FAQS SHEET CHECKED BY GERALD – 22-07-11 Q) Does setting the thermostat to a lower position make the unit cool faster? A) No. To achieve a more even temperature and humidity control, keep your thermostat set to 21° allowing the unit to operate automatically for optimum performance. The unit will automatically set the work duty to reach desired temperature as quickly as possible. Q) What is happening when the indoor coil starts to freeze up? A) This is the first indication the unit has a gas shortage due to a leak. This is usually caused by not being pressure tested correctly during commissioning process if within the first three years and can sometimes happen with older machines with age. This should be detected early, if correctly serviced by a competent engineer. Q) On a very cold, moist day does your heat pump automatically go into a defrost mode? A) Yes. This mode melts off any ice that may have formed on the outdoor coil. As a defrost cycle is initiated, the reversing valve switches, introducing heat to the outdoor coil. You may hear a switching sound when this occurs. During this period DO NOT TURN THE SYSTEM OFF, AS THIS IS A NORMAL FUNCTION OF THE HEAT PUMP. After the ice has melted off of the outdoor coil, the heat pump will automatically return to the normal heating mode. Q) How do we achieve comfort without spending a fortune on the electric bill? A. Avoid frequent thermostat resetting. Set it at the desired temperature (usually 21°) and leave it there. Don’t set your thermostat too low. As a general rule, a thermostat setting of 20 to 22 degrees will provide comfortable room temperature and will give the best economy. Keeping windows and doors closed will not only keep hot and humid outside, it will also keep out dust, dirt and street noise. Don’t open windows after dark. Night air may seem cool but it is also moisture-laden. This increases the work your system must do the next day. Keep the sun from adding unnecessary heat to your environment by shading the exposed windows. Keep shades/blinds drawn. The less heat and moisture there is to overcome, the lower your operating costs become. Q) How will I know if my unit needs a service? A) Before you call for service, please check the following list of conditions and follow the suggestions to prevent costly callout charges, which are not due to a malfunction of your equipment. Be sure that the main electric power to the equipment is turned on. Check breakers in your electrical panel box to make sure they are in the “ON” position. Make sure that the thermostat is set to the desired temperature and in the proper positions and mode of operation. Make sure nothing is blocking the heat exchange coils. If your machine still is not working in a satisfactory manner it almost certainly will require an engineer to diagnose. Call us out to check it out for you!!! Q) Does the air conditioning system heat and cool the room/area? A) Almost every air conditioning system produced today will be a heat pump assembly which means it has a heating and cooling facility. This is due to the fact there is very little difference between a heat pump over a cooling only unit so it does not make sense for manufactures to produce both types of machine, heating mode will always be slightly higher in capacity than cooling. Q) Does my Air Con/Heat pump use much more energy than other forms of heating? A) The simple answer is NO. A well installed and maintained air source heat pump or heat pump air conditioning system has a very high energy coefficient? Sometimes as high as nearly 5 to 1 which means for every Kw of electricity consumed, the unit will produce nearly five Kw of heating or cooling. When you compare this to electric heaters, gas or oil boilers, the latter have losses during their life span so only a percentage of the Kw transferred to usable energy. A very good rate of transfer would be 0.9 percent of the unit consumed, so in short an air conditioning unit is a cost effective source of heating or cooling and many modern air source heat pumps which are now being installed are selected and installed on this basis. Q) What temperature should I set my air con controller to? A) The idea of air conditioning is to control the environment to a comfortable level not necessarily as low as the controller will go. A sensible temperature level is 21 degrees, every degree lower just means you will consume a lot more energy and as the unit will be working harder than required to reach an extreme set point, the higher difference between outside and temperature set point inside, the greater the energy cost as the unit has to overcome greater heat gain. Q) What if my living area is not cool or warm enough? A. Check controls and make sure they are set at your desired temperature and set in the correct mode. Check filters are clean, if dirty wash or replace. Make sure shrubbery or other objects are at least a 350mm away from an outside condensing unit, allowing the unit to reject unwanted heat from the condensing coils. Ensure that doors and windows are closed and are not opened too frequently introducing large volumes of additional cold/warm air. If the temperature is being changed too often it can cause a negative effect in the room temperature. Always allow sufficient time for the unit to reach capacity. Do not constantly change thermostat temperature setting. It is best to find your comfort level and leave it. When mode is altered allow time for the unit to settle and adjust, this can sometimes take up to ten minutes. When cooking or drying clothing use your exhaust fan if available. If all the above has been tried and the Air Conditioner or Heat Pump still fails to reach the desired temperature during peak demand times which is when you want the benefit most, the air con/heat pump unit is most likely to be undersized for the size of the environment it is placed within. Call us out to check it for you!!! Q) Why does my indoor air conditioning evaporator leak water? A) This is normally due to a blocked drain or faulty pump which causes the drain pan to back up. This is why it is unwise to place electrical items under a high wall cassette; this problem can also be the result of poor installation methods that create inadequate drainage. Call us out to check it for you!!! Q) Should l let fresh air into my air conditioned environment? A) It is always advisable to ensure there is a controlled amount of fresh air introduced into the environment. This keeps the air fresh and prevents bacteria building up within the air conditioning system, which can cause a nasty but harmless odour or dry the air too much as the unit removes moisture from the air. This can then cause the opposite effect and make personnel feel tired and fatigued. For installations within bigger areas it is wise to design a VAM or heat recovery ventilation system so the air can be changed without losing the energy within exhausted air. Call us out to check it out for you!!!