Month: July 2018

Avoid Costly Repairs Using These Helpful HVAC Maintenance Tips

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HVAC Maintenance Tips

Chicago weather runs a range of seasons and weather conditions, sometimes within a span of 24 hours. That means high-performing HVAC systems that can be started at the drop of a hat are key to maintaining comfortable indoor conditions. However, they can’t optimize your home’s comfort if they don’t work or need repair. Repairs can set you back hundreds of dollars, depending on the severity of the issue. To avoid such pitfalls, here are a few DIY HVAC maintenance tips and tricks you can use to keep your air conditioning and furnace units running at peak efficiency and save you money in the long run:

Clean or Replace the Air Filter

A dirty air filter can severely hinder your HVAC system’s performance, so it is important to check the filter regularly. If your filter is a reusable one, simply wipe it down with a damp cloth. If it’s a disposable one, head to your local hardware store. It’s a good idea to bring the old one with to ensure you get the right kind.

Recommendations of how often to clean or replace filters vary depending on whom you ask, but a good rule of thumb is at least once a season, or three months. Filters with higher Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) rating need to be changed more often because they trap more contaminants in the filter. Regardless of how frequently you decide to check your filter, keeping it clean can help prevent costly repairs going forward.

Furnaces also have filters that need to be checked and replaced regularly. Every three months is a good benchmark for furnace filters as well.

Clear Debris from the Condenser and Clean the Coils

The condenser, which is the part of your HVAC unit that is outside your house, can get pretty dirty and collect debris such as grass, leaves and cottonwood seeds. To clean the condenser, you should first turn the unit off. Remove the panel to access the inside, and use a wet/dry vacuum to suck out the debris. It’s also a good idea to clean off the coils and hose down the fans. When you’re done, reattach the access panel. You should also ensure the unit is level, as a lopsided position can lead to problems and costly repairs.

Maximize Air Flow

There are additional steps you can take to help optimize your air flow. For example, you should clear the area around your condenser. This will allow for better air flow into the condenser and help reduce the likelihood of debris buildup. You should also keep your windows and doors closed, as having them open defeats the purpose of your unit running!

Program Your Thermostat and Leave It Alone

Most modern thermostats are programmable and can be set to change temperature based on time of day and other factors. This makes it easy for you to control the temperature in your home without constant involvement. Programming your thermostat to your preferred settings and letting it run also helps maximize your unit’s efficiency. That’s not to say you shouldn’t ever adjust the settings if they need to be changed, but constantly fidgeting with the thermostat’s settings causes the unit to work harder. This extra work will end up costing you more money.

Check the Flame

Most of these tips have been geared toward air conditioning, but these last few will shift to the “H” in HVAC: heating. Furnace flames, powered by either natural gas or propane, should burn blue. If they burn a different color, such as yellow or orange, it could signal a combustion issue and you should call a professional to look at it. Improper combustion can result in the furnace having to work harder, which raises your monthly bill – not to mention, your air could be contaminated with carbon monoxide.

Regularly Check Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Even if you don’t have a furnace, your home should have both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If your home has a furnace, the need for these lifesaving devices is amplified, as they can help detect problems with your furnace, such as any issues with the exhaust pipe that leads outside or cracked heat exchangers. It’s important to ensure the detectors are working properly and to replace their batteries as needed. When their batteries need replacing, of the unit will emit high-pitched beeps. Carbon monoxide detectors should be installed outside of the bedrooms in your home.

Check the Condensate Drain Line

High-efficiency furnaces often create condensation as a product of their operation, specifically building up in the exhaust pipe. To rid the system of the water, a condensate drain line runs from the furnace into the ground. You should check to make sure there are no cracks in the pipe, because cracks could mean the water is ending up somewhere other than in the ground.

It’s important to make sure the pipes don’t freeze during the winter months. In the event that the line is frozen, you can heat it by pouring hot water over the pipe. Having a vertical pipe or one that is insulated helps minimize the risk of freezing.

These practices can save you money and help you live more comfortably when performed routinely. If these techniques are of career-aspirational interest to you and you’re not already in the HVAC field, consider enrolling in an HVAC trade school program near you.

Master the HVAC Trade at Coyne

Coyne College is one of Chicago’s premier trade schools, offering an HVAC-R program designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to build successful careers in the field as HVAC technicians.

While enrolled as a student in Coyne’s HVAC-R program, you will actively engage in learning the finer points of the occupation. Classes in the HVAC-R curriculum include:

  • Introduction to Mechanical Refrigeration Systems
  • Air Conditioning, Electric Heat and Heat Pumps
  • Introduction to Commercial Controls
  • Gas Heating
  • And more

You will learn the ins and outs of the HVAC technician trade in a setting designed for your individual success. Coyne’s highly knowledgeable instructors have years of professional experience in the field and will pass their in-depth knowledge on to you.

Hands-on learning is a significant part of Coyne’s HVAC-R program, and rightfully so, but it is also mixed with theoretical components so students learn why they are doing what they are doing.

Coyne is proud to offer day and night options in order to best accommodate students’ busy schedules. The HVAC-R program is taught at Coyne College’s campus in the Chicago Loop at the intersection of State and Madison (known as “the world’s busiest corner”).

With more than 110 years of experience in helping aspiring skilled trade professionals build the foundation of their careers, Coyne College has a well-developed network of resources to help students gain employment after graduation.

Coyne College offers its student’s career assistance, including mock interviews, externships and resume help. These resources can help students secure apprenticeships after completing the program.

To schedule a visit, contact an advisor or request more information about the program, please visit https://www.coynecollege.edu/contact.

Alumni Spotlight: Sandra Garza – HVAC

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HVAC Alumni Spotlight

When Sandra Garza graduated from Coyne College in 1996, she was the only woman in her HVAC program. She was accepted with open arms and took advantage of all the training and mentoring she could get. It paid off. Now, 22 years later, she is the owner of SG Heating & Cooling Services in Oak Lawn.

The path she took toward business ownership was a strategic one. After graduation, Coyne immediately placed Garza in her first job. “It was more plumbing than I expected,” she said, “and I’m not a plumber.” She spent a year in the position but asked Coyne for more job placement assistance. In each subsequent position, she learned more and more about the industry as she honed her skills. “I started my sole proprietorship 15 years ago,” Garza says, even as she continued to work with other companies. “I got a lot of experience with companies, but that expanded to appliances.” Work was steady until about eight years ago. “The HVAC industry took a dip,” she remembers. “I think the weather had a lot to do with it.” Chicago in 2010 saw a fairly temperate climate, and the demands for heating and air conditioning dwindled. It was difficult to get steady work.

Garza thought carefully about the next steps needed to keep herself afloat, and she decided to open her own business operated out of her home. “My plan was to go into the warranty industry,” she says. “I already knew appliances and was able to make that leap.” Having learned something from each place she had worked, she was confident she could make a go of it.

Last year, Garza opened a storefront office in Oak Lawn at 5913 W. 87th Street. “In a period of one year, I tripled my business,” she says. “I couldn’t handle it all on my own.” She hired two secretaries and four HVAC technicians who help her in her business, which focuses on third-party appliance warranties – a field that she says is really expanding. 

None of it would have been possible without the education Garza received at Coyne College. “The hands-on training was a plus,” she says, “and the teachers were really good.” At the time she was in school, her dad owned a restaurant in Gary, Indiana. “He had lots of coolers and often needed help.” Garza said she would help the refrigeration guy. She would then go back to school and talk about the problems they had doing the restaurant work, and they’d do troubleshooting in class. The combination of working in the field and discussing her real-life work issues helped tie everything together.

Another aspect of her Coyne experience that really helped was the flexible class schedule. “I went to night school,” she says, “and I was still able to open the restaurant.” The flexibility allowed her to train for her career while still holding down a job. As for being the only female in HVAC at Coyne, Garza says she was blessed. “As a female, I was welcomed because I was the only one,” she says. “They accepted me. The teachers were very inviting and wanted more females in the program.” Since she’s been working, Garza has experienced very little gender bias. “The companies that picked me up gave me the opportunity and were pleased with my performance,” she says. “It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be to be female in a male industry.”

The key to being female and being accepted is very simple. “Go into the field as a regular person,” Garza says. “Do not try to use the fact that you’re a female for favoritism, because that’s what defines you as a peer. If you work with the men as one of the ‘guys,’ they’ll respect you more.” Garza hopes to see more women in the trades – especially in HVAC. “Women tend to be more observant than men and take a different approach,” she says. “[Women] tend to nurture [the appliances] and be more engaged with people.” Garza also thinks that if there were more women in HVAC more people would ask for professional help rather than try to do it themselves with the help of YouTube videos. “If we can get customers to trust tradespeople and validate the charges, they’d use professionals more often.”

If you like working with your hands, have a mechanical aptitude and are looking for an in-demand career, consider becoming a heating, air conditioning and refrigeration technician. The job market for HVAC technicians is very good right now. According to O*NET Online, the projected growth of HVAC jobs through 2026 is much higher than average.

Coyne College prepares you for a career in HVAC-R in less than a year. You’ll learn real-world HVAC skills, get hands-on training and receive individual attention from instructors who are industry professionals. Contact Coyne College for more information or to register for classes.

Many Uses of HVAC with Tim Lesch

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Many Uses of HVAC

The HVAC field is unlimited! It branches out in a variety of ways in everyday life! Check out the many uses of HVAC with our instructor Tim Lesch!

To learn more about a career in HVAC visit us at www.Coynecollege.Edu.

If you like working with your hands, have a mechanical aptitude and are looking for a career with a tremendous future, becoming a heating, air conditioning and refrigeration technician could be a perfect fit. Demand for technicians with heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) training is on the rise. As the world shifts to an increasingly energy-efficient, technology-based HVAC-R systems, and a construction industry driving new commercial and residential construction, will fuel the need for qualified technicians, installers and mechanics. Tremendous opportunities for people with the right HVAC-R training continue to emerge.

Job prospects for HVAC-R technicians are expected to be excellent, particularly for those who have completed training from an accredited technical school or a formal apprenticeship. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, employment of heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers is expected to grow by 21%, much faster than the average for all occupations through 2022. Learn more about HVAC-R careers.

Coyne College – A Leading HVAC School in Chicago, IL.

The Diverse Tasks of HVAC Technicians

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HVAC Technician Tasks

HVAC technicians may embody the most diverse skills in the trades, as they are practically employed during a given day on the job. Their primary duties are to install, maintain and repair various indoor climate control systems, but each of those tasks is more complex than the single word attempting to fully describe it. What exactly does installing entail? It’s likely that you aren’t even aware of some of the HVAC Technician Tasks must perform.

Before we describe these tasks, here is some background about the trade.

HVAC – AC & Heating Technician work in a variety of settings – basically any building that needs heating and cooling, residential or commercial. Their work helps help maximize the efficiency of HVAC systems, which improves quality of life for the building’s occupants and saves money for the person footing the electric or natural gas bill. Optimizing systems also help reduce their negative effects on the environment. Some tactics technicians use to meet these environmentally friendly ends include replacing old filters with new ones, installing dehumidifiers and installing efficient thermostats.

Now is a good time to be getting into the HVAC field. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects HVAC technician employment will increase by 15 percent through 2026, citing both continued new construction and an increased prevalence of service contracts, especially during slow seasons.

Because buildings are more or less required to have heating systems, HVAC technicians have the potential to be able to work wherever they want. An additional perk is HVAC Technician Training where they being paid to learn on the job as an entry-level worker, gaining skills until they earn what a journeyman technician makes.

Here are a few things HVAC technicians do on the job that might not come to mind when you think of the profession:

Read Blueprints

HVAC technicians need to know how to read building blueprints because understanding the design of the building allows them to see where they can place furnaces, air conditioners and other HVAC components.

HVAC technicians are crucial cogs in the construction of buildings that have HVAC systems. It’s also worth noting that the systems installed in a building dictate what that building can be used for, which also factors into where components are installed.

Test Electrical Components

Like most household appliances, HVAC systems require electricity to function. HVAC technicians need to test electrical components to make sure they work when installing furnaces, air conditioners and other systems. They are frequently armed with multimeters to measure voltage and other readings of an electrical outlet or component. It’s important for their safety that they make sure the electricity is off when doing installations.

Being able to troubleshoot electrical components is a highly useful skill during installations. Doing so allows technicians to rule out problems with the electricity and focus on troubleshooting the HVAC component.

Test Piping and Tubing

HVAC systems typically create water as a byproduct of their functioning. For this reason, it is imperative that HVAC technicians properly construct piping and tubing that runs from the system to wherever the water is supposed to be redirected. For example, furnaces have pipes that carry condensation away from the unit, allowing the water to run harmlessly into the ground instead of soaking the contents of your basement and creating a huge puddle.

HVAC technicians also install insulated condensate drainpipes for people who live in areas that experience bitterly cold winters. Condensate pipes can freeze, build up and burst if conditions are too cold, resulting in one of the aforementioned puddles on your basement floor. Testing piping and tubing is an important part of an HVAC technician’s job.

Use Power Tools

As mentioned earlier, HVAC technicians, like electricians, plumbers and construction workers, are important to the construction of buildings. Installing heating and cooling systems often requires the use of power tools to create space for HVAC systems, make alterations, and modify PVC and other kinds of pipes to properly fit the given system.

Such power tools include saws, drills, vacuums and others. Each tool, especially the more dangerous ones, requires knowledge of the proper techniques in order to best utilize them.

Provide Customer Service

Customer service isn’t just for retail and sales. HVAC technicians perform a great deal of customer service on a daily basis. It isn’t enough to simply tell customers what they’re doing to fix the problem; they need to be able to explain, in a way the customer can understand, why they’re doing it.

People skills and a friendly demeanor are also useful to have when working as an HVAC technician. Customer service is important because customers the ones who keep technicians working. Positive interactions help increase word-of-mouth referrals and boost reputations. You were probably already aware of the customer service skills HVAC technicians use daily, especially if you’ve had them perform installation or maintenance, but their importance cannot be overstated.

As you can see, there is more to being an HVAC technician than simply swapping out furnace filters or performing routine inspections. HVAC technicians far more closely resemble jacks-of-all-trades than you may have expected, with their jobs including aspects of electrical work, plumbing, construction and architecture. If this kind of career appeals to you, perhaps training to enter the HVAC field is your next career move.

Master the HVAC Trade at Coyne

Coyne College is one of Chicago’s premier trade schools, offering an HVAC-R program designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to build successful careers in the field as HVAC technicians.

While enrolled as a student in Coyne’s HVAC-R program, you will actively engage in learning the finer points of the occupation. Classes in the HVAC-R curriculum include:

  • Introduction to Mechanical Refrigeration Systems
  • Air Conditioning, Electric Heat and Heat Pumps
  • Introduction to Commercial Controls
  • Gas Heating
  • And more

You will learn the ins and outs of the HVAC technician trade in a setting designed for your individual success. Coyne’s highly knowledgeable instructors have years of professional experience in the field and will pass their in-depth knowledge on to you.

Hands-on learning is a significant part of Coyne’s HVAC-R program, and rightfully so, but it is also mixed with theoretical components so students learn why they are doing what they are doing.

Coyne is proud to offer day and night options in order to best accommodate students’ busy schedules. The HVAC-R program is taught at Coyne College’s campus in the Chicago Loop at the intersection of State and Madison (known as “the world’s busiest corner”).

With more than 110 years of experience in helping aspiring skilled trade professionals build the foundation of their careers, Coyne College has a well-developed network of resources to help students gain employment after graduation.

Coyne College offers its students’ career assistance, including mock interviews, externships and resumes (Job description of HVAC Technicians) help. These resources can help students secure apprenticeships after completing the program.

To schedule a visit, contact an advisor or request more information about the program, call 800-720-3990 or visit https://www.coynecollege.edu.

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