How Can I Increase The Efficiency Of My Heating And AC System?

With rising energy costs, maximizing the efficiency of our heating and air conditioning systems is more crucial than ever. In this episode, Jim is joined by Nathan Shafer from Shafer Heating and Cooling to discuss practical ways to enhance the performance of your HVAC systems.

Nathan shares valuable insights on the importance of keeping your system clean, the benefits of club memberships, and the role of proper air filtration and ductwork sizing in maintaining efficiency. Learn how to save on utility bills and enjoy peace of mind with regular maintenance from Schaefer Heating and Cooling.

 

For more information about Shafer Heating & Cooling in Hillsboro, Ohio - log on to

www.ShaferHVAC.us.

or check them out at www.checkapro.com.

www.ShaferHVAC.us.

Visit Us At -

You Can Call Anytime:  [phone].

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
With the rising costs of energy, we want to make sure we're getting the most out of everything,
not just our vehicles that bring us to work and to other places,
but our heating and air conditioning systems as well. There are ways to become more efficient.
I've asked Nathan Shafer to join me from Shafer Heating and Cooling to talk

(00:22):
about this. Hey, Nathan, how are you?
Hey, phenomenal, Jim. How are you? you. I am living the dream.
Thank you so much for asking.
So a question's come in to the radio program. It's as simple as this.
How can Shafer help increase the efficiency of my heating and AC system? Oh, good question.
Yeah. So a couple of different things, top of mind, they're like,

(00:45):
come to mind first, be top of mind, would be overall just cleanliness of the system.
And so a lot of everything in the home, not a lot of things,
everything in the home sucks back through that forced air system.
Right. So all that air coming out of your vents, I know it seems maybe basically
a lot of times people don't realize that that all comes back through the system

(01:05):
first to come back out of those vents.
And so dust and dirt and dandruff and pollen, all these different things in
the home is sucking through that system.
Well, that collects on things like inside your ductwork. It collects on things
like the evaporator coil and the blower wheel, all the different places that
it keeps circulating through, depending on your filtration, what's passing through

(01:26):
that gets caught on all those different areas.
And that can really kill the efficiency of your system.
Just a couple of third party facts, right?
Just to kind of hit that point at home. According to Texas A&M,
they did a study once and they said an eighth inch of dirt or dust buildup on
the blower wheel can reduce the overall airflow by up to 30% of your system.

(01:48):
And another one done by the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency,
they said a buildup of one twentieth of an inch of dirt on the heating or cooling
coil can result in a decrease in efficiency by 21%.
And so it's amazing. It does not take much to really hurt the performance of that system.
So that's going to be number one and probably one of the most common things

(02:10):
in things like being on a maintenance plan or what we call our club memberships.
It's kind of our VIPs, right?
To be on those plans where we come out twice a year and service and clean those systems.
That saves our club members typically on average at least 25 percent or more
on their utility savings.
And heating, cooling, and hot water typically consumes about 60 to 80% of your utility bill.

(02:33):
So let's reduce a big portion of that.
I love club memberships. It's the way to go.
Now, I know this isn't truth, but when you're part of a program like Shafer's
Club, what's nice about it is you feel like it's their responsibility to make
sure the system is running all the time.
Now, I know it's not your fault, Nathan, if it just stops, but you can pick

(02:57):
up the phone or get online and say, hey, I'm a member,
got a problem, problem and there's a priority there right
absolutely yeah those like I said that's that's
like the VIP club right to be a part of that club membership uh
yes you are it could be the busiest time of year right maybe
it's that holiday weekend and it's zero degrees or
fourth of July weekend you know and it's you know 95 degrees most HVAC companies

(03:22):
ourselves included we're going to be busy right might be booked out a couple
days a week you know too much there's peak times where it's extremely busy when
a club member calls in boom they get moved to the top of the list one One of
our guarantees to our club members is guaranteed no matter the day or time of the year,
a technician will be their house in less than 48 hours to fix the problem.
So, yes, absolutely. Your top priority.

(03:44):
Nathan has all his information on his website. Get a hold of him.
Join the club. Get the membership. It's the way to go. I suggest it for almost
anything that needs regular maintenance.
And something that's very important is your heating and cooling.
A lot of people don't think much about it until it breaks.
You don't want to do that. You want to have it maintained on a regular basis

(04:08):
so there's never any downtime.
Now, I will have a disclaimer. There could be some downtime like we had just mentioned.
However, Nathan and his team are going to come out as quickly as they can because you'll be a priority.
And there's nothing like the peace of mind when you lay your head down on the pillow at night.
You're like, okay, if anything happens, I've got Shafer. They've got my back.

(04:33):
Absolutely. You know, a couple other things that just, that are other common
things that can help, you know, increase the overall efficiency of that system
would be proper or better air filtration.
And so getting into more air cleaners instead of just filters.
Oftentimes we want to put in that, that nice, you know, higher dollar one inch
filter for, you know, we can buy on the shelf easily at any store,

(04:53):
you know, in town, but really those, those filters can also be known as system killers.
You know, we call it that, that's how the system breathes. And so, yes,
we want to filter the air, but we want to do it in a properly sized and put
together a filter for that system so they can still get the air that it needs
to be able to deliver throughout the rest of the home. So there's filtration options.

(05:14):
And then the third one being also tied to airflow is proper ductwork sizing.
And so a lot of houses have improper ductwork sizing.
And once again, that system cannot deliver the proper amount of air through
that home, therefore increasing utility bills. So those would be some of the
most common things of how Schaefer can help with increasing your efficiency

(05:36):
of your existing system.
Nathan, awesome. Fantastic advice. Thank you so much for your expertise here
on the program today. All right. You're welcome. Thank you, Jim.