Your Total Comfort

The definition of comfort is unique to each person’s lifestyle and preferences. Similarly, home comfort is difficult to define.

Unfortunately, our homes are not always as comfortable as we would like. For example:

• Are some of your rooms too hot or too cold?
• Are your heating & cooling bills too high?
• Do you have dust and/or odor problems?
• Do you notice lingering cooking odors?
• Is your indoor unit or outdoor unit too noisy?
• Do you have a humidity problem in the summer or dry air in the winter?

Many homeowners think of their heating and air conditioning system as just another appliance. Your system is an integral component of your living environment, enhancing the livability of your home.

Your total system is similar to a three legged stool. One leg being the building envelope (i.e.: insulation, windows, infiltration rate, etc.), the second leg is the duct system (properly sized fabricated, installed and sealed), and the third leg is the equipment. Hobble any one of the legs and the stool will begin to wobble, and in some case it will fall over. Replacing your existing equipment with new, high-efficiency equipment only addresses one leg of the stool and it is not a guarantee of performance. For example, a 16 SEER air conditioning unit connected to a duct system with 30% leakage costs as much to operate as a less expensive 12 SEER unit connected to a tight duct system. At Albemarle Heating & Air, we recommend having both your home and the duct system tested to ensure maximum performance and lower operating costs.

Remember that the heating and cooling systems in 85% of all homes are improperly sized and, according to the EPA, only 3% of homes have the proper size ductwork installed. If you have comfort problems that you would like to correct or if you think you may need a new heating or cooling system, call AHA. We can perform a heat loss/heat gain study, test your home and your ductwork to determine your heating and cooling needs.