HVAC FAQs

We Recommend maintaining your unit twice a year:

  • Once on your air conditioning system in the Spring/ Summer
  • Once on the heating system in the Fall/Winter.

We recommend signing up for our Preventive Maintenance Agreement which is a great saving and offers additional benefits. Regular maintenance can help extend the life of your system.

We recommend that you set your thermostat at a temperature you are comfortable at. Obviously, the time of year becomes a big factor for desired temperature settings. In the summer months, the average temperature setting is 78 - 80 degrees, in the winter 70 -72 degrees seems to be the most common setting. Remember, when leaving your house; try to avoid setting your temperature back more than 5 degrees; this will cause your unit to cycle on and off longer to achieve the desired temperature setting.

No. By closing off registers to certain rooms, you disrupt the airflow and efficiency. Your system will work harder, to cool/heat less space causing your system to cycle on more often. Every system is designed to heat/cool a certain number of cubic feet, so it’s best to leave all registers open.

Disposable filters should have a Merv 8 to a Merv 11 rating. These filters will remove particulates from the air and allow the system to stay clean if changed regularly. Anything with a higher Merv rating can cause issues with static pressure, as it may restrict the airflow too much. 1" filters should be replaced every 30 days, 2" filters every 60-90 days and 4" filters every 4-6 months. Washable filters should be cleaned with warm water once a month and completely dry before re-installing. Please note that there are variables to changing your filters, based on how often you are running your system and what the weather is like ie: dusty, windy.

Different programmable thermostats offer many different features. However, because they are electronic, they are all more accurate and efficient than thermostats that contain mercury. With programmable thermostats, you can control the temperature in your home at different times of the day without ever touching your thermostat. Because everything is automatic, you will never forget to change the setting on your own. We recommend the Honeywell Vision Pro 8000, Programmable Thermostat. One of our knowledgeable technicians can install and program this thermostat to your desired settings.

Contaminants in your air can aggravate asthma and allergies. Our duct cleaning service can help eliminate mold spores and fungus while greatly improving your quality of air. Cleaning your air duct system can help extend the life of your HVAC equipment, and help it run more efficiently as well.

If all recommended maintenance and service actions are taken, an air conditioner and a gas furnace can last 15 to 20 years. At Trinity Heating & Air Conditioning we offer a money-saving maintenance agreement to help upkeep your system.

You can help reduce your costs by cleaning your coil once a year, changing replaceable filters once a month, and keeping the thermostat at a constant temperature, rather than adjusting it often. Also keeping blinds and drapes shut on windows that are facing the sun. We also recommend limiting mid-day activities that can add moisture and humidity to the air, such as showering, washing/drying clothes, and running the dishwasher. Use ventilating fans when doing these activities during the heat of the day.

In the winter months, a heat pump extracts heat from the outside air and moves it into your home. Even in the coldest winter, there is heat available in your air. Temperatures would have to be -460 degrees, for no heat to be available in the air. In the summer months, heat is extracted form the air indoors, where it’s absorbed into the refrigerant inside the fan unit inside your closet, attic or basement. The refrigerant carries the heat to the outdoor unit, where it is transferred outside. When you remove the hot air inside, this makes the air cooler.

A package unit or self-contained unit requires no external coils, heating units, or air handlers. This unit usually sits next to your house at ground level, or on your roof. A split system provides indoor and outdoor components to provide a complete home comfort system. A split system usually has a compressor outside and either an air handler or a furnace inside your house.

Is your house taking longer than usual to heat up or cool down? Is your unit starting to make noises? Is it cooling and/or heating all areas of the house evenly? Have your utility bills gone up for no apparent reason? Any of these are signs that you may need service to avoid any further serious damage to your system as well as keep your home or business comfortable for the people and pets in it. Doing regularly scheduled maintenance can help avoid costly repairs and help lengthen the life of your system.

No. You should never have ice forming anywhere on the air conditioning unit or it’s refrigerant line set (copper pipe or tubes) as this is an indication of an improperly charged air conditioning system. This is usually a symptom of airflow or refrigerant restrictions. Either way this requires immediate attention and repair or damage to your system could be the result.

Typically if you have some major repairs and your system is 10 years or older, you may want to consider replacing it. When you have to invest large amounts of repairs on a system that is prone to continuous repairs, you have to weigh whether you want to keep dumping money into a failing system.

  • Change Filters Regularly
  • Install shades, blinds, or shutters on doors that are exposed to extreme sunlight
  • Position your blower in the on position. This will help heat and cool your home more evenly and efficiently, and provide better filtration