Houston February & March 2014 Weather Facts

Date: April 10, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

dog so over itFebruary 2014

Average high temperature: 65
Average low temperature: 47
Highest High: 81
Lowest Low: 31
Precipitation: 2.1 in

February 2014 had 15 days with lower than average high temperatures There were 18 days with below average low temps. Precipitation was 1.11 inches below normal. The record low for Houston in February was 14 degrees set in 1951.

March 2014

Average high temperature: 69
Average low temperature: 51
Highest High: 84
Lowest Low: 28
Precipitation: 2.54 in.

March 2014 had 18 days with below average high temperatures. There were 22 days with below average low temps. Precipitation was 0.66 inches below normal. The record high for March was 96 degrees in 1946.

What is a TON of cooling?

Date: April 8, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

ice blockIn the old days, cooling was done by saving big blocks of ice. When cooling machines were first used, their capacity was rated by the equivalent amount of ice that would melt in a day, which is where the term “ton” came from in sizing air conditioning.

Today, a ton of cooling is defined as delivering 12,000 BTU/hour of cooling. BTU is short for British Thermal Unit. The BTU is a unit of heating – or in this case, cooling – energy. A window air conditioner is usually less than one ton. A small home central air conditioner would be about two tons and a large one about five tons.

Spring Cleaning for Your Air Conditioner

Date: April 2, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

imagesFew routine chores and maintenance follow-ups will pay off better in comfort and in dollars saved than getting your air-conditioner cleaned. The payoff results in summertime comfort and lower cooling bills. You will also prolong the life of your air conditioner, getting the most of the system.

The most important maintenance steps are fairly simple for a pro, but the DIY will need about a half day to carefully work through the steps. If you’re not up to the task, call a professional.

  • Check for low refrigerant levels
  • Replace or clean filters
  • Remove the drain line and clean it
  • Clear the buildup on the blower fan
  • Remove the dust from the evaporator coil

A professional will have access to the proper equipment to make sure the critical parts of your air conditioner system are thoroughly cleaned without causing any damage to its parts.

Buying a New Central Air Conditioning Unit

Date: March 26, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

ac unitWhen buying new heating and cooling equipment such as a central air conditioning unit, proper sizing and quality installation are critical to your home’s energy efficiency and comfort.

Remember: Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Oversized equipment can cause reduced comfort and excessive noise. Oversizing can also shorten the life of the equipment by causing it to cycle on and off more frequently than a properly sized unit. Too large a unit will not adequately remove humidity.

However, undersized equipment can reduce the efficiency and accelerate wear on system components, leading to early failure. Too small a unit will not be able to attain a comfortable temperature on the hottest days.

When buying an air conditioner, look for a model with a high efficiency. Central air conditioners are rated according to their seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER). SEER indicates the relative amount of energy needed to provide a specific cooling output. Many older systems have SEER ratings of 6 or less. The minimum SEER allowed today is 13. Look for the ENERGY STAR® label for central air conditioners with SEER ratings of 13 or greater, but consider using air conditioning equipment with higher SEER ratings for greater savings.

Clay is interviewed by Little Texas Cottage

Date: March 21, 2014 Author: cdoelle Comments: Leave a reply

Recently, Clay was interviewed by our friend and marketing guru, Chris Doelle for a project called Little Texas Cottage.  Clay and Chris have been friends and worked together for over a decade so of course, Clay got the call when air conditioning was needed.

green, netzero, energy, texas, air conditioning, savings, money, rainwater

Building our green dream in Central Texas!

Little Texas Cottage is a custom home building project outside of Austin where Chris is showing that you can build a super high efficiency home using technology that exists today and without spending half a million dollars.

Chris interviewed Clay for the first of a many-segment installment, where they just got into the basics of why a HVAC is the cornerstone piece of today’s green building movement.

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