Alec Johnson
The other day it was ninety four degrees outside. It was a typical Kansas City summer day. I was driving home from work with the air conditioner going. I pulled into the garage and walked into my house expecting to be greeted by nice cold air. Instead, the thermostat read high into the eighties. I … Read more
Well folks, we are now halfway through the year and there are only six months left until the January 1st, 2020 deadline hits for R-22 refrigerant. Yes, in just six months we will no longer be able to import or produce R-22 refrigerant within the United States. When that date arrives the only way to … Read more
Most folks don’t think about their air conditioner/furnace filters very often. In some cases they change their filters every month, sometimes every two months. If they’re like me it might be every six months. No matter how often you change it you should know that your air conditioner filter is an important part of the … Read more
Suffering with asthma can be a horrible experience. Depending on the person’s triggers they may be outright excluded from certain things or from even going outside during certain times of year. My father, for example, cannot set foot in a home that has a cat in it… or that had a cat in it twenty … Read more
Your air conditioner as well as your furnace are one of the most expensive appliances in your home today. Purchasing a new one may set you back five or even ten-thousand dollars. It is obvious that with this kind of investment that you want to take the proper care of your system so that you … Read more
It can be a little overwhelming when looking for a replacement air filter for your air conditioner/furnace. There are just so many choices out there. How do you know which to pick from? How do you know which one is right? What are the different qualities, and is there even a difference in the varying … Read more
There is nothing more frustrating then waking up in the morning on a day that you KNOW is going to be a scorcher. Here in Kansas City there are days in July where I wake up at six in the morning and it is already eighty degrees outside. That is never a good sign and … Read more
Today was the first real hot today in Kansas City. The temperatures reached above ninety degrees and if you didn’t have an air conditioner for your home you could really feel the heat. Air conditioning saves us all a lot of hassle, but the actual air conditioner is rarely thought about during these hot months. … Read more
To understand the varying qualities of air conditioner filters you first need to understand the ‘MERV’ scale. The MERV scale, also known as Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is based on the percentage of particles from 0.3 to 10 microns in size that are filtered out of your system. The higher the MERV number on your … Read more
An air conditioner filter is just that, a filter for your air conditioner and sometimes your furnace as well. The goal of this filter is to provide your home with clean high quality air. Along with that, the filter also serves a purpose by keeping your air conditioner and your furnace clean. The filter traps … Read more
Funny enough, in some cases finding the filter can prove difficult. In each home that I’ve lived in it’s been an easy find. It was always just past the furnace and could be easily seen when looking straight the furnace. As we all know though, not every house is the same and not every environment … Read more
It is imperative to change or clean your air conditioner’s filter. The recommended guideline is either every one or two months during peak seasons. If it’s fall or spring and you’re not running your system constantly you could get away with three to four month intervals. There are two types of air conditioner filters. You … Read more
An air conditioner filter is just that, a filter for your air conditioner and sometimes your furnace as well. The goal of this filter is to provide your home with clean high quality air. Along with that, the filter also serves a purpose by keeping your air conditioner and your furnace clean. The filter traps … Read more
A few more dominoes fell this week in the HFC phase down across the United States. I had reported a few weeks ago that Washington State’s HFC phase down had passed the legislature and just needed the signature from the governor. Well, Governor Jay Inslee signed bill HB 1112 this week. This adds yet another … Read more
There is nothing more frustrating then finding that your air conditioner isn’t working during a hot summer’s day. As I write this article it’s a few days before Memorial Day and it’s already starting to get hot here in Kansas City. For those of you who don’t know, it can get damn hot here in … Read more
R-134a is the most common refrigerant found in automobiles today. It has been in use since the early 1990’s and now, in 2019, we are beginning to see it’s popularity wane with the rise of the new HFO refrigerant known as R-1234yf. That being said, there are still millions of cars on the road that … Read more
I am a big fan of history and can never get enough of reading historical books or watching documentaries. If you don’t understand the past then how can you understand the present or even the future? While refrigerant history might not be as interesting as other historical topics it is still good to understand it. … Read more
As we all know, there is no perfect refrigerant. Each one has its own individual upsides and downsides. It could have a great efficiency but also end up being very flammable. Or, it could be non-flammable and non-toxic but have very high Global Warming Potential. The point I’m making here is that there isn’t a … Read more
R-744, or Carbon Dioxide, is quickly becoming one of the most popular refrigerants in the world. As the usage of this refrigerant grows I can’t help but laugh as we have now come full circle. You see, if you go back one-hundred years Carbon Dioxide was one of the main refrigerants used but its usage … Read more
In the beginning of this year I got into the habit of writing refrigerant pricing updates as I saw them coming. Most of these have been fairly benign with a few percent increases here and there. It was last month though that I wrote a pricing update that had pricing doubling on some of the … Read more