Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting

Your air conditioner was designed to maintain a temperature rather than attain it. On a 100° F day, the system is designed to maintain an indoor temperature of 78°, an 18° differential. If the house were allowed to reach 90° indoors, the unit would be unable to reduce the temperature to 75° because of the tremendous heat load of the house and its furnishings. This means you should not turn off the system during high-heat conditions unless you will be leaving your home for extended periods of time and are willing to wait a considerable time for the house to cool.

Your thermostat may use batteries to operate the control program, typically AA. The thermostat batteries should be replaced each year. The thermostat is designed to be set to 70° F in the winter.

The ductwork in your home is designed for “average exposure” situations. This means that you may wish to adjust some registers in your home to suit your needs and seasonal weather conditions. If one room is too cool during the heating season, partially close registers in other rooms to force more air to the desired room.

In two-story homes, seasonal adjustment of registers may be necessary to compensate for the heat’s natural tendency to rise. To offset this factor, adjust or close registers upstairs to force more heat to the first floor. You may also partially close registers in the rooms you don’t spend much time in, forcing more air to the rooms with more frequent use. Do not close a register just because it serves an upstairs area; instead, evaluate each room and only adjust the rooms that are the most important to you. To ensure adequate airflow and capacity of your equipment, we recommend that you close as few registers as possible.

Perform a pre-season furnace check in September, turn on your heating system to be sure everything is functioning as expected.

To test your system, follow these seven simple steps each fall:

1. Set your thermostat to the MANUAL position
2. Set the fan switch to the AUTO position
3. Switch the thermostat to HEAT
4. Raise the temperature setting to a point that is at least 5°F above the actual room temperature
5. The furnace blower fan won’t start immediately and could be delayed by up to three minutes.
6. Let the furnace run for ½ hour while checking for warm air coming from each register in the home
7. After testing, reset your thermostat setting to your preference (typically 70° in winter and 78° in summer)

Do not be alarmed by a little smoke or burning smell from your registers when using the furnace for the first time each heating season. These things are normal and will not last very long. However, should the condition continue, turn the unit off and contact a service company.

Check all room registers to ensure that they are open. The ductwork in your home is designed for “average exposure” situations. This means that you may wish to adjust some registers in your home to suit your needs and seasonal weather conditions. If one room is too hot or too cool, partially close the registers in other rooms to force more air to the desired room.

Remember, you must regularly clean your filters. Allowing filters to become dirty or clogged can impair the equipment’s performance and may severely damage system components. This type of damage is not covered by a warranty and can be very costly. It is important to make filter changing or cleaning a regular concern. Return air grills and registers should remain unobstructed at all times to assure proper airflow and prevent possible damage to the system. Filters should be cleaned or replaced every 30 to 90 days. Pet owners should replace filters every 30 days.

Your furnace blower fan will continue to run for three to five minutes after the thermostat has turned off the furnace.

Your thermostat may use batteries to operate the control program, typically AA. The thermostat batteries should be replaced each year.

Temperature Design Conditions

Your heating and air conditioning system has been designed and sized to provide maximum comfort and energy efficiency, as outlined by the State of California Title-24 Energy Requirements. Below are the design assumptions used for calculating your home’s heating and cooling loads:

Outdoor Design Conditions: Winter: 0.2% design temperature of 31°F for Sacramento. This temperature will be met or exceeded 99.8% of the time, all year. Summer: 1.0% design temperature of 98°F for Sacramento is to be used for air conditioner sizing.

Indoor Design Conditions: Winter: 68°F indoor, as dictated by the California Energy Commission (CEC). Summer: 78° F indoor, with a 4.5° swing factor, as directed by the CEC and Federal Housing Administration (FHA).