It is nearly the end of summer and you have been cooking much of the day to prepare for one of your favorite families coming over for an evening dinner. It had been getting warm in the kitchen as the day progressed, but you really didn’t think to much about it. Rather than use the oven to grill the meat, you had been going in and out to the deck to good on the grill. You grilled the vegetables as well and you were using the rice cooker for the stir fry rice. It was not until your husband came home and noticed the inside temperature that you finally admitted it was getting pretty warm. On a late June afternoon with both temperatures and humidity in the 90s, you realize you have been noticing lately that it seems the air conditioner has been having a hard time staying caught up.
When your husband returns from the basement, the look on his face says it all. About 90 minutes before your company is expected your husband confirms that the neither of the heating and cooling units are working. He explains that the second he went downstairs he realized that something was not right, it was too quiet. Both units had iced over because the silence meant the fans were not working. He has already called a repair service and they are sending someone out.
Long story short. The air conditioner can be repaired, but you need two new motors. They hope to have parts in two days, but until then your family will need to spend most of the time in the basement. Luckily, you favorite guests are good friends so they offer to host the meal at your house.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), nearly 100 million U.S. homes there have air conditioning. This translates into roughly 87% of U.S. households equipped with AC. With that many heating and cooling units running in the U.S., it should come as no small surprise that AC units use about 5% of all the electricity produced in America, an annual cost of more than $11 billion to homeowners. In addition to the cost of running these heating and air conditioning units, repairs can be extensive and expensive if they are not properly maintained. In the worst situations, failed of poorly maintained heating and cooling systems can cause even greater damage. in the year 2010, for example, broken air conditioning, fans, or related equipment were involved in an estimated 7,400 U.S. home structure fires. In some cases regular maintenance can extend the life of heating and cooling units and possibly prevent these fires.
Twice yearly contracts with heating and cooling services can help you avoid a ruined dinner party, and even more costly damages. These contracts not only offer some discounts on AC repair services, but they also offer maintenance plans.