If you’ve watched the weather on the TV news, you may have seen the term “relative humidity” used, and wondered what it is. It’s a term used to describe the amount of ambient moisture in the air, measured as a percentage. If the relative humidity stands at 0%, there’s no moisture in the air at all. If it stands at 100%, you’ve basically got rain. Most of the time, it falls somewhere between those extremes, though in Portland, OR, we trend on the humid side. But that number can have a huge effect on your home comfort levels, and if you allow it to remain unaffected, you could end up paying a steep price. Here’s a quick breakdown on how it works, and what you can do to solve it.
The Clean Air Act Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Portland’
How to Select the Right Air Filter
Monday, August 24th, 2015Almost every centralized heating and air conditioning system comes with a filter, designed to strain out the dust and dirt circulating through your home. There are numerous different types of filters you can install in your home – above and beyond the types specific to your particular air conditioning system – and with dust and pollen counts here in Portland, OR, they should probably be cleaned or replaced several times a year. Selecting the right air filter is very important as a homeowner: something that can do the best possible job without working against your best interests. Here’s a few tips on how to select the right air filter.
Don’t Wait to Get Your Air Conditioner Repaired
Monday, August 17th, 2015When late summer hits Portland, OR, a lot of homeowners are more willing to let minor air conditioning repairs sit until the fall arrives. They reason that they can hold tight until they no longer need their air conditioners on a daily basis, instead of taking it offline for a day or so while the technician fixes the problem. It may seem like sound reasoning, but in fact it can make an already difficult situation much worse. You may think you can live with a minor air conditioning problem, but don’t wait to get your air conditioner repaired.
3 Reasons to Have Your Home Radon Tested
Monday, August 10th, 2015Household nuisances come in all shapes and sizes: anything from leaky rooftops to dents and dings in your ductwork. But few of them are as hard to spot, or can cause the most potential damage, as radon. It’s a gas created by the breakdown of uranium in the soil: naturally occurring, but dangerous nonetheless. Here in Portland, OR, qualified professionals can test for radon in your home and help mitigate it if they find it. Here are 3 reasons to have your home radon tested today.
What Steps Are Involved in an Air Conditioning Maintenance Plan?
Monday, July 27th, 2015If you own an air conditioner – and living in Portland, OR, you likely do – then it behooves you to schedule a maintenance plan at least once a year and maybe more often than that. These tune-up sessions will help prevent possible breakdowns by spotting big problems while they’re still small. In addition, a maintenance plan will help lower your monthly bills by helping you air conditioner function more efficiently. If you haven’t scheduled a maintenance session in a while, you should do so immediately. It will help it perform better and maybe cut down some of those high energy bills for the rest of the summer. Here’s a brief outline of the steps involved in an air conditioning maintenance plan:
Get Your Heater Checked Out Before the Summer Ends
Monday, July 20th, 2015Homeowners in Portland, OR don’t usually think about their heaters in the summertime. Not when high temperatures and higher humidity rightly put the focus on air conditioning. But cool weather will be here before you know it, and before it arrives, it pays to make sure your heating system is ready. A maintenance visit from a trained technician can do wonders in that regard, and getting your heater checked out before the summer ends can ensure that the fall and winter months are problem free.
What Happens When Refrigerant Levels in My AC Drop?
Monday, July 13th, 2015Refrigerant is a vital part of the air conditioning process, but few people truly understand how it works. Ideally, your air conditioning system keeps it on a closed loop, and levels shouldn’t go down at all. This flies in the face of popular perception, which suggests that air conditioners consume refrigerant like a car consumes gasoline. Nothing could be further from the truth. Accordingly, if an air conditioning technician simple adds refrigerant to your system, he’s not fixing the problem. You need a trained professional to locate the place where it’s leaking and seal it before recharging refrigerant levels. Knowing what happens when refrigerant levels drop can help explain the process better.
3 Things to Look for in Your Duct Cleaning Service
Monday, July 6th, 2015The ducts in your AC system move cool air from your air condition system into the various rooms and hallways of your house. Over time, a certain amount of dust will build up in your ducts, spreading throughout your home to lower the quality of air, and even clogging the ducts themselves in the worst cases. Here in Portland, OR, you can find plenty of companies that will clean the ducts for you. But before you pick up the phone, make sure you have the right team for the job. Here are 3 things to look for in your duct cleaning services:
Why Are Refrigerant Levels So Important to Air Conditioning?
Monday, June 29th, 2015Refrigerant is what makes air conditioning possible. It’s a chemical compound (the exact type and amount depends on your air conditioner) which shifts from liquid to gas at a comparatively low temperature and which pulls heat out of the surrounding air as it does so. Centralized air conditioners work by cycling their refrigerant through a series of valves and coils. The refrigerant is first shifted into a liquid state and placed under a great deal of pressure (bleeding heat into the air outside your home in the process), then enters an evaporator coil where it shifts back to a gas (pulling heat from the air outside the coil). With the air around the system cools, a fan then pushes it into your home.