Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning: HVAC Myths Debunked
Walk into any nearby cookout in Murrysville and also you’ll pay attention assured suggestion approximately thermostats, filters, and no matter if it’s smarter to sacrifice 3 degrees for “free” discount rates. Some of that lore comes from grandpa’s oil furnace in 1984, some from posts written for clicks, now not consolation. At Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning, we spend our days internal real residences with proper systems, so we see what works, what wastes cash, and what puts a compressor on skinny ice. Let’s blank up the largest HVAC myths with a touch shop-surface honesty and a splash of wit.
Myth 1: “Cranking the thermostat cools or heats quicker”
The thermostat isn’t an accelerator. It’s a forestall sign. Set it reduce in summer time or higher in iciness, and your gadget runs until the indoor temperature reaches that setpoint. It does not magically produce colder air once you set it to 60 in preference to 72. The grant temperature is basically fixed by way of the kit, refrigerant metering, and airflow layout. The best element the extreme setpoint modifications is how lengthy the approach runs and what sort of vigor it burns. If you fail to remember to reset it, you overshoot comfort and bite by using kilowatt-hours.
Where this matters: We see other people in Murrysville who drop to sixty five on a muggy afternoon, then whinge approximately a freezing residing room at 10 p.m. The unit obediently ran for hours to hit a objective you on no account actual needed. A wise thermostat with an affordable agenda solves this. If you completely need a immediate pull-down, a two-level or variable-velocity manner paired with actual ductwork can ramp capability more gracefully than a licensed HVAC installation single-stage unit. That’s an package design conversation, not a thermostat hack.
Myth 2: “Bigger HVAC is more effective”
A five-ton method in a 2-ton dwelling will beat you with humidity and quick biking. Oversized methods satisfy the thermostat speedily, then shut off earlier the coils wring moisture out of the air. The effect is a clammy seventy two that sounds like seventy six. Worse, quick cycles rigidity compressors, contactors, and igniters, and you’ll listen that fixed on-off rhythm that screams inefficiency.
Right-sized kit is dull, and boring is ideal. When we dimension equipment as an HVAC contractor, we run a Manual J load calculation, not a gut test. Insulation stages, window orientation, infiltration, duct area, or even your family’s cooking conduct give a contribution to the load. We often downsize alternative tools with the aid of part a ton after sealing ducts and improving attic insulation when you consider that the antique unit was once a blunt software compensating for construction leaks. That is how a Best HVAC contractor Murrysville, PA earns the “highest quality” half, with math and measurable relief, no longer bragging rights about tonnage.
Myth 3: “Close vents in unused rooms to save payment”
If you watched remaining a deliver check in equals financial savings, consider squeezing a backyard hose together with your thumb to water fewer flowers. Pressure rises upstream. Your ductwork and blower respond to that extra static stress by using leaking extra at susceptible joints and pushing the blower off its effectual operating curve. In serious cases, it is easy to freeze the coil considering that airflow drops too low across the evaporator. Meanwhile the conditioned air you paid to create still leaves the equipment, repeatedly because of leaks into an attic you not at all discuss with.
Better strategies: stability the approach at the damper point in case your department traces have them, or ask us to measure static drive and airflow, then trim fan pace or adjust returns. If you incredibly have zones with one-of-a-kind utilization, a authentic zoning machine with bypass strategy or a variable-velocity blower is the top solution. We’ve reclaimed 10 to 20 % performance in Murrysville properties simply via sealing ducts and adding a go back in a starved room. The registers stay open, the approach breathes, and the electric invoice relaxes.
Myth 4: “Maintenance is elective on more moderen structures”
Newer tools is more powerfuble, however it’s additionally much less tolerant of forget. A variable-pace blower depends on refreshing filters and predictable duct force. High-performance furnaces drain condensate by narrow traps that clog with the filth you don’t see. Heat pumps rely on backyard coils that collect cottonwood fluff every May and June. Ignore those gadgets, and the formulation burns greater potential to do much less paintings.
We’ve placed gauges on 3-yr-historical platforms that were down 20 % in capacity seeing that the indoor coil turned into raveled with dirt. The home owner modified the clear out once a yr and assumed that changed into satisfactory. It isn’t. A skilled repairs visit checks static pressure, superheat and subcool, temperature split, flame features, and defense controls. It’s the distinction between hoping and realizing. As an HVAC Company that lives on repeat purchasers, we’d moderately keep your kit organic than replace it early. Maintenance is uninteresting, and uninteresting is less expensive.
Myth 5: “Air filters are for allergy symptoms, not performance”
Filters shield you, definite, but they normally shelter the machine. A clear out which is too restrictive to your blower drops airflow, cutting back warmness move throughout coils and warmth exchangers. That forces longer run instances and might vacation safeties. On the flip aspect, a bargain clear out that stops basically not anything lets filth glue itself to the coil, that's like wrapping a blanket round a radiator.
Match clear out category to equipment design. Many tactics like a MERV 8 or 10 pleated clear out, transformed every 60 to ninety days, shorter in height season or with pets. High MERV entire-residence media filters work whilst the duct layout can take care of the strain drop, or while we add return capacity. If you choose medical institution-grade air, observe media filtration plus UV or bipolar ionization simply after a load and duct evaluation. You can’t duct-tape terrific air right into a terrible duct procedure. Start with airflow, then filter out smarter.
Myth 6: “Heat pumps don’t paintings in bloodless climates”
This one refuses to die. Today’s cold-climate warm pumps supply good warm neatly underneath freezing. We have buyers east of Pittsburgh who sailed with the aid of unmarried-digit nights remaining winter with a well sized warmness pump and a good defrost management process. The key is picking a kind with a stated Heating Seasonal Performance Factor and occasional-ambient ability, now not a builder-grade unit from a decade ago.
Hybrid tactics shine in Western Pennsylvania. We pair a high-performance gasoline furnace with a warm pump and let a sensible thermostat desire the more cost effective gas founded on backyard temperature and application prices. When electrical energy is favorable, the warmth pump includes the load down to a balance element. When gas wins, the furnace steps in. This isn’t thought, it’s Monday through Friday at Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning. If you’re looking out “HVAC contractor Near Me” simply because you’re tired of chilly shoulders in February, ask approximately dual gasoline. It performs the long video game in opposition to value swings.
Myth 7: “SEER is every part”
SEER, the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, measures cooling effectivity in a managed try. It’s fabulous for comparisons, however in proper properties, duct losses, set up nice, and controls outweigh the label at the field. We’ve measured 16 SEER programs appearing like 12 given that the go back duct changed into undersized and static tension was once sky-excessive. Meanwhile, a 14.5 SEER equipment with a good, insulated duct network beat its label each day.
The hidden hero is airflow. Target kind of 350 to 400 CFM according to ton in cooling, established with a true size, not a wish. Pair the kit with a matched indoor coil. Set fan speed actually. Seal ducts with mastic, no longer tape that dries into confetti. Then the SEER tag you paid for shows up at the bill.
Myth 8: “Thermostat wars waste cash, so set it and overlook it”
Comfort is very own. One companion runs warm, any other cold. Standard suggestion says prefer various and not ever contact it. Real existence says you could contact it. That’s wonderful, is reasonably. A neatly-tuned device will handle about a stage swings without penalty. Where you get in obstacle is dramatic swings that pressure dehumidification to start out from scratch or intent long reheat cycles.
Strive for small ameliorations. Use schedules that mirror your regimen: about a levels setback whilst absolutely everyone leaves, a gentle ramp until now you return. In older buildings, we sometimes dial in a longer fan off-hold up to scavenge coil calories, or a dehumidification precedence placing that slows fan velocity to tug greater moisture in shoulder seasons. This is wherein a terrific HVAC contractor in Murrysville earns the rate, via programming nuance into the controls so that you don’t examine it at all.
Myth nine: “Duct cleansing is all the time a ripoff”
Sometimes it can be. If a coupon flyer grants miracles for the value of lunch, be wary. But we’ve opened plenums that looked like a lint manufacturing unit exploded. Construction particles, pet hair felted on turning vanes, toys from the Nineties, you identify it. If your ductwork is filthy, cleansing it once, accompanied by means of real filtration and sealing, makes experience. The aim isn’t brilliant metallic for Instagram. It’s conserving the coil and decreasing that static drive we retailer speakme approximately.

Ask for formerly and after photos, NADCA systems if the activity warrants it, and a plan to seal seen leaks at connections. If the contractor can’t degree static tension or refuses to study, call a the different HVAC contractor. Tools ahead of communicate.
Myth 10: “Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are not obligatory luxuries”
In our weather, humidity regulate isn’t a luxurious, it’s part of consolation and development wellness. Winter air most of the time drops underneath 25 percent relative humidity, which dries sinuses and timber trim. A well-sized entire-dwelling humidifier tied in your furnace, set around 35 to 40 p.c on reasonable bloodless days, continues noses and hardwood sane. In summer season, a desirable set AC ought to control humidity, yet older or oversized devices can depart you sticky. Add a full-domicile dehumidifier to take the weight off the AC, rather in residences with executed basements.
One Murrysville client had paint peeling in a stairwell and conception the roof used to be leaking. We logged humidity and discovered 70 percent RH for days at a time. After a duct tweak and a 70-pint whole-domicile dehumidifier, the paint stayed put. Moisture obeys physics, not wishful questioning.
Myth eleven: “If it isn’t damaged, don’t repair it”
If it isn’t broken, it’s mainly drifting. Systems don’t get up on a random Tuesday and fail extensively devoid of warning. They whisper first. The indoor temperature split narrows from 18 stages to 12. The warmness exchanger indicates a faint discoloration. The blower motor starts slower. These are signals, and a professional technician understands how you can learn them. The resolution isn’t among perfection and entire failure, it’s among a deliberate restoration at 10 a.m. and an emergency at 10 p.m.
We as soon as caught a tiny crack in a top-efficiency furnace for a family members with new child twins. Carbon monoxide not ever spiked within the dwelling discipline thanks to terrific venting, however the hazard line turned into trending the inaccurate way. We swapped the heat exchanger lower than guaranty. That’s the distinction between a regimen consult with and a story you inform nervously later.
Myth 12: “All HVAC contractors are the same”
Equipment brands count, however craftsmanship and duty remember more. An HVAC contractor who sizes with a tape measure and a droop is gambling along with your money. The Best HVAC contractor Murrysville, PA makes a speciality of job: load calculations, duct design, airflow verification, commissioning reports. When Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning installs a machine, we song it like a musical tool. That ability measuring static rigidity at a couple of ports, checking superheat and subcool against brand charts, confirming temperature rise in heating, and programming controls for your pursuits.
If you’re googling “HVAC contractor Murrysville” or “HVAC contractor Near Me” considering that you’re mid-protection or your components is limping into summer, interview the friends like they’ll be in your property for a decade. Because they can.
A few pricey part-truths we listen every week
The least expensive bid is the most useful cost: low worth frequently hides smaller returns, undersized ducts, unpermitted paintings, or missing add-ons like condensate safeguard switches. A reasonable bid explains each line, from pad to pump, and incorporates commissioning. You need to change ducts after you replace equipment: in some cases definite, routinely no. If ducts are sized excellent and leak minimally, preserve them. If static is high and returns are starved, strengthen them. We measure, then judge. Set the fan to on for higher air high-quality: continuous fan mixes air however can re-evaporate moisture off the coil in humid weather, elevating indoor RH. Auto with clever dehumidification is often more advantageous. There are exceptions for specific filtration setups.
How tiny information change into sizable comfort
The most prevalent efficiency leak is invisible. It’s the half of-inch gap around a clear out rack. The unsealed go back nonetheless moves air, but now it pulls airborne dirt and dust and attic air into your method. Another one is the wobbly outdoors unit sitting in a puddle where grass clippings choke the coil. Or the attic flex duct that drooped right into a cushy loop, collapsing CFM by using a third. These are minor fixes with most important payoffs. Mastic the clear out rack. Level the pad and supply the condenser room to respire. Support that flex run every 4 toes and straighten bends. We’ve measured 0.3 inch mark downs in static power from basic duct improve variations, which interprets into quieter operation and higher coil overall performance.
The thermostat region is one other sleeper. A stat on an outdoors wall or above a offer check in lies to you all day. It senses the inaccurate temperature and runs the space from dangerous data. Move it to an internal wall in a representative room, clear of lamps or direct solar. Then let the manner behave on info, no longer fiction.
The actual can charge of ignoring humidity
People tolerate a summer season setpoint of 74 if the relative humidity sits round 50 p.c. They experience clammy on the comparable seventy four when RH drifts to sixty five. Your AC removes moisture whilst air passes over a sufficiently bloodless coil long satisfactory. Oversized device chops the cycles quick. Air receives cool with no satisfactory time at the coil. You feel off, so you drop the thermostat to 71. Energy use spikes and you would possibly nevertheless experience swampy. Fix the result in as opposed to chasing a number. Variable-speed blowers and smart duct tweaks that elongate cycles are really worth greater than a different SEER factor.
In iciness, low humidity makes 70 experience like sixty seven. The furnace runs longer to fulfill a physique, not a thermometer. Add managed humidity and one can improve remedy without raising the setpoint. Put funds the place physics lives.
When substitute beats repair, and whilst it doesn’t
There is not any established age to exchange. A 10-year-historical system that become effectively mounted and maintained may well run an alternative decade. A 6-yr-antique technique that was once oversized, under no circumstances wiped clean, and pinned at high static can consume areas like a merchandising equipment. We look into restore can charge as a fraction of substitute, application debts, relief lawsuits, achieveable rebates, and a while horizon within the apartment.
Some triggers that most commonly tip towards alternative: compressor quick-to-ground, cracked heat exchanger out of guarantee, pervasive duct things that the brand new manner can solve when paired with a redesign, or refrigerant leaks in coils which have regular failure patterns. On the restoration edge, we fortunately exchange blower capacitors, contactors, flame sensors, igniters, force switches, and condensate pumps to hinder you rolling. We come up with the mathematics, not a pitch.
How to settle on a associate you’ll nonetheless like in five years
Murrysville home owners are savvy. You don’t prefer a slick brochure, you want remedy all 12 months devoid of surprises. As you variety by means of suggestions for an HVAC contractor, ask them how they degree fulfillment on install day. If they don’t communicate about static power, airflow, and commissioning, avoid seeking. If they hand you a quote heavy on adjectives and faded on specifics, ask for fashion numbers, coil pairings, and the hard work assurance in writing.
Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning equipped its reputation through doing the quiet issues desirable. We exhibit up for seasonal maintenance home windows. We label ducts we modify. We explain why we’re recommending a MERV 10 over a MERV thirteen to your distinctive duct setup. That’s what it skill to be the Best HVAC contractor Murrysville, PA Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning, measured through remedy, durability, and utility money owed, not wise slogans.
What you are able to do that week that actually helps
Check your filter out and the filter out rack gap. If the filter out is bowed or dusty after a month, improve to a excellent pleated clear out and seal the rack with foam or mastic tape rated for HVAC. Give the outdoor unit area. Clear plants within 18 to 24 inches. Rinse the coil lightly from internal out after shutting off drive, especially all the way through pollen season.
If you do the ones two issues and time table a reliable tune-up until now top season, you’ll circumvent maximum of the preventable carrier calls we see both 12 months. The leisure is ready in good shape and layout, and that’s where a nearby pro earns accept as true with.
The backside line that isn’t a slogan
Comfort is physics, installing, and preservation operating in combination. Myths creep in wherein the ones three fall out of stability. Right-dimension the system. Respect airflow. Control humidity. Maintain the parts that stream and breathe. Ask your HVAC contractor to turn you numbers, not just a shiny condenser on a pad. If you’re in Murrysville and choose a immediately communique, Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning will bring the gauges, the wisdom, and a organic skepticism for shortcut tips.
Search engines may also join you to an “HVAC contractor Near Me.” Your nostril, pores and skin, and software bill will let you know in case you came upon the exact one.
Name: Hoffner Heating and Air Conditioning
Address: 114 Mc Ginnis Ave, Pitcairn, PA 15140, United States
Phone: (412)946-2160
Plus Code: C62G+W3 Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, USA
Website Email: [email protected]