged or undercharged refrigerant can significantly reduce efficiency. Your technician should measure charge during installs and maintenance.
• Tight ducts – Have your home’s ducts inspected for any leaks, as this can dramatically lower system capacity.
• Size – Unless your A/C is properly sized through a Manual J load calculation, it will experience performance and efficiency problems, whether it’s too small or too large.

For more information about SEER efficiency ratings, please contact us at Roth Home & Cooling. We serve Portland area homeowners

Although average summer highs in the Portland area typically top out in the low 80s, Rose City homeowners who have attics unprotected by insulation and ventilation commonly experience attic heat temperatures of 120 degrees or more. This increase in temperature at the top of your house results from the sun’s rays blasting the roof surface. It will transfer the heat right into your living spaces unless it’s impeded by insulation, a radiant barrier and/or an attic fan providing ventilation.

You can feel the ceiling of the top floor, just beneath the attic, to get an idea of how hot it is up there. And the heat transfer doesn’t stop at the ceiling, either.  It works its way down to the rest of your living spaces, as hot air naturally flows toward where it’s cooler. This will make your air conditioning work harder to compensate, causing additional energy expense.

Here’s how to fix the problem. First, seal all places in your attic where air can travel between floors. This includes around the chimney and all penetrations where wires, cables or pipes go through. Next, install a good layer of insulation on the attic floor, paying extra care to seal and insulate the attic hatch cover.

This alone will reduce attic heat buildup from transferring to the spaces below, but, for the full treatment, additional insulation or a radiant barrier should be installed to your attic ceiling to help prevent heat from even entering. Finally, try installing a ventilating attic fan to remove the heat that does find its way into the attic. These steps should keep your home cooler and more comfortable, and should save you some energy dollars, too.

Roth Home & Cooling has been a mainstay in the Portland community since 1976, serving customers from Vancouver south to Salem and from Hillsboro east to Bend. Contact us for any of your home heating/cooling needs.

Volatile organic compounds are harmful chemicals released into the air through a process called off-gassing. VOCs include formaldehyde, benzene, acetone, xylene and ethylene glycol. Although not all VOCs emit a noticeable odor, if you have ever brought home new vinyl items, such as packaged vinyl tiles or a shower curtain, you may have noticed a strong odor when you opened the package. What you smelled are VOCs emitted from the vinyl. Many home items contain VOCs and may degrade your home’s indoor air quality.

Common items that emit VOCs

• Rugs
• Vinyl
• Pressed wood furniture
• Upholstery
• Dry cleaning fluid
• Acetone-based nail polish remover
• Cleaning chemicals
• Air fresheners
• Copiers and printers
• Caulk and adhesives
• Paints
• Solvent-based paint removers

Reducing indoor exposure to VOCs

While it’s difficult to avoid volatile organic compounds completely, you can take steps to reduce your exposure within the home.

• Take unused paint, varnish, caulking and cleaning chemicals to your local hazardous waste facility. As these products sit around the home, they emit VOCs. An odor may not be noticeable, but the danger is still there.
• Allow vinyl products to off-gas outdoors for several days before bringing them into your home. Alternatively, avoid using vinyl shower curtains or flooring.
• Replace pressed wood shelves and other furniture with solid wood, bamboo, wicker or metal furniture.
• Use low VOC paint and varnishes for indoor surfaces.
• Switch to green, low-VOC cleaning products. These products work as well as other cleaners but without the health risks.
• Increase ventilation. Open windows and doors, when possible. Have your home’s ductwork and ventilation inspected to see if renovations could increase airflow. VOC levels will be diluted if your home receives a constant influx of fresh air. Good airflow also keeps humidity levels down. Fewer VOCs will be emitted when the air is dry and cool.

For more information about making your home environment healthier and more comfortable, please contact us at Roth Home & Cooling. Located in Portland, we’ve been serving the area since 1976.

Are you taking the plunge and upgrading your air conditioner this year? If so, you should familiarize yourself with Manual J and Manual D. By insisting that your HVAC contractor utilize these important load calculation tools, you’ll enjoy the highest possible levels of home comfort and efficiency from your new equipment.

What are Manuals J and D?

Manual J and Manual D are two load calculation tools that were developed by industry experts. Each is used as a means of assisting HVAC contractors in the process of properly sizing a home’s heating and cooling equipment. Manual J is important in determining how much warmth will be needed by a home during the winter months to make it comfortable, and how much heat and humidity will need to be removed from that same home during the summer to keep it cool and dry. Manual D is useful in new home construction, renovations and add-ons. This tool helps contractors to design ductwork to maximize HVAC system performance.

How do load calculations work?

During a Manual J load calculation, your contractor must adhere to the latest guidelines set forth by the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) and should consider factors including:

• Local climate
• Home size in cubic feet
• Number of windows/locations
• Insulation values
• Airtightness of the home
• Landscaping
• Heat-producing appliances
• Number of household occupants

Manual D is then based off of the numbers found during Manual J calculations.

Why do load calculations matter?

In order for your new air conditioner to operate efficiently and effectively, it must be precisely sized to fit your needs. A system that’s too small will struggle to keep up with your demands, putting undue stress on your equipment. An oversized system, on the other hand, will waste energy during its frequent on/off cycles. These short cycles also strain the system, and can inhibit the equipment’s ability to dehumidify your home. Ultimately, this leads to uncomfortable conditions, and can result in the growth of mold or mildew.

For more information on Manual J and Manual D, contact us at (503) 673-6394. We provide skilled home comfort services to residents of the greater Portland area.