Residential & Commercial HVAC and Refrigeration Tips Blog | Atlantic Refrigeration & Air Conditioning, Inc.

Are Ductless Mini Splits New Technology?

June 20th, 2022

When customers are looking for new HVAC installations, they’ll often come across the option to have a ductless mini split installed. These comfort systems, which provide both heating and cooling to large areas without having to use pre-existing ducts, aren’t as familiar in the US as conventional central HVAC systems. People might recall seeing ductless mini split units hanging on walls and wondering exactly how they worked, but wouldn’t have thought about the technology in their homes.

Because of this unfamiliarity, it’s easy to think that ductless mini split heat pumps are new technology that only recently hit the market. Although ductless mini splits aren’t as old as central air conditioners, the technology has been around for many decades. In fact, ductless heating and cooling was invented in 1959, which makes it not much older than the invention of the window AC unit.

What Happens If You Run an AC Without the Filter?

June 6th, 2022

A major piece of advice we like to give our clients about their air conditioning systems is to regularly change the air filter. This filter is sometimes called the “blower filter,” since it’s usually housed near where the blower pulls air into the HVAC system. Changing the filter is a part of regular maintenance for an air conditioner: it’s something our technicians do as part of air conditioning maintenance in Milford, DE, and it’s also a job homeowners need to take care of themselves during the rest of the season. We recommend changing this filter every 1 to 3 months, depending on the filter’s strength. Leaving it in place will lead to it clogging up, which severely affects AC performance and efficiency.

“So why bother with it at all?” you might ask. “Why not just run the AC without the filter?”

This isn’t a solution! The filter does an important job, and removing it entirely will lead to damage to the air conditioner, extra repairs, and likely an early replacement for the system. Below are some of the specific problems that running an AC without a filter can cause.

Answering Your Questions About an AC Leaking Water

May 23rd, 2022

If you listen to the sounds your air conditioning system makes when it’s running, you will hear the occasional drip and splash of water. This isn’t a malfunction but a normal sound you can expect from an AC working the way it should. The sound will also help explain why at some point you may notice water leaking out of your air conditioner.

Schedule Your Spring AC Maintenance—Here’s Why

May 9th, 2022

Are you ready for summer? We know we are—we’re ready to help everyone enjoy a great summer with air conditioning systems that work their best. We want to provide you with the most important service you can schedule for your AC: its annual spring maintenance tune-up and inspection.

We can’t emphasize enough how important regular maintenance is for an air conditioning system. This job helps prevent most repairs and breakdowns in an AC’s future and helps it to run at maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Like most maintenance jobs, it has to be done each year, and the only people who can do it are trained and licensed professionals.

Some Self-Maintenance Steps for Your AC

April 25th, 2022

In our next post, we’re going to talk about one of the most important jobs you can have scheduled for your air conditioning system each spring: annual maintenance. You need professionals like ours to do a complete and thorough series of inspections, cleanings, adjustments, and general tune-ups.

However, there are several maintenance jobs you can do right now for your air conditioning system. We recommended doing these even before standard maintenance since you may discover a problem with your AC that you can alert the technicians to. Some of these steps are ones you’ll also need to take later in the season to ensure the air conditioning system continues to run at its best and avoid late-summer mishaps.

Helpful Tips for a Long-Lived Garbage Disposer

April 11th, 2022

If you’ve always had a garbage disposer in your kitchen, you likely can’t imagine handling cooking meals and cleaning up afterwards without it. It’s a great convenience for getting rid of food waste without needing composting buckets, and it helps the environment by keeping extra waste out of the landfills.

You can expect your garbage disposer to last for about 15 years if you know how to treat it right. How can you treat it right? We’re here to tell you in this post.

Late Winter Heater Problem? Don’t Put It Off!

March 28th, 2022

As we start to move out of the cold winter months and into spring, we tend to think less about our home heaters. Why should we anyway, when it’s starting to warm up?

Even though you may not be using your heater as much as you would in the middle of winter, it is important that you keep it maintained. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a tricky situation if it fails when you need it when a cold spell arrives.

It’s Not Too Early to Think About AC Maintenance

March 14th, 2022

When it comes to your air conditioning unit, it’s never too early to think about maintenance. Yes, it may mean a small investment, but in the long run, it will unquestionably save you money.

Saving money is only one of the many benefits of keeping your AC maintained. In this blog, we share a few of them.

Here’s How Heating Maintenance Benefited You This Winter!

February 28th, 2022

technician-giving-furnace-maintenance-tune-up

When it comes to heating maintenance, several different processes can help reduce heating problems you face over the winter, as well as in other seasons of the year. But, unfortunately, many people think that heating maintenance doesn’t benefit them at all or that they don’t need it.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. Here’s how heating maintenance in Delaware benefited you this winter!

How a Tank Flush Can Help a Water Heater

February 14th, 2022

When it comes to the lifespan of your water heater, most systems last between eight and twelve years. Some brands are, of course, designed to last longer than others, but even if you have a high-quality system, if you don’t maintain it, you will shorten its life.

Water heaters bring outside cold water into your home and then heat it with an electric element or a gas burner. Over time, the minerals that are in the water create sediment in the tank. This sediment then settles at the bottom.

Here’s why this is a problem.