What To Expect During Air Conditioner Installation | Irving, TX
Air conditioner installation can be both something you are dreading and something you cannot wait to have completed at your Irving, TX home. If your unit is not working correctly and you are roasting, then you are probably excited to get some relief finally. In fact, you may be counting down the days until your scheduled air conditioner installation is complete. However, it can also be expensive and require you to take the day off so you can let the HVAC company into your home, so it is understandable if you have mixed feelings about the process.
In fact, almost every single customer that we work with has mixed feelings when it comes to their air conditioner installation, but it has to be done in order to make your home livable in the Texas area. Understandably, it can be a hard decision to replace your AC, especially when you know what the cost of doing so can be. It can be even harder if your AC is technically still functioning but experiencing some issues and is getting older in age. However, sometimes proactive action is the best type of approach for this sort of thing.
After all, an aging AC system will eventually break down, and at that point, the only choice you will have is to find an HVAC company for an air conditioner installation. However, scheduling a new installation without any warning can often mean weeks without AC. First of all, you need to find a company that has an open appointment for you, which can be extremely hard during the summer months, and then you need to wait until the new unit can be delivered. Oftentimes the delivery of the AC unit is what holds up the process because it can take weeks to get a new unit delivered.
Instead of waiting until you are up against a wall with no choice but to wait for a new unit to be delivered to your Irving, TX home, it is usually the smart decision to book an air conditioner installation if there are problems and your unit is on the older side. Any unit that is over 10-12 years and is experiencing issues is usually a cause for concern. This is why it is very important to work with an HVAC company that you can trust so that you know they are giving you an honest opinion when they suggest an air conditioner installation.
Generally speaking, most HVAC companies will consider the age of the HVAC unit they are working on, the overall condition of the unit, and the price of the necessary repair before they suggest that you replace the entire unit. If the price of the repair will cost more than half the price of a new unit, and it is likely that you will need more repairs in the new future, then the company will likely suggest that you replace your unit. This is a bit more costly upfront, but it keeps you from sinking money into an old unit that is going to break permanently at some point.
It’s similar to how you don’t want to just keep pouring money into an old, used car. At some point, the older car becomes a money pit, and it is smarter to go ahead and purchase a new one. Most HVAC companies are aware of the expense that purchasing a new HVAC system can incur and offer financing programs to help make it easier to afford an air conditioner installation. If this concerns you, it is worth inquiring about any programs that may help you.
Keep in mind that many times there are government incentives and tax breaks for installing a new energy-efficient HVAC unit. If your unit is older than ten years, then there is a good chance that there have been new advances in energy efficiency since the last time you purchased a unit. Therefore, one instant perk of an air conditioner installation is that you might notice your home energy bills decrease almost instantly after purchasing a new AC. This will translate into the winter months in Irving, TX, when you might need to run your furnace as well if you have to replace your entire HVAC unit. The savings alone within your monthly budget can be enough to give you the final nudge towards purchasing a new air conditioner installation.
What Does a New AC Installation Involve?
If you are facing a replacement of your unit, it may help to know exactly what the process will involve in Irving, TX. Knowing what to expect can help make the process feel more comfortable. The good news is that you don’t have to do much prep work, and the HVAC company you work with should take care of most of the details for you. That said, there are a few things that you can do to prepare for their visit.
Of course, before anything happens, you need to have an HVAC company out to your home to inspect your old unit and to talk about what you need. Sometimes you will only need to have your AC unit replaced to get things back to working order, but other times it is smarter to replace your entire HVAC unit. Once again, the overall condition of your unit will play a large role in this process. You should opt to do whatever the HVAC company tells you because they likely will work in your best interest.
If they tell you that you need a new air conditioner installation, then you will need to make plans for the air conditioner installation. The HVAC company will help you pick out a new unit that fits your home. This is one of the most important aspects of the installation because you want to make sure that you get the right unit for your home. You cannot replace professional advice in this regard, and one of the things you are paying for is this.
There are a lot of perimeters that need to be considered when choosing an AC unit replacement. The first of which is the size of your home and how many square meters of space needs to be cooled. The second is the state of your current duct system and the way that air blows throughout the home. How well air is able to flow throughout your home will determine how much power your AC unit will need in order to properly cool your Irving, TX home. During this stage, the HVAC company will also likely look at the space that your old unit took up within your home.
In most cases, homeowners and technicians will prefer to opt for a same-for-same air conditioner installation which means that the same type of unit will be installed with roughly the same size perimeters. This is due to the fact that the space for this unit has already been established, so it is logical to work within the same space. For instance, the indoor unit can easily be integrated into the existing HVAC unit, and outdoors there is already a concrete platform or rock garden where the new unit will be able to comfortably fit.
The only reason that a company may opt to choose a larger AC unit for your air conditioner installation this time around will be if the needs of your home have changed. For instance, if you have built an addition onto your home that now requires the cooling of square footage or if your unit proved to be too small to effectively cool your home before. There are mathematical equations that are used to determine all of these factors, along with your personal input about how satisfied you were with the overall cooling of your home.
Once all of those factors have been decided, then the HVAC company will schedule a time for the air conditioner installation based on how quickly they plan to get the new AC unit and the prep work that can be done. Due to the high heat in Texas, they will not take out your current system until the day of your new installation if they can, but if the old unit has quit working and is of no use to you anyhow then they will likely schedule removal before the arrival of the new unit to help make the installation a quicker process.
In most cases, the AC unit will be delivered directly to your home because the less it is moved around the better. An AC unit is very fragile, and you want it to be installed with minimal movement to minimize the potential for damage. The day that your unit is scheduled to be delivered will usually be the day that the AC company will arrive for installation barring any major emergencies that may prevent this from being an option for the HVAC company or for you.
What Can You Do to Prepare for the Installation?
You do need to plan to be home on the day of the air conditioner installation because someone needs to be home to let the HVAC technicians into the home. You should plan to be around your home for six to eight hours, as this is the standard timeframe for the installation. In some cases, the crew may be done in four hours, especially if they are able to remove the old unit before they come out for the actual installation, but it is important to allow for more time because the process will take the amount of time it takes and cannot be paused.
In some cases, air conditioner installation can take even longer, especially if you are having an air conditioner installation done for a new home that has not been outfitted with an AC system before. Either way, the company usually will block off an entire day for the technicians involved, who will ensure that the job is complete before they leave your home. While they will take care of almost all of the installation tasks, there are a few things that you can do to help the process run a bit more smoothly.
For instance, before they arrive, you can move your vehicles into the garage, onto the street, or into a neighbor’s drive. This allows the HVAC company to have full access to your driveway, which is useful since they will need to carry heavy machinery and supplies to and from your home. It will also open up access to your outdoor unit, which in many cases, is placed near the driveway.
Outside of parking in another location, you can also ensure that the driveway is clear of any obstacles such as bikes, balls, etc, and other kids’ stuff that can be easily left behind and present a trip hazard. If you have small children in your Irving, TX home, you will want to keep them away from the installers, and if you have pets in your home, you will want to make sure they are secured throughout the process. Even friendly pets can escape out the door since technicians frequently move between the inside and outside of your home.
Additionally, you can create a four-foot pathway between the entryway of your home and your basement or utility closet since the technicians will need to install the indoor unit of your AC system as well. This is important because it gives them room to work and ensures that your personal property is not damaged in the process of air conditioner installation. Keep in mind also that they will need to access your thermostat, so make sure that it is easily accessible as well.
If you are ready to schedule an air conditioner installation in Irving, TX, contact One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Dallas today.