Austin Air Companie Blog : Archive for the ‘HVAC Zone System’ Category

Air Conditioning Repair Service Katy Texas 2024

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

Hi and welcome to the #1 Katy Texas Air Conditioning Blog. In 2024 HVAC for your home is beginning to change in ways that you (as a home owner) may not be aware of. It’s not uncommon for air conditioners to work for several years without much fuss. So if you haven’t had your air conditioner serviced since before the pandemic hit you are probably unaware of the challenges HVAC contractors have faced over the past few years. Equipment availability, part availability etc. To put it mildly it’s been quite the challenge since about 2020.

So as we get away from all those challenges we enter a new era of trouble that is a new refrigerant phase out that began last year with a 10% cut to production of a refrigerant we have been using since early 2000’s. There is an additional cut of 30% this year. The refrigerant in question is R410a Puron, most people still call this Freon today. Freon R22 is the older variety that we’ve used for AC’s since the 1950’s. While R22 Freon has been banned since 2020, I still see this equipment today. I can still buy R22 Freon but it’s very expensive.

Common Air Conditioning Refrigerants R22 Freon & R410a Puron Facing Bans & Phase Downs in 2024

SPECIAL NOTE: If you are a new customer trying to reach me in 2024 it may be best for you to text me your NAME + ADDRESS. While you can call me, it may be a challenge to get thru as I am screening my calls and the app I am using has had problems. Faster service is to text me NAME + ADDRESS failure to follow these directions will probably put your message in my spam folder. This change is due to ROBO callers calling me too much! You can also fill out the contact form on this website. Once your info is updated to my contacts list you can then call me direct.

This 2024 AC service change is due to spam / robot callers. I continue to evaluate this day to day.

Air Conditioning Service & Repair 2024

Austin Air Companie in Katy, Texas is different than other service companies. I get to talk about these differences because it is me (Ray Austin) writing this blog and it is also me who runs the AC service calls. So I get this unique perspective of sharing what I often find at homes in the area I am called to with Air Conditioning Problems. You know like blowing warm air, the AC isn’t cool enough, the AC is noisy or making a weird noise, the AC won’t come on etc. I don’t win every job. No company does that to be honest and HVAC (air conditioning mostly for Katy, Texas area) is changing in profound ways + costs keep going up. Cheap or cheaper will probably cost you more in the long run because things are changing. The longer you wait (2024) the less choices you will have. Don’t put off getting AC systems serviced in 2024.

Things are complicated this year (2024) because R410a is being phased down and the new equipment with the new, new refrigerants aren’t quite here yet. I expect these to come later this year sometime maybe by 3rd quarter of 2024. If you aren’t using someone you trust. HVAC is often times more about waste than anything else. If you spend less money for the sake of trying to save it, that may be a waste of money. What makes this hard is that this isn’t always the case. It will vary due to a wide variety of factors like how old your AC is, what is actually wrong with it, how long you plan to live at your house and so on.

No one, me included is going to live in Katy, Texas without air conditioning. So you have to pick something. The way I operate my HVAC service and repair company is to give you choices and explain the pros and cons of those choices. I can tell you before I even come to your house in 2024 this is challenging. There is no perfect brand of HVAC equipment even since before. They all break. Certainly some are more likely to break than others. It’s not my business model to sell you something for the sake of selling it.

I can tell you other HVAC companies in the area are more about just selling you. They have to because they’ve got the expensive TV ads, or the expensive ads that follow you around on the internet, the constant calling you, the high pressure sales in your home and so on. I know all the tricks, none of this is new to me. I have been doing this job for over 30 years now, 16 years running my own HVAC company. I am not going to stalk you to try to sell you something. It’s your decision. I can’t make it for you all I can do is to educate you on why we are where we are in HVAC land the choices for your home comfort.

Katy, Texas is a hot climate. This isn’t due to climate change, it’s always been hot here. We use our AC’s for the better of 10 months every year. I have helped 100’s and 100’s of your neighbors every year for the past 16 years since I started my own HVAC company. However, you know what people will say on the internet when you say such and such is a hot climate. They will tell you when summer finally gets to the USA as a whole that it’s just as hot here as it is everywhere else, even though we’ve been at those temperatures for months already. This is another reason it’s a fool’s errand to run to the internet for pointers. Differences of opinion for climates with different concerns. Katy, Texas spends more money on AC related expenses than the majority of what you will find on the internet. I also know what I put here isn’t going to change much. I’ve been doing this 30 years, I know what I know from seeing the same worn out myths being applied over and over and over. 30 years ago they called this wisdom, today? Ok boomer whatever you say. (You know let’s provide an excuse for our insanity, what else is it?)

What I Often See First Hand On AC Service Calls

It’s not uncommon to see sloppy AC service practices. These sloppy AC services that you called to your home inadvertently lead to refrigerant losses or electrical problems. Then you call me and I am expected to guess what happened at your home.

If you use me for service I track what I find at your house. Your service records. Things like what was done at your home by me. I know what I did, it will be me coming back if you call me. If your AC on your first visit doesn’t require refrigerant then there is no refrigerant leak. Realize that refrigerant leaks can occur at any time. Your AC equipment does not use up refrigerant, if the AC is low on refrigerant charge it’s because that it was never charged properly to begin with OR the unit has a leak some where.

It costs money to investigate. I can guess, but even with as much experience I have guessing isn’t fool proof. An example of how people waste money to put it bluntly. If the AC isn’t low on refrigerant, there’s no reason to investigate a refrigerant leak? How do you know your AC is low on refrigerant (FREON)? By having it checked. I can’t tell you how many times I get called over the years where someone says I think my AC is low and needs some Freon. Sometimes they are right, often times they are wrong. Electrical problems and AC are sometimes more common typically in the range of 90%.

So can you imagine you have an older AC with an electrical problem the high pressure sales people come tell you your AC is dead ( it could be to be honest ) or it could be a sales guy that needs a sale to stay in the good graces of his company that says “we’ll give you an opinion for free”. Most of them all use this tactic to get in your door. They’ll make it sound so good.

That being said, if your AC is 15 years old or older it may be in your best interest to replace it. In 2024 it’s tricky because anything you buy this summer will likely be R410a which is the last year for this type of AC equipment. It’s obsolete the minute you buy it. This doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get R410a later if you need it, only that it will cost more. Manufacturers exclude refrigerants from any warranty. Remember I keep it real here. I’m not here to hoodwink you. (trick you)

Will it really matter to wait for R32 or R454b AC equipment to arrive? I really can’t answer that 100% right now because we don’t know what those costs will be yet. These new refrigerants will likely only have a 12 year life until they are phased out in 2036. They have to be phased out because the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol has step down requirements for the USA to get below 350 GWP by 2036. Neither of these refrigerants will reach these lower GWP requirements.

New Refrigerants Require New Equipment, Want A Cheaper Refrigerant Will Require New AC Equipment Again.

AIR CONDITIONING REFRIGERANTS: PROS, CONS & LIMITED LIFESPAN

Refrigerants can not be mixed and matched. If you want to change refrigerants it will require you to buy again all new AC equipment. Remember I am keeping it real here. I am telling you like it is, that is how you know it’s the truth. I can tell you I don’t like it any more than I think you will.

R32 is probably the better choice moving forward. This won’t be the popular choice among manufacturers in the USA. If you choose wrong and have refrigerant issues the cost will be higher for the refrigerant. So for this reason a brand name isn’t going to do much for you. I can’t tell you how many times I quote an AC brand and people want to run to the internet to see what the internet has to say about a particular brand. They all break remember?

Do you honestly think I am going to install a brand that is going to give me nothing but problems? I’ve been doing this for over 30 years? The AC equipment has gone thru how many changes in the past 30 years and you think the internet is going to tell you what is good and what is not?

I know you want to be told with corn pop words “hey this is the best thing since sliced bread, it cuts your AC electric bills, it’s cheaper than anything else, it never breaks, heck you don’t even have to maintain it… and the list of gimmicks goes on and on.

Snap out of it: You get what you pay for and in some cases (due to installation and service practices only, not the brand name) is why things go wrong.

If I had my way I would sell an Inverter AC Unit to every customer because I know what that machine does when installed properly. But this particular AC is a premium HVAC solution. It will cut your electric bill in half*. (*If your home has one AC unit). The price to admission for this solution won’t fit everyone’s budget, although I feel it’s the better choice currently. To find out what it is schedule an AC appointment with me.

Call the AC Guy, He’s the Guy that knows what to do as well as what not to do. Service Records are kept by 1 guy. You see the same guy everytime.

All manufacturers make Inverter AC’s. But they are not created equal. Remember this is more than what a brand name is. Every manufacturer makes more than one model of AC. There are cost differences from one model to another.

You’re paying me to know these things. It will only benefit you if you choose me as your HVAC service provider.

Thank you for visiting with me today. I know you have many choices. I can’t be all things to all people as I am a small 1 man AC company. I have installed complete HVAC systems by myself. I know this isn’t the norm. My mom told me growing up as a kid: “Too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the broth.” I just merely applied this to the HVAC service business.

As always I hope your day is comfortable.

About the author of this Katy Texas Air Conditioning Blog:

My name is Ray Austin, I am a Texas licensed HVAC contractor serving the Katy, Texas area and some surrounding areas. I am universally certified to handle ANY refrigerant. I obtained an AOS degree in HVAC/R Mechanic just over 30 years ago.

I am a capitalist and I make no apologies for it. Austin Air Companie is a for profit HVAC service company. I am not a trainer or teacher I exist to do this job for you, not teach you or others how to do it. I work under the premise if I fixed it once, I can fix it again. Any AC system can break at any time. Austin Air Companie specializes in comfort solutions for the home. From AC repairs to AC upgrades that include Inverter AC units (1% steps up / down in comfort) no costly proprietary signals to operate the HVAC system.

Proven company track record of 16 years in 2024. No outside influence of investors, Austin Air Companie is solely owned AND operated by Ray Austin. I work for you, just as it should be.

Other companies pay for SEO tracking and all kinds of gimmicks to sell you. They will chase you, I won’t. You decide who you want for your comfort solution.

Austin Air Companie

832~475-6895

Air Conditioning | Controls | Heating | Service | Repairs | Zoning

The Home of Better

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HVAC Zone Systems

Sunday, June 16th, 2019

In Katy, Texas HVAC zone systems can play an important role at delivering the comfort you want in the area of a structure you spend the most time in. Example: The master bedroom suite in your home, 1/3 of your life is spent in that room on average. If it’s not comfortable, that’s going to feel like an eternity of restless nights.

This Katy Texas air conditioning blog post is primarily for the reason that more people are inquiring about such options. This information is provided in addition to a page on this website devoted to this topic. (You can read that information here.) This is a more complex HVAC subject that sometimes ranges from a long list of gadgets that try to mimic such systems and on further up the chain from the dizzying array of garbage that has come to market over the past several years from the so called gadget makers of the world.

This add on gadget niche market is a billion dollar market and primarily it’s mostly a waste for a climate like Katy, Texas. The reason is: Humidity.

If you live in a less extreme climate than Katy, Texas a gadget might be all you need. As an example: the plain states. Summers are typically 3 months long there. Humidity is there one minute and gone the next. No real problem to the extent we have it in Katy, Texas.

HVAC is a location dependent market. What is recommended for one climate is spendthrift spending for another. If you choose a low end gadget for a solution in an extreme climate it won’t be long until you find this air conditioning blog again or maybe wished you had found it sooner. (This is another reason why the internet is a dangerous place to search for things HVAC for an extreme climate. Most websites do not separate the various climate conditions across the USA. I am in Katy, Texas and this topic is devoted to that location. Your location could be similar or vastly different with entirely different concerns.)

What Is A HVAC Zone System

If you have a single HVAC system in your home, it is zoned for the entire area of your home. If you have 2 HVAC systems in your home, it is zoned for 2 specific areas of your home.

Another way to picture zoning is to think about light switches in your home. You have a light switch in every room of your home. If you only had one light switch all the lights would be on in your home by turning that single light switch on.

So using that example compared to your HVAC system(s) you have a single thermostat or ‘switch’ in which the HVAC system is turned on or off. When the HVAC system is on, it cools the entire zone in which it was designed to heat or cool. (In most cases this means the entire house.)

But if you don’t have but a few people in your home you can only be in one place at a time. So in many cases the cooling and or heating is merely wasted to areas of the home that are largely unused.

To clarify this more I include a few embedded videos on the subject below. Realize these videos were made in 2013. I have installed zone systems at my own home over 10 years ago that still works and is used quite hard today (2019). I am in this business to do it right, this is what I do for a living. If you are looking for some ‘cheap fix’ stop right here. There is no need for you to continue, because if this is your intent you are more interested in wasting money on junk that if it does work, will not work for long — temperature constantly changes does it not? You can not have it both ways in my opinion. My opinion is based on 24 years of doing this for a living.

Note: The videos embedded above were made in 2013. Newer better advances have been made in HVAC equipment efficiency since these videos were made that when paired with a HVAC zone system are better capable to achieve monetary efficiency savings. Pairing a HVAC zone system that consists of a single speed air conditioner will only give you better control of temperature in your home. Any efficiency gains will be minor, when it comes to single speed AC equipment. I keep these older videos to show I have been doing this a long time (24 years) and I know what I am talking about because of doing, not just talking about it.

Will A HVAC Zone System Save Money

This answer is complicated. As an example lets go back to the light switch example. You buy a house that has a single light switch. That single light switch turns on all the lights in the house.

So you add switches to all the rooms of the house, but the switches while they are now zoned to every room any single switch you turn on still turns on all the lights at once. It’s more convenient because you now have a light switch in each room.

That’s preposterous! Who would do such a thing? Someone who is cheap, that’s who. Because to ‘properly’ zone each light switch would entail ‘more work & materials’. You get what you pay for.

So how does this relate to a HVAC system? Most air conditioners are single stage units. They are either on or off. So if you add a zone system you are merely redirecting the same amount of cooling used to cool the whole zone. That doesn’t equate to monetary savings. Because the system is still doing the same amount of work.

The zone you are only wanting to cool in most cases is typically around a ton of cooling (12,000 BTU’s) Typically most home systems are 3 ton to 5 ton.

So if this is your goal this situation isn’t going to work as well as you think it will in terms of monetary savings. HVAC zone systems are more or less niche specialty products. Anyone can do it, but extremely few get the kind of life out of them that I do with only minor problems after the install is complete. Why? because I (Ray Austin) am a hands on guy, in a world decorated with subs, installers, under achievers and manufacturer’s of junk. I don’t sub out install work. The name of my company is my last name. It’s not made up. I want to be known for solutions that work.

Design is critical and the person doing the work is responsible for the design. If you don’t view things in these terms for our climate (Katy, Texas) Failure will be the result, and the other con in all of this is that the system is designed to work in hot weather, just as much as cooler weather. We run our systems 2200 hours per year with set points of 75 degrees. If you run your system at temps lower than 75 degrees you could easily be approaching 3000 hours a year!

With that said, HVAC zone systems are not a magical cure to an otherwise failing system. HVAC zone systems are a tool in the tool bag for specific situations. The home (your home) must be viewed in person to make these kinds of conclusions. If your home is not a good fit for a zone system I will tell you. I am only here to do it right. If you want something other than ‘done right’ by me then you and I will not be a good fit.

I fix air conditioning & heating systems for a living it’s what I do. I do not fix people or their expectations. I am one guy servicing hundreds of previous customers plus new customers on a fairly regular basis. I don’t have time to go back and ‘play around’. Experience is the invisible thing you are paying for here. If you don’t like these comments: I have a song for you, it’s titled ‘I can’t make you love me’.

Anything I sell you, I have one condition. It has to work. That is what a solution is. A solution is something that fixes a problem and doesn’t create new problems. I don’t think I can make this any more clear.

So why don’t you go out and hire some help? LOL. What? So my job will consist of going back and solving dumb mistakes. I can’t be all things to all people. So if this is your view, we again will not be a good fit.

Why You Won’t Save Money With A HVAC Zone System

If HVAC zone systems are the Lamborghini’s of the AC world then certainly if you poked around the engine compartment you probably would like see some incredible engine capable of delivering results. Right?

GIGO is an acronym for garbage in / garbage out. If you put garbage into a system you aren’t going to get anything but garbage out. So because air conditioning is quantified in tons (12,000 btu’s is a ton of air conditioning) over supply of conditioned air is paid for regardless if you merely redirect it to a smaller part of the structure.

Efficiency is a often confused term. Many think this term is related only to dollars. It’s not when it’s talked about in HVAC land. Efficiency can relate to what is wasted versus what is used.

So in that sense it’s not completely about money saved via operational cost, necessarily.

As an efficiency example: a gas furnace is inefficient compared to an electric strip heat furnace or air handler. Why? because a gas furnace generates waste that goes up a flue pipe, heat is lost in that waste. Electric resistance heat there is no waste. 1 BTU in = 1 BTU out. Now that’s efficient! But you get the bill for your electric furnace (AH) and you pass out because it’s $500 for one month. Because gas rates are cheaper than electric rates. This is why efficiency doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it does in the land of HVAC.

Efficiency is not gained in terms of dollars saved if you take a single stage air conditioner rated at 3 tons or more capacity and then redirect that cooling to cool an area of the home that only requires a fraction of that capacity.

In this situation it’s more about comfort, than savings. Because you are still paying for 3 tons of air conditioning. If the compressor is running that work (3 tons, 4 tons, 5 tons) whatever it is you are still paying for it.

You don’t magically create monetary efficiency by merely redirecting air flow. Efficiency in terms of dollars saved is what I am referring to here.

How You Can Save Money With A HVAC Zone System

In terms of the Lamborghini example given above the zone system is a part of the system, but system design and equipment selection are just as important. In order for a Lamborghini to be a Lamborghini you buy the whole car, not just part of it. If you took the tires from a Lamborghini and put them on your car imagine the laughter that would ensue if you challenged a sports car to a race with your shiny new Lamborghini tires fastened to of all things a 1979 pinto.

The best HVAC system for delivering the best over all efficiencies in terms of monetary savings are those that have the ability to ramp up and down as the cooling load dictates.

Cooling loads vary, due to climate conditions and structural characteristics that can vary widely from one home or other structure to the next. If you match an air conditioner capable of delivering the required capacity of a single room in a zoned structure you will save money that way. Because the system is designed for it. Realize that as summer heat comes the load of the structure changes. What once needed 9000 BTU’s of cooling may require 12,000 BTU’s or more. This is why a fully variable inverter AC system is the better choice for an extreme AC climate like Katy, Texas.

Because the less work the compressor has to do, the less your electric bill will be. Most air conditioning compressors are single stage. The next equipment grade up is 2 speed. Years ago there were dual compressor models. Today (2019 and beyond) there are fully variable or inverter compressors.

While a 2 speed air conditioner would be better than a single speed compressor your savings will not be that significant because in 1st speed the 2 speed unit will run in roughly 70% of capacity of the rated capacity of the system.

In most cases 70% rated capacity is still too much to get much pay back from in terms of monetary savings when paired with a HVAC zone system. If designed properly it will give you better performance but in most cases the pay back in monetary terms aren’t significant.

No Free Lunch In HVAC Operation Costs

So you live in Katy, Texas and decide to try to cut your energy costs, namely the good old electric bill. This year (2019) the rates have been going up again. Problem is utility rates can be largely determined by how many kilowatts of power you use every month.

If you’re lucky enough to only use 1000 kilowatts per month your electric bill is lower but the price you pay per kilowatt is often times higher than those that use 2000 kilowatts or more per month. Why is this important?

Because if you’re at 2000 kilowatts now and you find a way to drop down to under 2000 kilowatts by upgrading your AC systems you may wind up increasing your electric bill instead of reducing it. How’s that for irony?

Solar is not necessarily the answer either. In Texas there is a strong power lobby. The power lobby doesn’t want people generating their own power. So if you go down the road of a solar system you certainly do not want to generate any excess electricity and in some cases your choices may be extremely limited to a grid tied provider. You will need a grid tied provider other wise the cost of such systems can be not worth the trouble. The main reason is that power is for the most part too cheap for solar to be a real option for Texans.

You May Not Need A HVAC Zoned System

Every house has it’s own unique set of challenges in regards to comfort. Some people like 80 degrees, some people like 75 degrees and a few like it 70 or a few clicks below that.

But you know what the biggest problem for this climate in Katy, Texas is? Humidity. So when you mix hot plus humidity what do you get? Hodity. Maybe you watched the video in which I joke around about such things. There are reasons I do such things. It’s not just about cracking jokes.

Lots of people that live in this climate ‘DO NOT’ realize the role of humidity and how much havoc it brings you in terms of the comfort level you desire in your home. Air conditioning provides some dehumidification. But in a high humid climate like ours a single stage air conditioner doesn’t deliver enough dehumidification in most cases.

Given my experience of 24 years solving these types of problems and more I know that if I drop the humidity level in your home a mere 5%, the comfort problems you were having up to 95% of them disappear.

If you chose a properly designed and installed inverter AC system 100% of those problems would disappear. Because these systems are designed to run longer, they dehumidify the air better thus reducing humidity in the home.

By reducing humidity in the home, you will feel more comfortable even at higher temperatures.

For our climate in Katy, Texas, humidity control is the name of the game. The better your HVAC system dehumidifies the air, the better your comfort will be. The bonus is you will save money on operation costs too. (Provided you don’t fall in between the cracks of usage amounts determined by your utility provider.)

Thanks for visiting with me today, I hope your day is comfortable.

About the author of the #1 Katy, Texas Air Conditioning blog:
My name is Ray Austin. I am the owner and operator of Austin Air Companie, a HVAC Service Company serving Katy, Texas | Cypress, Texas | Richmond, Texas and some surrounding areas. I am a ‘SKILLED’ Texas Licensed HVAC Contractor with 24 years experience in Air Conditioning and Heating Systems as of June 2019. I hold an AOS degree in HVAC/R, EPA universally certified to handle any refrigerant and NATE certified in HVAC installations and repairs.

Whether you need zoning, single stage, 2 stage, inverter AC or even just a regular old fashioned air conditioner repair, you can be assured you are in the right place. Call Ray Austin today!

Austin Air Companie
832-475-6895
“Your home comfort from A to Z”
Air Conditioning | Controls | Heating | Zoning

A Ray Austin HVAC Service Company

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