August 14, 2023 • 44 mins
- Lee Potter of Ameridan Air Systems talks about ways to help your HVAC system in this heat, plus information on generators and who needs one. Lee also explains how you can nominate a veteran for the AmerAirCares giveaway to give a veteran a HVAC system for their home.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hey, everybody, it's your board. Gary Levox of Rascal Flats Beaumont.
I made a lot of friends thereon the road. And what are my
friends that you needed to meet,especially if you're selling your home. Is
Dana Simmons of Dana Simmons Realty.Her team is the real deal, top
shelf, next level, and shemakes it so easy and I like easy,
and remember sell you a home nowgone hesitated Simmons real Estate. Well,
(00:31):
hello Southeast Texas, we are soglad you've joined us today. This
is Dana Simmons and I'm joined withme. Today is Lee Potter with American
Air. And let me tell youwhat we are going to talk about this
heat and what you may need todo to help your home stay cool.
So today's topic is very timely aswe are hitting some really good record temperatures
(00:56):
in the last let's see, Lee, I think you said twenty day.
Who's counting? Yeah, who's counting? So we've been seeing it for a
while, haven't we. Well,we want to share with you what are
some things you can do to makesure that you're keeping your home as cool
as possible. So we're also goingto visit with him about generators. Do
you need a generator? What doyou need to know about a generator?
(01:19):
All things that have to do withgenerators, because they do that as well,
and we'll talk about they also havestarted doing plumbing within their company.
That's another topic we're going to cover. And then the last part that we're
going to visit about is the coolestthing Amera air Cares. That is a
program that they've been running and thisyear he's going to talk about a veteran
(01:42):
is going to be chosen to geta new AC system. And so if
you know a veteran that you wantto nominate to be a part of this,
stay tuned. He's going to tellyou how you can put in an
application for that and what that processis going to look like. But before
we get started, I want totalk to you a little bit about how's
the market. Well, I havepeople every day, so is it a
(02:04):
good time to sell? Well,I want you to know that houses in
every single price range, they're allselling. They're just not selling at the
same pace. Okay, So whatwe are seeing is we're seeing a large
number of homes under about the threehundred, three hundred and fifty thousand dollar
price point. Those are really sellingat the fastest pace. Those homes are
(02:29):
many times selling for a very goodprice as well. Sometimes they're still getting
multiple offers, they're still selling withina day or two. I have agents
texting me today, I have alittle property that's under two or thousand that
I'll have multiple offers on that withproviding highest and best by next week.
So we do have a great marketin those price points. Now as you
(02:53):
go a little bit higher, asyou go over that three hundred and fifty
thousand dollar mark, it can geta little more competitive on prices. We
have sellers who are beginning to reducein those price points. I have a
seller that went from a six hundredthousand to a five fifty price point just
(03:13):
this week because he's ready to getit sold. So here's what I want
you to know. If you're inthat lower price point and you have a
house that you want to sell that'sunder three hundred and fifty thousand, let
us talk to you about what yourmarket's like. Let us look in to
your specific situation, because if you'rewanting to move up in size of home
(03:37):
and location, we want to giveyou the opportunity to know if now is
the right time for you, becausewe're finding that houses in the upper end
are selling at a lower price.So here's what I want you to know.
When we saw interest rates at alower value, when we were seeing
those three percent interest rates, weare seeing home sell so quickly and for
(04:01):
top dollar. But now that interestrates have increased, we're seeing those price
points have to come down some.So for our customers who are looking to
move up, it's a great opportunityfor them to get that price down a
little bit and be able to moveup into a larger home. But maybe
it's not right for you. Sohere's what we want you to know.
(04:24):
We want to be able to giveyou specifics on what it means for your
family, because it's not the righttime for every single family. So let's
sit down. Let's talk about whatis your situation, what is the price
of your home, and what isit you want to purchase, and then
we'll go through the entire process,help you make a wise decision that makes
(04:45):
sense for you, and then decidewhether hey, I need to wait just
a little bit, or it isa great opportunity. This is what I
want to do, this is howI want to move forward. So Our
office is open eight to eight Mondaythrough Saturday, one to eight on Sunday,
so you can give us a callat any time at four zero nine
eight six six eight three two six, which that number is four zero nine
(05:10):
eight six six and the word team. We also have a website that you
can go to and pull some information. Actually, if you want to get
just a general idea of the valueof your home, we have a program
called Price your Home and it willgive you the opportunity to go in to
our website, put your information inand it'll give you a ball park of
(05:33):
what the value is of your home. So you can go to Dana Simmons
real estate dot com you can findthat pop up. It'll pop up on
the website and then you can putthe details of your property in there.
Now, I will tell you sometimesthose values are elevated and the price that
we can really sell your house foris lower. Sometimes those values are lower
(05:55):
and the price can be a littlehigher. It's just a fun tool to
go in and give you a ballpark. But then we can get specifics and
be able to pull comparables that giveyou an exact price point for what it
is we can sell your home forso hope you'll take that opportunity to do
that. I'm excited about today's show. We are going to be talking about
HVAC systems and all the things thatyou may have questions about. So if
(06:19):
during our show today you would liketo call in with a question, we'd
love to hear those. And thenumber is four zero nine eight nine six
five five eight four, which isfour zero nine eight ninety six KLVII,
So give us a call in withyour questions. Well, Lee Potter is
here with American Air and Lee,why don't you tell everyone in Southeast Texas
(06:42):
a little bit about you? Well, good afternoon, Thank you again for
this opportunity, and real quick,I just want to say what I really
appreciate what you said right there,was that you're going to take the time
to give people education about what's goingon, because we believe that in what
we do and you're educated about themarket and the house and everything like that,
(07:03):
you can make a better decision foryour family. And so to me,
that's key. Keep it up.That's a phenomenal way to start in
that way, it builds trust andit helps our community across the board be
a better place. Absolutely and that'sone of the things I love with all
of our partners that we work withis really each of us has a desire
to educate and we're not trying tosell. I'm not really a salesperson.
(07:27):
I'm a person who says, here'sthe situation, what is your obstacle.
How can we help you overcome itis at the right time for you or
not. And that's what I loveabout what you do as well, Lee,
because you've done that for me personallyand in our homes and in our
investment properties. You've come out andsaid, okay, here or given me
three options. Here are some optionsfor you, which one would you like
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to do? So for me,that is critical for the people that we
work with because I don't want ourclients and customers sold either, correct now,
I want them educated. So thankyou for bringing that up because I
think it's an important part of whatyou do, and that's kind of what
we're going to share today. Butfirst I'd like for them to know a
little bit about you. You've beenhere a little while. We've been here
(08:09):
for a little while. So mydad, my mom and dad started the
company in eighty two. We've beenin business for forty one years. I
was fortunate enough to take over intwenty seventeen, me and my wife,
Terry Lynn, and we've been ableto build our brand so to speak,
and to try to do what wecan. We take a common sense approach
(08:33):
to everything we do. We dohome, we do the air conditioning systems.
Of course, we do homestand bygenerators and yes, we've been able
to pull on a plumbing division.And so what we're trying to be is
we're trying to be a spot wheresomeone can call who might have an issue,
and we say, Okay, whatis that challenge, and let's see
if we can take care of it, and if it's outside of our ballpark.
(08:56):
This is the greatest thing about SoutheastTexas. We have a great network.
We can simply say, hey,hey, let me give you this
number to give you that person toget you taken care of because we trust
them. And that's kind of howwe built our business and do what we
do. Our team is phenomenal.That we're killing our team right now is
another word. But they are.I mean from the ladies in the office
(09:20):
to the guys out in the field, I mean, everybody is that that
speedometer is pegged right now and we'redoing they're just doing a phenomenal job.
I couldn't be more proud. Andwe were talking about it a little before
the show started. While with thisheat and your guys who are out in
those addicts, who are out inthis heat outside looking at those units,
(09:43):
I mean, this is a dangeroustime for a lot of people. But
also you were talking about how muchmoney you're spending on water and gatorade and
all the things to try to keepthem hydrated, because it's it's a job
that is hot and can be dangerous. Yeah, it's so you have to
pay attention to this. I mean, we've been fortunate a lot of customers
allow us to start earlier so thatwe can get out of their addicts and
(10:05):
certain things like that. And theonly thing that I would say is to
everyone out there is just have justI know it's hot, and I know
it's crazy, and I know everybody'snuts, but just find just a little
bit of patients. Yea, notonly are people that work in the hvac
field, but across the board there'sthere's everybody right now because of this heat
(10:28):
has been stressed and we just needto take a step back and say,
hey, we understand. You know, we're gonna make mistakes, but we're
gonna we're gonna make We're gonna ownour mistakes. Were those are our mistakes,
and we're gonna take them. Equipmentis getting pushed to the brink,
(10:48):
and it is it is. Itis just getting to the point where we're
gonna do everything we can as quicklyas we can. But with the challenges
that we have. We have shortageson equipment, we have shortages on parts.
We can't get them as fast aswe normally would. Our guys are
(11:11):
working sixteen, seventeen, eighteen hoursa day and they go home and they're
exhausted and they show back up thenext morning. So again, it's just
yea for those out there in theservice field, I would ask everyone,
and we got some great HVAC companiesin this town. Oh yes, just
bear with them there, I promiseyou, they're they're gonna get you taken
(11:33):
care of. Just we're gonna dowhat we can. But man, oh
man, it's just we just dearLord, could you please send us a
little bit of rain? Yeah,exactly. Had something we're all praying for.
Well, I know one of theexciting things that you guys have done.
Yes, bringing on the plumbing sideof it. That also you've opened
a new office. Yeah, we'reup in Lumberton, and so we're up
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up the actually at the top endof Lumberton. And it's been really nice.
It's we've had some really good peoplethat we've been able to talk with.
We've we've gotten some opportunities to takecare of some people's houses, both
AC and generators and even some plumband stuff. And it's it's been it's
been a nice deal for us tokind of work our way through that.
(12:18):
We're still growing still. You know, Hey, we're still looking for other
people that want to come on board. I think we're a great company to
work for. So come on andsee us and come talk to me.
And and if I can plug in, I sure will. But great,
it's been a it's been a neatdeal. It's it's again been stressful.
Yeah, but god, it's funat growth is, isn't it. I
(12:39):
mean, if you're if you're notfeeling a little pain, you're not growing.
Yeah, there's a lot of pain, and so it happens, it
absolutely does. Well. You spokebriefly as you were talking about if we
can't handle it, we have anetwork of people and we and that made
me think about our network that wehave with the Chamber of Commerce. Yeah,
and one of the chambers. Wework with many of the chambers,
but one of the chambers that youand I are both a member of and
(13:03):
your wife, Terry Lynn and Iwere on the board of the Beaumont Chamber
of Commerce. And we have anexciting event coming up. Yes, it's
gonna be the Wine Event. I'msuper excited about this. This is going
to be a lot of fun.They they've got, you know, I
just Terry Lynn is running more thismore than I. But I tell you
as as me as a business andbeing involved in the chamber, these are
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some of the events that we getto take advantage of and we get to
say, Okay, we're going toput our money in this event. We're
going to go to this, We'regoing to have a great time, which
is going to help our chamber.And then I can't tell you the people
we're going to be able to meet. I am expecting to at least make
three or four new connections that Idon't have yet. It is one of
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the ways that you and I bothhave grown our business as being a part
of this chamber. It is afun way to get out there and network
with other businesses. And so oneof the things that you guys need to
know is that it is the inauguralBeaumont Wine Classic. It's going to be
on Friday, August twenty five.It's going to be down at the Event
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Center. It is going to bea fun event where if you want to
dress up, which Lee are youdressing up? Yeah, of course,
yeah, it's optional, but it'sgoing to be a roaring twenties theme,
and Ken and I have our outfits. Yeah, he's kind of going,
okay, Jerry Lynn's not not impressed, but I'm trying to get her in
(14:31):
that flapper dress. Oh yeah,well I ordered mine. I'll be there,
tell her to call me. Weare going to have a great time
though. It's going to be localchefs are going to have lots of different
appetizers. We're gonna have live musicwith Jimmy Simmons and his band, which
is amazing. Oh man, that'sgonna be fine and tasting. HGB,
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which has an amazing wine section,is going to be bringing all kinds of
different wines for tasting, so you'regonna have the opportunity to taste and sample
all kinds of different wines. Sowe would love for you to make it
to this event. You can goto the Greater Beamont Chamber of Commerce website
and you can sign up there fora table or just for a ticket.
(15:16):
Yes, and there are a handfulleft, so you're you're gonna want to
go ahead and plan on that event. But we just are so excited about
having the opportunity to not only networkbut have a great time with in air
conditioning in air and I've been toldI know there are going to be some
really really good wines to try.Oh yeah, yeah, they're they're bringing
(15:37):
the good staff. This is gonnabe Yeah. If you if you're gonna
want to, this is an eventyou don't want to miss. Yeah,
well, and we'd love for youto join us. So if you have
any questions, reach out to theChamber of Commerce. They have a Facebook
page as well, Greater Belmont Chamberof Commerce or their website as as well,
so you can go ahead and buythe tickets there. But when we
come back, we're going to talkabout how do you maintain your AC system
(16:03):
in this heat without it breaking thebank and without killing your systems, so
you're not going to go away.This is Dana Simmons with the Dana Simmons
Show. Welcome Back. This isDana Simmons, and I'm joined by Lee
Potter with American Air Systems, andLee has some tips for us today.
You know, as everyone knows aroundhere, it's been super hot and we
(16:26):
have had challenges with not only ourpersonal properties, but with many of our
clients properties on just trying to keepthem going. So Lee, let's talk
a little bit about you know,there are times that people say, oh,
put it all the way up toeighty degrees during the day while you're
gone, and then you get homeand it's scorching hot, and then you're
(16:47):
trying to cool it down and it'salmost impossible to do that. So give
us a little bit of insight intowhat's the best way to operate our AC
systems in this heat. Well,there's a couple of different schools of thought
and we'll kind of go through them. So Number one, if you can
allow the system to set back whenyou're not home, don't make it go
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five six, seven, eight degreesoff of what your normal setting. Is
I would tell you that if youare going to set it back three degrees,
that the most would be the mostI would take it back to.
For the simple reason is once thetemperature in the house moves up, the
furniture, the walls, the floors, and everything all now go to the
(17:30):
temperature that you had. And sothen when you turn that air conditioning back
on, all of those surfaces andeverything reject heat, so you're not only
cooling the air, but you're havingto cool those surfaces back down. Also,
yes, it also helps us electrically, so it lightens the load on
(17:51):
the electricity, so hopefully we don'thave a brown out or anything like that.
But you also have to understand,in this heat and the way air
conditioning is designed, we cannot oversizean air conditioner. I wish we could,
but we can't. If we oversizean air conditioner to where it doesn't
matter what the temperature is outside,will bring the temperature in the house to
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seventy degrees. When we're outside ofthis superheat wave that we're on and we're
back in the ninety percent of timethat we live in down here in Southeast
Texas, that system will come on. It will run for about two minutes
three minutes and then shut right backoff. The temperature will be at the
temperature asking. But now we're notremoving the moisture. And now what's going
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to happen is we're going to putan unhealthy environment in your home because we're
not removing the moisture. That system'sgot to run for seven to eight minutes
for that coal to be at temperatureto do the moisture removal that it needs
to do. And if we're cyclingthe system up five minutes and turning it
off, we're not doing it,and it can be a very unhealthy situation.
(18:57):
Another thing is that, and Itold you personally, is that right
now I have my thermostat, I'vetaken my setbacks out. I am maintaining
my temperature in my house at acertain degree twenty four seven until this heat
breaks for the simple reason again goesback. If I allow my house to
(19:19):
set back, it moves up.We get the heat of the day starting,
and then all of a sudden,my temperature will actually move up two
or three degrees above that. Iwill tell you my system is perfectly sized
for my house. I could proveit to anyone but and now I'm having
to try to drive it back down. And what people also a myth or
(19:42):
something they don't understand, is well, I'll just turn the thermostat down to
three more degrees if you're not Ifyou said it at seventy four and you
said it at sixty six and thetemperature is not going past seventy four,
sixty six is not going to doyou any good. And what's going to
happen is you're going to end up. You're going to end up when the
(20:03):
system gets to a point it's goingto actually cause a problem with that system
where it could because it could causethe system to ice up or do some
other things. And so again,right now, it's just it's you gotta
just kind of pay attention. Iknow it's kind of both ways of looking
at it, but it's which wayis best suited for you. Yeah.
(20:23):
I remember a couple of years ago, you came out to the house because
one of our systems wasn't working asit should, and I went over to
the thermostat and kicked it down likesix degrees, right, and you're like,
whoa, whoa, whoa, Dana, let me tell you you should
never lower it more than a coupleor so degrees at a time, correct
(20:45):
and let it come down, andyou got to give it a minute.
And so I learned from that though, So even at my office, like
I'll kick it up a bit overnightat the office, and then in the
morning early I'll start dropping it acouple of degrees, and then in a
couple of hours I'll drop it ina couple of degrees again. So while
(21:08):
I felt scolded sometimes, I alsolearned. I learned from it so that
I can make sure that I don'twant to burn my system up. And
you just don't think. You justthink, okay, just let's kick it
down, but you're not thinking abouthow it's running. Yeah, and another
thing right now, and it goesback to the most important thing about an
(21:29):
air conditioning system is airflow. Soif you think you're filter's dirty, check
it, change it. Be verycareful on the filters that we buy at
the store that catch every single pieceof dust that come through it. Oh
man, look this thing is goingto keep my system absolutely spotless, this
little one inch filter. The thingthat you run into though, is you
(21:52):
can create an asthmatic issue with thatsystem. You like back in COVID days.
If you were to wear a mask, a mask and a mask,
you couldn't breathe. Kind of thesame thing. Check your filter. Make
sure your filter's clean right now.This would be one of the first things
that I would check because with allof the pressure and everything going on,
that can be forgotten. And somake sure that filters clean first. Out
(22:18):
your outdoor unit if you haven't hadits serviced by a professional. A good
tip that you can do is youcan go out with your water hose and
spray off that outdoor condensing coil.Just wash it down. You'll be surprised
how much dirt and stuff can comeoff of it if you have vines or
leaves or trees or bushes around it. Cut it back, give it some
(22:41):
air again, airflow, getting airthrough that system. You know, anything
that you can do if you know. And again it goes back to the
house, you know, kind oflike kids moving into new homes. Hey,
do you mind? Can you closethe door for you know? I
meant you just got to be smartabout it and to work your way through.
(23:02):
But yeah, filters and washing,washing, water, washing that outdoor
unit can definitely help. And Iknow we all love our windows open with
a lot of light coming in.But you know, there are things we
can do to create a barrier totry to keep that heat out and that
cold air in and so shutting thoseblinds. And what are your thoughts on
(23:25):
ceiling fans and how do they impactour cooling systems? Well, ceiling fans
actually they move air, okay,so they're not going to help us in
cooling a house. That air thatyou feel that on that fan when it
moves past you is is you feelthe air move across your skin and it's
(23:48):
moving that and taking moisture away fromyour sinscar our bodies feel that as a
cooling effect, but they don't changethe temperature. In fact, to be
honest with you, the ceiling fanmotor creates a little heat, so okay,
but most people depends on especially ifyou have a high vaulted ceiling or
(24:08):
something like that or a big volumearea. Having that fan does recirculate that
air in that big room, whichwill allow you to not what we call
thermocline where you have you know,real cold temperature on the floor, medium
and then real high above. Butyeah, no, we run our fans,
(24:30):
but they are not a cool they'renot part of the cooling. They're
not part of it. So whatI hear you saying is a couple of
things to get people to help maintaintheir system. First, don't really set
your thermostat just a couple of twoor three degrees higher than where you're gonna
want it when you get home.Right, that's number one, So you
don't want to raise it too high. Don't go too high. Number two.
(24:52):
Make sure your air filters are clean. Number one. That's number one.
Number one, number one air filterscleaned. Yeah. And then you
also said go outside and cool youroutdoor unit. As far as cleaning it
well, making sure it has airflow. Yes, And just like I said,
water washed. You can water washthe coils with a spray. Don't
don't hit it like, don't hitit with a power washer. Just use
(25:15):
your garden hose. But just giveit, give it air, give it
a good bath if you're If you'reconcerned, there should be an electrical disconnect
right there. You can pull thatdisconnect. It turns the main power off,
and then just please remember to putthat back in. Yeah, or
you're not going to get any cooling. Yeah, Well, we appreciate those
(25:37):
tips. I know it's hot forall of us, and your conversation about
being patient and kind, especially tothose people who are working out here in
that heat, just it's challenging andthey're facing a lot every day. So
when we come back, though,we're going to talk about generators and what
part do they play and is itsomething that you need or is it something
that's really just an extra, Soyou guys stay tuned, we're going to
(25:59):
talk more about that. This isDana Simmons with the Dana Simmons Show.
Would you need to sell your home? No one makes it easier than Dana
Simmons of Dana Simmons. Really sellyour home on Gode Hesitated Simmons Rest.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmonsand I'm joined by Lee Potter today with
(26:22):
American Air Systems, and he hasbeen talking to us about how to make
sure your AC system is operating atpeak performance. He's given us a couple
of tips on things to do.And Lee, the first thing you said,
airflow is critically important first, Sonumber one, that's make sure that
your your filter is clean and makesure that your outside system doesn't have anything
(26:48):
blocking it and there's airflow that cango through there, so airflows number one.
And then you also talked about thefact that you want to make sure
that you're not raising it too hightoo quickly. I mean that you're not
going in five or six degrees higherand then trying to work it back down.
Right, it just takes too long, take us too long. So
each day, raise it a coupleof degrees and then when you get home
in the afternoon, it's not goingto take us long and it's not going
(27:11):
to make your system work as hardto bring that temperature back down. But
we want to shift our conversation toanother area that you guys work with,
and that's generators. And so thatis a huge topic here, and so
many people you know, think thatthey need to have a generator. But
I want to talk to you aboutwho really should get a generator. I
(27:32):
realize it's a choice and sometimes peoplejust want it. But what are the
thoughts that you have as far asa generator. It's effectiveness and what we
use them for. As a greatquestion. Okay, so when you start
talking about people who should or shouldnot have generators, first responders and people
(27:52):
like that. Okay, so wehave a storm coming this way Do I
have to leave? Do I not? And we have this conversation with pretty
much everyone that we talk with whenwe're talking to them in their home,
what are you gonna do? Now? You know, of course we have
a level five. Everybody's out ofhere. You know, there's no one
you know, the first responder isgoing to be in there. Uh you
(28:15):
know protected and yeah, yeah,so maybe level three down let's go from
there. So you know, yourfirst question is what am I going to
do? Am I going to leaveor I'm going to stay? Well,
I'm going to stay. Okay?Are you going to be home base of
operations? Are your kids or isyour grand as your mom and dad?
(28:36):
Or are you going to have friendsand family over to your house and y'all
are going to use that house asa home base of operations? Yes,
a generator now is something that wouldbe you would look at. You have
to understand that when we have astorm or a situation like that, the
(28:56):
the local markets and everybody else arenot going to be available, so you're
gonna have to be self sufficient.So that's number one. Number two would
be all right, I'm not reallyworried about the storm stuff. I'm just
worried about I keep losing power forsix to eight hours. I'm done with
the inconvenience of it. I justwant something that comes in, comes on,
(29:18):
takes care of it, gets methrough that little deal where I don't
have to worry about it. Okay, now we're back into Yes, it
sounds like something you would you wouldneed. One of the things that we
hear is you know I've gotten I'mmedical, I can't, I'm bedridden,
I'm this, I'm that. Thisis a very special deal because these are
the generators that we do are notmedical generators. Medical generators. As soon
(29:41):
as power goes out, it comesright on. We've got thirty seconds before
we're able to transfer power back.But again, you want to have that
plan. You've got to walk yourway through it. And that's what's important
about these. But when you dohave a generator, I will tell you
from personal experience, it's the momentyou do that test where you're able to
(30:04):
kill power to the house, havethe generator come up, transfer over,
and now it's taking care of thehouse. There is a sense you get
I can handle just about anything,right, which is really really nice.
We do we feel like that atan American are. We do what we
can to make sure that that systemis right, it's going to operate the
(30:29):
way it's supposed to. We wewe run tests when we start them up.
We make sure that we change andchange out the break in, all
all of that kind of stuff.We do what we can to harden that
system and to make it where itwill be that reliable backup that we have.
Yeah, so that when you dohave that storm and it needs to
(30:52):
kick in, it's actually ready togo and ready to move forward. So
the what I'm hearing you say islet's sit down and talk about what are
your goals, what are you tryingto achieve, and if this is something
that we can help you with ornot. And so for someone who's thinking
about it, it's just a matterof calling your office. Yeah, they
can call us at four O nineeight four two twenty four O two.
(31:15):
They can go to our website am er ai R dot com should be
able to get a hold of us. There no issues, just reach out.
They can talk to me directly ifthey need to. But again it's
a fairly big expense, right,not gonna not gonna sugarcoat that. Yeah,
(31:36):
but you have to understand what isthe end goal on it. If
all you're trying to do is Ijust want it, well, okay,
then if the values they're great,But if there's a need in all of
that, okay, here's where wereally need to focus in to make sure
that we give you the product thatyou need every time with everyone across the
(31:57):
board. Yeah, and that achievedis exactly what they want with exactly.
Yeah. Well, when we comeback, we are going to talk about
an exciting event that's coming up.It's Ama air Cares and it is an
opportunity for a veteran to get abrand new HVAC system. And we're going
to visit a little bit about howdoes someone apply who can qualify? So
you're not going to want to goaway, We'll be right back. This
(32:21):
is Dana Simmons with the Dana SimmonsShow. Would you need to sell your
home? No one makes it easierthan Dana Simmons of Dana Simmons. Really
sell you a home, don't hesitate, Simmons, realistate. Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and Lee Potteris here. We are talking about all
(32:44):
things air conditioning and then generators andnow we're going to talk about Amara air
Cares, which is a really coolprogram. Now tell me how long ago?
Five years? Yeah, this isour fifth year. Okay. This
is our community awareness program that westarted through our company, right, and
so the program is about giving awayan AC system to a deserving person.
(33:07):
Correct. So the first years wedid a nominate your neighbor, and this
year, because it's our fifth year, we're nominating a veteran. And so
tell me how how does a veteranqualify? Are there certain requirements? What
is it that that the veteran hasto have? He just has to have
served or he or she I guessI should say. Okay, So really
(33:28):
it's really pretty simple. Number one, they got to own their home.
Number two, be a veteran ora qualified spouse, okay, and be
honorable or medically discharged. And that'spretty much it. Let's see Chambers,
Harden, Jefferson and Orange County arethe counties that we're covering. And so
(33:50):
all we need to do is havesomeone nominate them and tell us a story
about this person. Because we haveabout thirty six community leaders that are not
associated with our company that they willbe reading the stories about this veteran who
has been nominated and they are goingto tell us who the winner is.
(34:16):
Me and Terry Lynn, we donot read the stories that come in.
We stay out of it. Wedo not want to point anybody in any
direction. And what is really coolis is that when that committee gets together,
that is for me, my favoriteday of the whole thing to watch
(34:37):
people get emotionally charged trying to havetheir sway, their argument of why this
story was better than that story,and it is so much fun. But
when it's all said and done nearVeteran's Day this year, we're going to
be able to award this to somebodyand we'll have it in before the end
(34:57):
of the year and it will bea carrier, top of the line system
all the way across. I mean, it's just going to be nice.
So tell me why you guys decidedto do this for a veteran. What
promoted this as your fifth year recipient? Well, Terry lenn and I were
talking and said, this is kindof one of those years that you come
(35:21):
in it's a fifth year, we'vedone it for four. Why don't we
try something a little different. Whydon't we really spotlight those that have given
everything to us to allow us tobe able to do what we do.
If it wasn't for them, wewouldn't be sitting here having this conversation.
I wouldn't get to go get inmy truck and drive and go get a
(35:44):
Chick fil Air And yeah, Imean it would just our whole lives would
be so much different because of thesacrifices they've given us. And to be
able to give that back at leastin taking care of their comfort to something
that will be theirs. There notgoing to pay for this. This is
their unit when we walk away,they own it. It's their system,
(36:06):
and if we can give them alittle bit of comfort for the comfort they've
given us. And you've gone astep further too, You've involved other veterans
to participate in this as well.So talk a little bit about that.
Yeah. So we've we've got itin touch with Seth Wells and and really
a whole bunch of other people thatare our advisors on this to help us
(36:30):
to get this out into the communityand be able to make sure everybody knows
about it. And we've actually beento a couple of standowns which I did
not ever know what a standown wasuntil I met mister Wells and he kind
of told us and we said,are you sure you want us there?
And He's like yeah, and Iwas like, all right, let's go,
And man, that was fun.Talk a little bit about what you
(36:53):
what you saw there. Well,what I'd tell you is what I saw
was I saw people who there werethere. There were people there that did
need help, and there were peoplethere that didn't need help. But those
people there all across love the camaraderieship of being able to be with people
(37:13):
of that of that group, youknow, other veterans, to be able
to have the stories and talk andand what was fun to watch as you
sat there you would actually see aguy come up and maybe to another person,
and another person all of a suddenthey would just stop and the world
around them would stop, and theywould talk about what they were talking about,
(37:35):
and if you were lucky enough,you got to hear the story.
And that is the man. Thereare so many stories that we were losing
daily from those guys that and girlsthat have taken care of us that I
wish we could figure out a wayto get it more in the schools and
that kind of stuff. If that'sfor another day, but I just I
am super excited that we're going tobe able to help somebody out. We're
(37:59):
still taking them nations and we're goingto keep working our way through it.
And one of the things that yousaid about those nominations that I think is
critical is that you do have aneye feel honored to be on that committee
to be able to help choose thatperson. But the story is going to
be very important. So where doessomeone go to get the information about how
(38:21):
to? Do you have a formor can they just go ahead and begin
writing down the information is sending it. So we've got a couple three or
four different ways of doing it.So Number one, on our website at
amaraiar dot com, look for thelogo. It's got a soldier saluting it
says Ameri Aircres. You can clickon that and you can literally write your
story on that and submit it.You can also print that and you can
(38:45):
handwrite it if you want, andyou can put as many pages with it
and mail it to us at pL Box seven one seven, Beaumont,
Texas seven seven seven two six.You can pick it up at either one
of our locations ten fifty South twentythird in Beaumont, five twenty three North
LHS Sweet one hundred in Lumberton.We have flyers there that you can just
(39:07):
grab. Every almost every piece ofliterature that comes out of our office from
invoicing or anything like that has thisflyer in it and we send it to
just about everybody we talked to.So I want to encourage each of you
out there. If you know aveteran, please, especially a veteran who
(39:30):
is in need, who their housethis summer. Actually they don't their units
struggling, but they really don't needit. Doesn't no, please, don't
matter. Anyone doesn't matter. Anybodywho has served or their qualifying spouse and
their systems ten fifteen, twenty yearsold and it's working, but they need
a new one. Give me theirstory. Let us here, because I
(39:52):
cannot wait for to see our committeefight over this. This is fun stuff.
Yeah. We just want to seesomeone who's deserving receiving a gift that
you guys are willing to do that. So how did this come up initially
in the beginning that you started evendoing this five years ago. Well,
a lot of that comes back toTerry Lynn, and it was a situation
(40:13):
where we've been in business for youknow a while, and you know,
we were getting a little bit moreinvolved and you know, doing little things.
And she says, hey, whatare we doing to give back to
our community? And I said,well, what do you mean? She
goes, well, you're you're involvedwith the chamber, you're involved with a
better Business Bureau, but what arewe doing with the community. And I
said, well, I don't know. She goes, we need to give
(40:34):
away an AC and I said,you know, pump the brakes, but
she goes, no, let's doit. So we got involved with our
carrier distributor and we asked them aboutit and they said that would be great.
We were on board and that's likeit was a bolt and we've we've
been able to put four systems in. We're looking for our fifth year this
(40:57):
year. We cannot wait and soyeah, I know it's been it's a
way now. Granted we're giving backto just one. We're not being able
to do a whole bunch, butwe're working our way there. You never
know, if we can make thisgrow, We're gonna see what we can
do. So tell me when arethe nominations? Do the nominations will end
(41:20):
October twenty seventh. Our committee willmeet a little bit after that and we
plan, we are hoping to planto give that system away to that veteran
around Labored Minut's Veterans Day, aroundVeteran's Day. Man, we have some
really cool plans on that. I'mnot going to let any of that go.
(41:40):
But this is gonna be neat.It is. It's gonna be well
if someone wants more information, Ijust very quickly went onto my phone to
the Facebook page and American Air SystemsInc. You can find it there,
and I scrolled down and there isa link on that page as well,
so you can go to their websiteat ameraair dot com, or you can
(42:06):
go to their Facebook page at AmericanAir Systems Inc. And scroll down and
you'll see the Amera Air cares logodown there, and it talks about the
additional information that you want to makesure it's someone who served our country deserves
a new heating and air conditioning system, and you just have to make application.
And we are all so excited tobe a part of that and to
(42:28):
be able to give that away becausewe do appreciate our veterans and You're right,
they've sacrificed so much for us asan opportunity for us to be able
to give back to them in thatway. Absolutely nally. You've given us
all kinds of information about air conditioningsystems, about generators, about this new
Amera air cares. I know someonecan google you and they can google American
(42:52):
air Systems and find you that way, and they can get your telephone number,
or they can go on to yourweb site. Tell us that address
again, am er ai R dotcom, Ameraair ameraair dot com. So
if you have any questions about whatLEAs talked about today, I really appreciate
him giving us those tips about howto maintain your system in this heat and
(43:16):
airflow was the topic. That wasthe number one thing we can do,
making sure that our air filters areclean and that they're that air is flowing
through theirs. And then also youtalked about the outside system, making sure
that that's cleaned and cleared away correctto make sure that airflow is flowing through
that as well. So those coupleof tips, I'm hoping it will help
(43:39):
many of you out there who maybe struggling. But if you're struggling and
you can't get it to function correctly. I want to recommend that you give
them a call. They have assistedus with our personal home, with our
business, with our many of ourcustomers, and they've always done a phenomenal
job. So I want to thankyou for being on the show today.
(44:00):
Thank you so much, and foreducating our customers and clients and also those
who are listening today on ways thatthey can improve their system. Thank you
for listening to the show today.You know I do real estate every single
day, so give us a callat four O nine eight six six eight
three two six. We'd love tohelp you and guide you through the real
(44:22):
estate process. This is Dana Simmonswith the Dana Simmons Show.
Hey, everybody, it's your board. Gary Levox of Rascal Flats Beaumont.
I made a lot of friends thereon the road. And what are my
friends that you needed to meet,especially if you're selling your home. Is
Dana Simmons of Dana Simmons Realty.Her team is the real deal, top
shelf, next level, and shemakes it so easy and I like easy,
and remember sell you a home nowgone hesitated Simmons real Estate. Well,
(00:31):
hello Southeast Texas, we are soglad you've joined us today. This
is Dana Simmons and I'm joined withme. Today is Lee Potter with American
Air. And let me tell youwhat we are going to talk about this
heat and what you may need todo to help your home stay cool.
So today's topic is very timely aswe are hitting some really good record temperatures
(00:56):
in the last let's see, Lee, I think you said twenty day.
Who's counting? Yeah, who's counting? So we've been seeing it for a
while, haven't we. Well,we want to share with you what are
some things you can do to makesure that you're keeping your home as cool
as possible. So we're also goingto visit with him about generators. Do
you need a generator? What doyou need to know about a generator?
(01:19):
All things that have to do withgenerators, because they do that as well,
and we'll talk about they also havestarted doing plumbing within their company.
That's another topic we're going to cover. And then the last part that we're
going to visit about is the coolestthing Amera air Cares. That is a
program that they've been running and thisyear he's going to talk about a veteran
(01:42):
is going to be chosen to geta new AC system. And so if
you know a veteran that you wantto nominate to be a part of this,
stay tuned. He's going to tellyou how you can put in an
application for that and what that processis going to look like. But before
we get started, I want totalk to you a little bit about how's
the market. Well, I havepeople every day, so is it a
(02:04):
good time to sell? Well,I want you to know that houses in
every single price range, they're allselling. They're just not selling at the
same pace. Okay, So whatwe are seeing is we're seeing a large
number of homes under about the threehundred, three hundred and fifty thousand dollar
price point. Those are really sellingat the fastest pace. Those homes are
(02:29):
many times selling for a very goodprice as well. Sometimes they're still getting
multiple offers, they're still selling withina day or two. I have agents
texting me today, I have alittle property that's under two or thousand that
I'll have multiple offers on that withproviding highest and best by next week.
So we do have a great marketin those price points. Now as you
(02:53):
go a little bit higher, asyou go over that three hundred and fifty
thousand dollar mark, it can geta little more competitive on prices. We
have sellers who are beginning to reducein those price points. I have a
seller that went from a six hundredthousand to a five fifty price point just
(03:13):
this week because he's ready to getit sold. So here's what I want
you to know. If you're inthat lower price point and you have a
house that you want to sell that'sunder three hundred and fifty thousand, let
us talk to you about what yourmarket's like. Let us look in to
your specific situation, because if you'rewanting to move up in size of home
(03:37):
and location, we want to giveyou the opportunity to know if now is
the right time for you, becausewe're finding that houses in the upper end
are selling at a lower price.So here's what I want you to know.
When we saw interest rates at alower value, when we were seeing
those three percent interest rates, weare seeing home sell so quickly and for
(04:01):
top dollar. But now that interestrates have increased, we're seeing those price
points have to come down some.So for our customers who are looking to
move up, it's a great opportunityfor them to get that price down a
little bit and be able to moveup into a larger home. But maybe
it's not right for you. Sohere's what we want you to know.
(04:24):
We want to be able to giveyou specifics on what it means for your
family, because it's not the righttime for every single family. So let's
sit down. Let's talk about whatis your situation, what is the price
of your home, and what isit you want to purchase, and then
we'll go through the entire process,help you make a wise decision that makes
(04:45):
sense for you, and then decidewhether hey, I need to wait just
a little bit, or it isa great opportunity. This is what I
want to do, this is howI want to move forward. So Our
office is open eight to eight Mondaythrough Saturday, one to eight on Sunday,
so you can give us a callat any time at four zero nine
eight six six eight three two six, which that number is four zero nine
(05:10):
eight six six and the word team. We also have a website that you
can go to and pull some information. Actually, if you want to get
just a general idea of the valueof your home, we have a program
called Price your Home and it willgive you the opportunity to go in to
our website, put your information inand it'll give you a ball park of
(05:33):
what the value is of your home. So you can go to Dana Simmons
real estate dot com you can findthat pop up. It'll pop up on
the website and then you can putthe details of your property in there.
Now, I will tell you sometimesthose values are elevated and the price that
we can really sell your house foris lower. Sometimes those values are lower
(05:55):
and the price can be a littlehigher. It's just a fun tool to
go in and give you a ballpark. But then we can get specifics and
be able to pull comparables that giveyou an exact price point for what it
is we can sell your home forso hope you'll take that opportunity to do
that. I'm excited about today's show. We are going to be talking about
HVAC systems and all the things thatyou may have questions about. So if
(06:19):
during our show today you would liketo call in with a question, we'd
love to hear those. And thenumber is four zero nine eight nine six
five five eight four, which isfour zero nine eight ninety six KLVII,
So give us a call in withyour questions. Well, Lee Potter is
here with American Air and Lee,why don't you tell everyone in Southeast Texas
(06:42):
a little bit about you? Well, good afternoon, Thank you again for
this opportunity, and real quick,I just want to say what I really
appreciate what you said right there,was that you're going to take the time
to give people education about what's goingon, because we believe that in what
we do and you're educated about themarket and the house and everything like that,
(07:03):
you can make a better decision foryour family. And so to me,
that's key. Keep it up.That's a phenomenal way to start in
that way, it builds trust andit helps our community across the board be
a better place. Absolutely and that'sone of the things I love with all
of our partners that we work withis really each of us has a desire
to educate and we're not trying tosell. I'm not really a salesperson.
(07:27):
I'm a person who says, here'sthe situation, what is your obstacle.
How can we help you overcome itis at the right time for you or
not. And that's what I loveabout what you do as well, Lee,
because you've done that for me personallyand in our homes and in our
investment properties. You've come out andsaid, okay, here or given me
three options. Here are some optionsfor you, which one would you like
(07:48):
to do? So for me,that is critical for the people that we
work with because I don't want ourclients and customers sold either, correct now,
I want them educated. So thankyou for bringing that up because I
think it's an important part of whatyou do, and that's kind of what
we're going to share today. Butfirst I'd like for them to know a
little bit about you. You've beenhere a little while. We've been here
(08:09):
for a little while. So mydad, my mom and dad started the
company in eighty two. We've beenin business for forty one years. I
was fortunate enough to take over intwenty seventeen, me and my wife,
Terry Lynn, and we've been ableto build our brand so to speak,
and to try to do what wecan. We take a common sense approach
(08:33):
to everything we do. We dohome, we do the air conditioning systems.
Of course, we do homestand bygenerators and yes, we've been able
to pull on a plumbing division.And so what we're trying to be is
we're trying to be a spot wheresomeone can call who might have an issue,
and we say, Okay, whatis that challenge, and let's see
if we can take care of it, and if it's outside of our ballpark.
(08:56):
This is the greatest thing about SoutheastTexas. We have a great network.
We can simply say, hey,hey, let me give you this
number to give you that person toget you taken care of because we trust
them. And that's kind of howwe built our business and do what we
do. Our team is phenomenal.That we're killing our team right now is
another word. But they are.I mean from the ladies in the office
(09:20):
to the guys out in the field, I mean, everybody is that that
speedometer is pegged right now and we'redoing they're just doing a phenomenal job.
I couldn't be more proud. Andwe were talking about it a little before
the show started. While with thisheat and your guys who are out in
those addicts, who are out inthis heat outside looking at those units,
(09:43):
I mean, this is a dangeroustime for a lot of people. But
also you were talking about how muchmoney you're spending on water and gatorade and
all the things to try to keepthem hydrated, because it's it's a job
that is hot and can be dangerous. Yeah, it's so you have to
pay attention to this. I mean, we've been fortunate a lot of customers
allow us to start earlier so thatwe can get out of their addicts and
(10:05):
certain things like that. And theonly thing that I would say is to
everyone out there is just have justI know it's hot, and I know
it's crazy, and I know everybody'snuts, but just find just a little
bit of patients. Yea, notonly are people that work in the hvac
field, but across the board there'sthere's everybody right now because of this heat
(10:28):
has been stressed and we just needto take a step back and say,
hey, we understand. You know, we're gonna make mistakes, but we're
gonna we're gonna make We're gonna ownour mistakes. Were those are our mistakes,
and we're gonna take them. Equipmentis getting pushed to the brink,
(10:48):
and it is it is. Itis just getting to the point where we're
gonna do everything we can as quicklyas we can. But with the challenges
that we have. We have shortageson equipment, we have shortages on parts.
We can't get them as fast aswe normally would. Our guys are
(11:11):
working sixteen, seventeen, eighteen hoursa day and they go home and they're
exhausted and they show back up thenext morning. So again, it's just
yea for those out there in theservice field, I would ask everyone,
and we got some great HVAC companiesin this town. Oh yes, just
bear with them there, I promiseyou, they're they're gonna get you taken
(11:33):
care of. Just we're gonna dowhat we can. But man, oh
man, it's just we just dearLord, could you please send us a
little bit of rain? Yeah,exactly. Had something we're all praying for.
Well, I know one of theexciting things that you guys have done.
Yes, bringing on the plumbing sideof it. That also you've opened
a new office. Yeah, we'reup in Lumberton, and so we're up
(11:56):
up the actually at the top endof Lumberton. And it's been really nice.
It's we've had some really good peoplethat we've been able to talk with.
We've we've gotten some opportunities to takecare of some people's houses, both
AC and generators and even some plumband stuff. And it's it's been it's
been a nice deal for us tokind of work our way through that.
(12:18):
We're still growing still. You know, Hey, we're still looking for other
people that want to come on board. I think we're a great company to
work for. So come on andsee us and come talk to me.
And and if I can plug in, I sure will. But great,
it's been a it's been a neatdeal. It's it's again been stressful.
Yeah, but god, it's funat growth is, isn't it. I
(12:39):
mean, if you're if you're notfeeling a little pain, you're not growing.
Yeah, there's a lot of pain, and so it happens, it
absolutely does. Well. You spokebriefly as you were talking about if we
can't handle it, we have anetwork of people and we and that made
me think about our network that wehave with the Chamber of Commerce. Yeah,
and one of the chambers. Wework with many of the chambers,
but one of the chambers that youand I are both a member of and
(13:03):
your wife, Terry Lynn and Iwere on the board of the Beaumont Chamber
of Commerce. And we have anexciting event coming up. Yes, it's
gonna be the Wine Event. I'msuper excited about this. This is going
to be a lot of fun.They they've got, you know, I
just Terry Lynn is running more thismore than I. But I tell you
as as me as a business andbeing involved in the chamber, these are
(13:28):
some of the events that we getto take advantage of and we get to
say, Okay, we're going toput our money in this event. We're
going to go to this, We'regoing to have a great time, which
is going to help our chamber.And then I can't tell you the people
we're going to be able to meet. I am expecting to at least make
three or four new connections that Idon't have yet. It is one of
(13:50):
the ways that you and I bothhave grown our business as being a part
of this chamber. It is afun way to get out there and network
with other businesses. And so oneof the things that you guys need to
know is that it is the inauguralBeaumont Wine Classic. It's going to be
on Friday, August twenty five.It's going to be down at the Event
(14:11):
Center. It is going to bea fun event where if you want to
dress up, which Lee are youdressing up? Yeah, of course,
yeah, it's optional, but it'sgoing to be a roaring twenties theme,
and Ken and I have our outfits. Yeah, he's kind of going,
okay, Jerry Lynn's not not impressed, but I'm trying to get her in
(14:31):
that flapper dress. Oh yeah,well I ordered mine. I'll be there,
tell her to call me. Weare going to have a great time
though. It's going to be localchefs are going to have lots of different
appetizers. We're gonna have live musicwith Jimmy Simmons and his band, which
is amazing. Oh man, that'sgonna be fine and tasting. HGB,
(14:54):
which has an amazing wine section,is going to be bringing all kinds of
different wines for tasting, so you'regonna have the opportunity to taste and sample
all kinds of different wines. Sowe would love for you to make it
to this event. You can goto the Greater Beamont Chamber of Commerce website
and you can sign up there fora table or just for a ticket.
(15:16):
Yes, and there are a handfulleft, so you're you're gonna want to
go ahead and plan on that event. But we just are so excited about
having the opportunity to not only networkbut have a great time with in air
conditioning in air and I've been toldI know there are going to be some
really really good wines to try.Oh yeah, yeah, they're they're bringing
(15:37):
the good staff. This is gonnabe Yeah. If you if you're gonna
want to, this is an eventyou don't want to miss. Yeah,
well, and we'd love for youto join us. So if you have
any questions, reach out to theChamber of Commerce. They have a Facebook
page as well, Greater Belmont Chamberof Commerce or their website as as well,
so you can go ahead and buythe tickets there. But when we
come back, we're going to talkabout how do you maintain your AC system
(16:03):
in this heat without it breaking thebank and without killing your systems, so
you're not going to go away.This is Dana Simmons with the Dana Simmons
Show. Welcome Back. This isDana Simmons, and I'm joined by Lee
Potter with American Air Systems, andLee has some tips for us today.
You know, as everyone knows aroundhere, it's been super hot and we
(16:26):
have had challenges with not only ourpersonal properties, but with many of our
clients properties on just trying to keepthem going. So Lee, let's talk
a little bit about you know,there are times that people say, oh,
put it all the way up toeighty degrees during the day while you're
gone, and then you get homeand it's scorching hot, and then you're
(16:47):
trying to cool it down and it'salmost impossible to do that. So give
us a little bit of insight intowhat's the best way to operate our AC
systems in this heat. Well,there's a couple of different schools of thought
and we'll kind of go through them. So Number one, if you can
allow the system to set back whenyou're not home, don't make it go
(17:10):
five six, seven, eight degreesoff of what your normal setting. Is
I would tell you that if youare going to set it back three degrees,
that the most would be the mostI would take it back to.
For the simple reason is once thetemperature in the house moves up, the
furniture, the walls, the floors, and everything all now go to the
(17:30):
temperature that you had. And sothen when you turn that air conditioning back
on, all of those surfaces andeverything reject heat, so you're not only
cooling the air, but you're havingto cool those surfaces back down. Also,
yes, it also helps us electrically, so it lightens the load on
(17:51):
the electricity, so hopefully we don'thave a brown out or anything like that.
But you also have to understand,in this heat and the way air
conditioning is designed, we cannot oversizean air conditioner. I wish we could,
but we can't. If we oversizean air conditioner to where it doesn't
matter what the temperature is outside,will bring the temperature in the house to
(18:14):
seventy degrees. When we're outside ofthis superheat wave that we're on and we're
back in the ninety percent of timethat we live in down here in Southeast
Texas, that system will come on. It will run for about two minutes
three minutes and then shut right backoff. The temperature will be at the
temperature asking. But now we're notremoving the moisture. And now what's going
(18:37):
to happen is we're going to putan unhealthy environment in your home because we're
not removing the moisture. That system'sgot to run for seven to eight minutes
for that coal to be at temperatureto do the moisture removal that it needs
to do. And if we're cyclingthe system up five minutes and turning it
off, we're not doing it,and it can be a very unhealthy situation.
(18:57):
Another thing is that, and Itold you personally, is that right
now I have my thermostat, I'vetaken my setbacks out. I am maintaining
my temperature in my house at acertain degree twenty four seven until this heat
breaks for the simple reason again goesback. If I allow my house to
(19:19):
set back, it moves up.We get the heat of the day starting,
and then all of a sudden,my temperature will actually move up two
or three degrees above that. Iwill tell you my system is perfectly sized
for my house. I could proveit to anyone but and now I'm having
to try to drive it back down. And what people also a myth or
(19:42):
something they don't understand, is well, I'll just turn the thermostat down to
three more degrees if you're not Ifyou said it at seventy four and you
said it at sixty six and thetemperature is not going past seventy four,
sixty six is not going to doyou any good. And what's going to
happen is you're going to end up. You're going to end up when the
(20:03):
system gets to a point it's goingto actually cause a problem with that system
where it could because it could causethe system to ice up or do some
other things. And so again,right now, it's just it's you gotta
just kind of pay attention. Iknow it's kind of both ways of looking
at it, but it's which wayis best suited for you. Yeah.
(20:23):
I remember a couple of years ago, you came out to the house because
one of our systems wasn't working asit should, and I went over to
the thermostat and kicked it down likesix degrees, right, and you're like,
whoa, whoa, whoa, Dana, let me tell you you should
never lower it more than a coupleor so degrees at a time, correct
(20:45):
and let it come down, andyou got to give it a minute.
And so I learned from that though, So even at my office, like
I'll kick it up a bit overnightat the office, and then in the
morning early I'll start dropping it acouple of degrees, and then in a
couple of hours I'll drop it ina couple of degrees again. So while
(21:08):
I felt scolded sometimes, I alsolearned. I learned from it so that
I can make sure that I don'twant to burn my system up. And
you just don't think. You justthink, okay, just let's kick it
down, but you're not thinking abouthow it's running. Yeah, and another
thing right now, and it goesback to the most important thing about an
(21:29):
air conditioning system is airflow. Soif you think you're filter's dirty, check
it, change it. Be verycareful on the filters that we buy at
the store that catch every single pieceof dust that come through it. Oh
man, look this thing is goingto keep my system absolutely spotless, this
little one inch filter. The thingthat you run into though, is you
(21:52):
can create an asthmatic issue with thatsystem. You like back in COVID days.
If you were to wear a mask, a mask and a mask,
you couldn't breathe. Kind of thesame thing. Check your filter. Make
sure your filter's clean right now.This would be one of the first things
that I would check because with allof the pressure and everything going on,
that can be forgotten. And somake sure that filters clean first. Out
(22:18):
your outdoor unit if you haven't hadits serviced by a professional. A good
tip that you can do is youcan go out with your water hose and
spray off that outdoor condensing coil.Just wash it down. You'll be surprised
how much dirt and stuff can comeoff of it if you have vines or
leaves or trees or bushes around it. Cut it back, give it some
(22:41):
air again, airflow, getting airthrough that system. You know, anything
that you can do if you know. And again it goes back to the
house, you know, kind oflike kids moving into new homes. Hey,
do you mind? Can you closethe door for you know? I
meant you just got to be smartabout it and to work your way through.
(23:02):
But yeah, filters and washing,washing, water, washing that outdoor
unit can definitely help. And Iknow we all love our windows open with
a lot of light coming in.But you know, there are things we
can do to create a barrier totry to keep that heat out and that
cold air in and so shutting thoseblinds. And what are your thoughts on
(23:25):
ceiling fans and how do they impactour cooling systems? Well, ceiling fans
actually they move air, okay,so they're not going to help us in
cooling a house. That air thatyou feel that on that fan when it
moves past you is is you feelthe air move across your skin and it's
(23:48):
moving that and taking moisture away fromyour sinscar our bodies feel that as a
cooling effect, but they don't changethe temperature. In fact, to be
honest with you, the ceiling fanmotor creates a little heat, so okay,
but most people depends on especially ifyou have a high vaulted ceiling or
(24:08):
something like that or a big volumearea. Having that fan does recirculate that
air in that big room, whichwill allow you to not what we call
thermocline where you have you know,real cold temperature on the floor, medium
and then real high above. Butyeah, no, we run our fans,
(24:30):
but they are not a cool they'renot part of the cooling. They're
not part of it. So whatI hear you saying is a couple of
things to get people to help maintaintheir system. First, don't really set
your thermostat just a couple of twoor three degrees higher than where you're gonna
want it when you get home.Right, that's number one, So you
don't want to raise it too high. Don't go too high. Number two.
(24:52):
Make sure your air filters are clean. Number one. That's number one.
Number one, number one air filterscleaned. Yeah. And then you
also said go outside and cool youroutdoor unit. As far as cleaning it
well, making sure it has airflow. Yes, And just like I said,
water washed. You can water washthe coils with a spray. Don't
don't hit it like, don't hitit with a power washer. Just use
(25:15):
your garden hose. But just giveit, give it air, give it
a good bath if you're If you'reconcerned, there should be an electrical disconnect
right there. You can pull thatdisconnect. It turns the main power off,
and then just please remember to putthat back in. Yeah, or
you're not going to get any cooling. Yeah, Well, we appreciate those
(25:37):
tips. I know it's hot forall of us, and your conversation about
being patient and kind, especially tothose people who are working out here in
that heat, just it's challenging andthey're facing a lot every day. So
when we come back, though,we're going to talk about generators and what
part do they play and is itsomething that you need or is it something
that's really just an extra, Soyou guys stay tuned, we're going to
(25:59):
talk more about that. This isDana Simmons with the Dana Simmons Show.
Would you need to sell your home? No one makes it easier than Dana
Simmons of Dana Simmons. Really sellyour home on Gode Hesitated Simmons Rest.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmonsand I'm joined by Lee Potter today with
(26:22):
American Air Systems, and he hasbeen talking to us about how to make
sure your AC system is operating atpeak performance. He's given us a couple
of tips on things to do.And Lee, the first thing you said,
airflow is critically important first, Sonumber one, that's make sure that
your your filter is clean and makesure that your outside system doesn't have anything
(26:48):
blocking it and there's airflow that cango through there, so airflows number one.
And then you also talked about thefact that you want to make sure
that you're not raising it too hightoo quickly. I mean that you're not
going in five or six degrees higherand then trying to work it back down.
Right, it just takes too long, take us too long. So
each day, raise it a coupleof degrees and then when you get home
in the afternoon, it's not goingto take us long and it's not going
(27:11):
to make your system work as hardto bring that temperature back down. But
we want to shift our conversation toanother area that you guys work with,
and that's generators. And so thatis a huge topic here, and so
many people you know, think thatthey need to have a generator. But
I want to talk to you aboutwho really should get a generator. I
(27:32):
realize it's a choice and sometimes peoplejust want it. But what are the
thoughts that you have as far asa generator. It's effectiveness and what we
use them for. As a greatquestion. Okay, so when you start
talking about people who should or shouldnot have generators, first responders and people
(27:52):
like that. Okay, so wehave a storm coming this way Do I
have to leave? Do I not? And we have this conversation with pretty
much everyone that we talk with whenwe're talking to them in their home,
what are you gonna do? Now? You know, of course we have
a level five. Everybody's out ofhere. You know, there's no one
you know, the first responder isgoing to be in there. Uh you
(28:15):
know protected and yeah, yeah,so maybe level three down let's go from
there. So you know, yourfirst question is what am I going to
do? Am I going to leaveor I'm going to stay? Well,
I'm going to stay. Okay?Are you going to be home base of
operations? Are your kids or isyour grand as your mom and dad?
(28:36):
Or are you going to have friendsand family over to your house and y'all
are going to use that house asa home base of operations? Yes,
a generator now is something that wouldbe you would look at. You have
to understand that when we have astorm or a situation like that, the
(28:56):
the local markets and everybody else arenot going to be available, so you're
gonna have to be self sufficient.So that's number one. Number two would
be all right, I'm not reallyworried about the storm stuff. I'm just
worried about I keep losing power forsix to eight hours. I'm done with
the inconvenience of it. I justwant something that comes in, comes on,
(29:18):
takes care of it, gets methrough that little deal where I don't
have to worry about it. Okay, now we're back into Yes, it
sounds like something you would you wouldneed. One of the things that we
hear is you know I've gotten I'mmedical, I can't, I'm bedridden,
I'm this, I'm that. Thisis a very special deal because these are
the generators that we do are notmedical generators. Medical generators. As soon
(29:41):
as power goes out, it comesright on. We've got thirty seconds before
we're able to transfer power back.But again, you want to have that
plan. You've got to walk yourway through it. And that's what's important
about these. But when you dohave a generator, I will tell you
from personal experience, it's the momentyou do that test where you're able to
(30:04):
kill power to the house, havethe generator come up, transfer over,
and now it's taking care of thehouse. There is a sense you get
I can handle just about anything,right, which is really really nice.
We do we feel like that atan American are. We do what we
can to make sure that that systemis right, it's going to operate the
(30:29):
way it's supposed to. We wewe run tests when we start them up.
We make sure that we change andchange out the break in, all
all of that kind of stuff.We do what we can to harden that
system and to make it where itwill be that reliable backup that we have.
Yeah, so that when you dohave that storm and it needs to
(30:52):
kick in, it's actually ready togo and ready to move forward. So
the what I'm hearing you say islet's sit down and talk about what are
your goals, what are you tryingto achieve, and if this is something
that we can help you with ornot. And so for someone who's thinking
about it, it's just a matterof calling your office. Yeah, they
can call us at four O nineeight four two twenty four O two.
(31:15):
They can go to our website am er ai R dot com should be
able to get a hold of us. There no issues, just reach out.
They can talk to me directly ifthey need to. But again it's
a fairly big expense, right,not gonna not gonna sugarcoat that. Yeah,
(31:36):
but you have to understand what isthe end goal on it. If
all you're trying to do is Ijust want it, well, okay,
then if the values they're great,But if there's a need in all of
that, okay, here's where wereally need to focus in to make sure
that we give you the product thatyou need every time with everyone across the
(31:57):
board. Yeah, and that achievedis exactly what they want with exactly.
Yeah. Well, when we comeback, we are going to talk about
an exciting event that's coming up.It's Ama air Cares and it is an
opportunity for a veteran to get abrand new HVAC system. And we're going
to visit a little bit about howdoes someone apply who can qualify? So
you're not going to want to goaway, We'll be right back. This
(32:21):
is Dana Simmons with the Dana SimmonsShow. Would you need to sell your
home? No one makes it easierthan Dana Simmons of Dana Simmons. Really
sell you a home, don't hesitate, Simmons, realistate. Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and Lee Potteris here. We are talking about all
(32:44):
things air conditioning and then generators andnow we're going to talk about Amara air
Cares, which is a really coolprogram. Now tell me how long ago?
Five years? Yeah, this isour fifth year. Okay. This
is our community awareness program that westarted through our company, right, and
so the program is about giving awayan AC system to a deserving person.
(33:07):
Correct. So the first years wedid a nominate your neighbor, and this
year, because it's our fifth year, we're nominating a veteran. And so
tell me how how does a veteranqualify? Are there certain requirements? What
is it that that the veteran hasto have? He just has to have
served or he or she I guessI should say. Okay, So really
(33:28):
it's really pretty simple. Number one, they got to own their home.
Number two, be a veteran ora qualified spouse, okay, and be
honorable or medically discharged. And that'spretty much it. Let's see Chambers,
Harden, Jefferson and Orange County arethe counties that we're covering. And so
(33:50):
all we need to do is havesomeone nominate them and tell us a story
about this person. Because we haveabout thirty six community leaders that are not
associated with our company that they willbe reading the stories about this veteran who
has been nominated and they are goingto tell us who the winner is.
(34:16):
Me and Terry Lynn, we donot read the stories that come in.
We stay out of it. Wedo not want to point anybody in any
direction. And what is really coolis is that when that committee gets together,
that is for me, my favoriteday of the whole thing to watch
(34:37):
people get emotionally charged trying to havetheir sway, their argument of why this
story was better than that story,and it is so much fun. But
when it's all said and done nearVeteran's Day this year, we're going to
be able to award this to somebodyand we'll have it in before the end
(34:57):
of the year and it will bea carrier, top of the line system
all the way across. I mean, it's just going to be nice.
So tell me why you guys decidedto do this for a veteran. What
promoted this as your fifth year recipient? Well, Terry lenn and I were
talking and said, this is kindof one of those years that you come
(35:21):
in it's a fifth year, we'vedone it for four. Why don't we
try something a little different. Whydon't we really spotlight those that have given
everything to us to allow us tobe able to do what we do.
If it wasn't for them, wewouldn't be sitting here having this conversation.
I wouldn't get to go get inmy truck and drive and go get a
(35:44):
Chick fil Air And yeah, Imean it would just our whole lives would
be so much different because of thesacrifices they've given us. And to be
able to give that back at leastin taking care of their comfort to something
that will be theirs. There notgoing to pay for this. This is
their unit when we walk away,they own it. It's their system,
(36:06):
and if we can give them alittle bit of comfort for the comfort they've
given us. And you've gone astep further too, You've involved other veterans
to participate in this as well.So talk a little bit about that.
Yeah. So we've we've got itin touch with Seth Wells and and really
a whole bunch of other people thatare our advisors on this to help us
(36:30):
to get this out into the communityand be able to make sure everybody knows
about it. And we've actually beento a couple of standowns which I did
not ever know what a standown wasuntil I met mister Wells and he kind
of told us and we said,are you sure you want us there?
And He's like yeah, and Iwas like, all right, let's go,
And man, that was fun.Talk a little bit about what you
(36:53):
what you saw there. Well,what I'd tell you is what I saw
was I saw people who there werethere. There were people there that did
need help, and there were peoplethere that didn't need help. But those
people there all across love the camaraderieship of being able to be with people
(37:13):
of that of that group, youknow, other veterans, to be able
to have the stories and talk andand what was fun to watch as you
sat there you would actually see aguy come up and maybe to another person,
and another person all of a suddenthey would just stop and the world
around them would stop, and theywould talk about what they were talking about,
(37:35):
and if you were lucky enough,you got to hear the story.
And that is the man. Thereare so many stories that we were losing
daily from those guys that and girlsthat have taken care of us that I
wish we could figure out a wayto get it more in the schools and
that kind of stuff. If that'sfor another day, but I just I
am super excited that we're going tobe able to help somebody out. We're
(37:59):
still taking them nations and we're goingto keep working our way through it.
And one of the things that yousaid about those nominations that I think is
critical is that you do have aneye feel honored to be on that committee
to be able to help choose thatperson. But the story is going to
be very important. So where doessomeone go to get the information about how
(38:21):
to? Do you have a formor can they just go ahead and begin
writing down the information is sending it. So we've got a couple three or
four different ways of doing it.So Number one, on our website at
amaraiar dot com, look for thelogo. It's got a soldier saluting it
says Ameri Aircres. You can clickon that and you can literally write your
story on that and submit it.You can also print that and you can
(38:45):
handwrite it if you want, andyou can put as many pages with it
and mail it to us at pL Box seven one seven, Beaumont,
Texas seven seven seven two six.You can pick it up at either one
of our locations ten fifty South twentythird in Beaumont, five twenty three North
LHS Sweet one hundred in Lumberton.We have flyers there that you can just
(39:07):
grab. Every almost every piece ofliterature that comes out of our office from
invoicing or anything like that has thisflyer in it and we send it to
just about everybody we talked to.So I want to encourage each of you
out there. If you know aveteran, please, especially a veteran who
(39:30):
is in need, who their housethis summer. Actually they don't their units
struggling, but they really don't needit. Doesn't no, please, don't
matter. Anyone doesn't matter. Anybodywho has served or their qualifying spouse and
their systems ten fifteen, twenty yearsold and it's working, but they need
a new one. Give me theirstory. Let us here, because I
(39:52):
cannot wait for to see our committeefight over this. This is fun stuff.
Yeah. We just want to seesomeone who's deserving receiving a gift that
you guys are willing to do that. So how did this come up initially
in the beginning that you started evendoing this five years ago. Well,
a lot of that comes back toTerry Lynn, and it was a situation
(40:13):
where we've been in business for youknow a while, and you know,
we were getting a little bit moreinvolved and you know, doing little things.
And she says, hey, whatare we doing to give back to
our community? And I said,well, what do you mean? She
goes, well, you're you're involvedwith the chamber, you're involved with a
better Business Bureau, but what arewe doing with the community. And I
said, well, I don't know. She goes, we need to give
(40:34):
away an AC and I said,you know, pump the brakes, but
she goes, no, let's doit. So we got involved with our
carrier distributor and we asked them aboutit and they said that would be great.
We were on board and that's likeit was a bolt and we've we've
been able to put four systems in. We're looking for our fifth year this
(40:57):
year. We cannot wait and soyeah, I know it's been it's a
way now. Granted we're giving backto just one. We're not being able
to do a whole bunch, butwe're working our way there. You never
know, if we can make thisgrow, We're gonna see what we can
do. So tell me when arethe nominations? Do the nominations will end
(41:20):
October twenty seventh. Our committee willmeet a little bit after that and we
plan, we are hoping to planto give that system away to that veteran
around Labored Minut's Veterans Day, aroundVeteran's Day. Man, we have some
really cool plans on that. I'mnot going to let any of that go.
(41:40):
But this is gonna be neat.It is. It's gonna be well
if someone wants more information, Ijust very quickly went onto my phone to
the Facebook page and American Air SystemsInc. You can find it there,
and I scrolled down and there isa link on that page as well,
so you can go to their websiteat ameraair dot com, or you can
(42:06):
go to their Facebook page at AmericanAir Systems Inc. And scroll down and
you'll see the Amera Air cares logodown there, and it talks about the
additional information that you want to makesure it's someone who served our country deserves
a new heating and air conditioning system, and you just have to make application.
And we are all so excited tobe a part of that and to
(42:28):
be able to give that away becausewe do appreciate our veterans and You're right,
they've sacrificed so much for us asan opportunity for us to be able
to give back to them in thatway. Absolutely nally. You've given us
all kinds of information about air conditioningsystems, about generators, about this new
Amera air cares. I know someonecan google you and they can google American
(42:52):
air Systems and find you that way, and they can get your telephone number,
or they can go on to yourweb site. Tell us that address
again, am er ai R dotcom, Ameraair ameraair dot com. So
if you have any questions about whatLEAs talked about today, I really appreciate
him giving us those tips about howto maintain your system in this heat and
(43:16):
airflow was the topic. That wasthe number one thing we can do,
making sure that our air filters areclean and that they're that air is flowing
through theirs. And then also youtalked about the outside system, making sure
that that's cleaned and cleared away correctto make sure that airflow is flowing through
that as well. So those coupleof tips, I'm hoping it will help
(43:39):
many of you out there who maybe struggling. But if you're struggling and
you can't get it to function correctly. I want to recommend that you give
them a call. They have assistedus with our personal home, with our
business, with our many of ourcustomers, and they've always done a phenomenal
job. So I want to thankyou for being on the show today.
(44:00):
Thank you so much, and foreducating our customers and clients and also those
who are listening today on ways thatthey can improve their system. Thank you
for listening to the show today.You know I do real estate every single
day, so give us a callat four O nine eight six six eight
three two six. We'd love tohelp you and guide you through the real
(44:22):
estate process. This is Dana Simmonswith the Dana Simmons Show.
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