Cleaning Coils Saves You $$$

Cleaning Coils Saves You $$$

Maximizing the efficiency of your HVAC system makes sense with the rising costs of energy and its tight supply. Both condenser (outdoor) and evaporator (indoor) coils are engineered to provide optimum heat transfer required for the area needing cooling. The air being transferred, in most cases, contains a mixture of dust, dirt, pollen, grease and moisture. These contaminants settle on the surface of the coil and impact the ability to transfer heat. They also affect the quality of the air within your home or building. The cost of operating dirty air conditioning equipment is greater than you might expect!

Power Costs

• Equipment operating with dirty coils may use as much as 37 percent more energy than equipment with clean coils.
• Restricted heat transfer causes the compressor to work harder, increasing the head pressure. Rising head pressure will result in a loss of cooling capacity of up to 30 percent.

Life Expectancy

Higher operating pressures caused by a dirty coil may reduce your equipment’s life expectancy. The restriction of heat transfer and strain placed on the compressor can lead to equipment failure. Compressor failure means no cooling. Compressor replacement cost is substantially more than a cleaning!

Kidder‘s trained Service Professionals will carefully check the fins of the condenser coil for damage, use gauges to take airflow measurements and temperature splits, and chemical clean outdoor coil with non-corrosive solution. Kidder will also clean and sanitize your heating/cooling evaporator coil (inside). Average cost to clean starts at $99 per coil.

NOTE: Do not judge the cleanliness of a coil by its visual appearance.

Air conditioning cooling coils provide moisture, cool temperature and food from dust; all which contribute to contamination growth which affects the cooling coil in the following ways:

• Reduced heat transfer. The contaminants on the coil surface act as an insulation media between the air and the cooling coil. The air flowing through the coil is not reduced in temperature adequately enough to allow the system to cool the building efficiently. Therefore, the compressor will run continuously to compensate for the poor temperature transfer. In a system where the air is cooling the building efficiently, the compressor will cycle in and out of service as required. Poor heat transfer results in poor energy savings.
• Blockages in the coil. This decreases the amount of air passing through the system. This in turn affects the air conditioner’s ability to cool the air. To compensate, the compressor is running at longer durations. Effective maintenance on the cooling coil provides cost savings in energy consumption.
• Corrosion of the coil. Contaminants attach themselves to the fins of the cooling coil. Over time, they become etched into the surface to provide a secure holding. This eats away at the cooling coil and over time degenerates the cooling coil’s ability to perform efficient heat transfer. The solution for coil corrosion is to remove contaminants through maintenance. The alternative is to replace the cooling coil, which comes at a greater cost than coil maintenance.

Poor Indoor Air

A dirty evaporator coil creates an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and mold that can impact a home or building’s indoor air quality. Cleaning, sanitizing and protecting the evaporator coil, condensate pan and surrounding areas is critical.