It Takes a Lot of Knowledge, Training, and Experience to Keep Your Home Comfortable
One of the major challenges for a local HVAC business is understanding existing systems and building spaces before taking action or making recommendations. There are a lot of ways building climate control happens here! We’re trained and experienced with so many ways to heat and cool — if you’ve ever seen an HVAC textbook, you’ve probably wondered why it’s so huge. Our ongoing training keeps us up to date on new technologies and systems, too.
Some of the Types of Heating Units We See
- Standard Electric
- Heat Pump
- Natural Gas
- Propane
- Renewable Energy Augmentation
Minneapolis, MN is pushing a shift to electric heat to meet our state’s carbon emissions goals, but a lot of homes are still using natural gas or propane. Some homes use electric heat pumps, which are a great option for both heating and cooling but may not get your home as warm as you want when the polar vortex drops our temperatures sub-zero.
Popular Types of Cooling Units
- Standard Central Air
- Heat Pump
- Evaporative “Swamp Cooler”
Control Systems for Your Comfort and Energy Efficiency
Smart thermostats control when your system creates comfort for people, and when it just keeps a base temperature. We highly recommend them and can bring one out to install when we do your next air conditioning repair or maintenance service visit. They provide a lot of energy savings. These days, smart thermostats can be programmed for different patterns on each day. If you upgrade to smart home technology you can go much further — ask our AC repair technicians, who are familiar with these technologies.
Duct Systems and Ductless
Whole-house duct-based systems provide an effective way to heat and cool everywhere. We can evaluate your system and ensure that it is effectively meeting your air handling needs throughout your home, including spaces you may have remodeled and put to use over time. Our air conditioning repair service includes duct installation, maintenance, and cleaning. If you don’t have ducts or they’re not up to the job, you can run lines through the walls of certain rooms to external AC units for “ductless” cooling in addition to your current heating method, whether it’s radiators or baseboard heating.
Zones
Many older duct-based systems blow air throughout the home until a single thermostat reaches the set temperature. As our air conditioning repair and design experts can tell you, that’s probably not the optimum temperature for all rooms, especially bedrooms. A zoned system puts heat and cooling where it’s needed. Converting existing systems to zones or installing a new zoned system is an excellent air conditioning repair project that we can complete for you, saving wear and tear and energy use.
Air Quality Features — HEPA Filters, Humidity Control, UV
A particular advantage of a duct-based system is the ability to process the air flowing through the system and adjust the purity, humidity, and cleanness of the air. Most systems already have a standard furnace filter that needs to be changed on a regular basis, and as air conditioning repair specialists we can upgrade that filter to a better, longer-lasting filter system. We can even add high-quality HEPA filtration that clears even ultra-small particles from the circulating air.
HEPA can be especially helpful for those with allergies as it removes most pollen and other small biological elements from the air. Humidity management systems help keep the air from getting too humid in summer and drying out in the winter, and UV light processing is beneficial for neutralizing many infectious agents from your air.
Steam and Hot Water Systems
Some homes move hot water or steam through radiators to silently deliver heat. These systems may not be as responsive as forced air heat and cooling, but they have their advantages and many people enjoy the comfortable feeling of radiant heat. Since they don’t incorporate cooling, we can suggest several different types of localized cooling systems that can keep part of your home nice and cool when summer heat gets to be too much.
Localized Cooling
Window units and those standalone units that look like old sci-fi robots with their waving arms can help you keep one or two rooms cool. This can be helpful when your home doesn’t have a cooling system or you’ve been putting off air conditioning repair projects on your whole-house system. Ductless air conditioning also offers a single or multiple-room cooling option that doesn’t have the drawbacks of window units including blocking light, requiring awkward installation, and possibly allowing heat loss during the winter.
Home Air Flow, Energy Efficiency, Insulation
Distribution of your HVAC system’s airflow helps do the best job of keeping your warm in the winter and cool in the summer. As air conditioning repair and installation experts, we understand how to optimize airflow in different types of homes. We can help you improve your efficiency simply by making sure that your energy is reaching where you need it in your home. Infrared analysis shows that most homes have efficiency and insulation upgrade needs as well, whether it’s a gap in the insulation or air leaks that are letting heated air out or hot summer air in.
Solar & Other Alternative Systems
We’re also familiar with renewable energy sources. Our heating and air conditioning repair technicians can integrate some of them into your systems. We know that your comfort system goals these days include energy savings and environmental benefits, and we can help you work towards those goals.
Bringing Your Comfort and Efficiency Needs Together for a Total Solution
At Blue Ox Heating & Air, our experience and knowledge allow us to create total heating and cooling solutions for your home. We also can help meet your specific needs in older homes and provide air conditioning repair and maintenance. Give us a call to discuss your heating and cooling needs in Minneapolis, MN at 952-208-4570. Thanks for your business!
