Buffalo is in a heatwave!  A friend of ours just came back from vacation and to save energy, they had turned off their central air when they left.  When they came home, the house was extremely hot and stuffy. They shared with us what it was like just last summer when they didn’t have central air in their home.

“When we walked in from vacation, we instantly remembered how we had suffered in years past. Our upstairs would get so hot, it was almost unbearable and sleeping was miserable at times. There were many nights when the kids would camp out in our bedroom, since it was the only room with an a/c unit in the window.”

“Once you have central air, you just couldn’t imagine life without it.”

It’s not too late to get central air in your home.  Just call Emerald Heating & Cooling today. We’ll take good care of you!  716-681-0100

HEAT ADVISORY

Warning:  This heat can be dangerous. Make sure you (and your pets) drink plenty of water and limit your time in the heat whenever possible. The National Weather Service reminds us to watch out for these conditions in this extreme heat:

Sunburn: Redness and pain. Sometimes severe sunburn occurs and may include swelling of skin, blisters, fever, headaches. Treatment: Ointments for mild cases if blisters appear and do not break. If breaking occurs, apply dry sterile dressing. Serious, extensive cases should be seen by a doctor.

Heat Cramps: Painful spasms usually in the muscles of legs and abdomen. Heavy sweating. Treatment: Firm pressure on cramping muscles or gentle massage to relieve spasm. Give sips of water. If nausea occurs, discontinue water.

Heat Exhaustion: Heavy sweating, weakness, skin cold, pale and clammy. Pulse weak. Normal temperature possible. Fainting and vomiting. Treatment: Get person out of sun. Once inside, the person should lay down and loosen clothing. Apply cool, wet cloths. Fan or move victim to air conditioned room. Offer sips of water. If nausea occurs, discontinue water. If vomiting continues, seek immediate medical attention.

Heat Stroke (or sunstroke): High body temperature (106° F or higher). Hot dry skin. Rapid and strong pulse. Possible unconsciousness. Treatment: HEAT STROKE IS A SEVERE MEDICAL EMERGENCY. CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY OR GET THE VICTIM TO A HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY. DELAY CAN BE FATAL. White waiting for emergency assistance, move the victim to a cooler environment Reduce body temperature with cold bath or sponging. Use extreme caution. Remove clothing, use fans and air conditioners. If temperature rises again, repeat process. Do not give fluids. Persons on salt restrictive diets should consult a physician before increasing their salt intake.

We recently had a customer refer two of their friends to Emerald Heating & Cooling and we just completed installation of central air in their homes.

It is always humbling when our customers refer their friends and family to us.  We are proud of the compliment and thank you for making Emerald Heating & Cooling one of the best heating and cooling companies in Western New York.

Our goal at Emerald Heating and Cooling is to provide you with top notch customer service and superior workmanship, which is the foundation of our business. Each job is approached with the care and professionalism that we would expect in our own homes.

Everything we do is backed by our  100% satisfaction guarantee. We have been making homes and families comfortable for over 10 years.  We would be proud to help you and your family with your heating and cooling needs.

Homeowners ask us about how to choose the right company for a replacement, not for themselves (they have us after all), but for friends and relatives in other towns.  Here are eight simple questions homeowners can and should ask when replacing their air conditioner.

1. Does the company hold an air conditioning license? State licensing is the minimum requirement to operate an Air Conditioning Company.  Licensing protects the public, including you. Unlicensed companies are unaccountable to regulations and often unavailable if things go wrong.

2. Is the company insured? General liability and insurance protects you. Most companies will be insured, but not all are.  Assume that any company failing to state that it carries insurance in its marketing or website lacks insurance.

3. How long has the company been in business (under the same name)? One air conditioning company in five closes every year. The best way to predict whether a company will be around long enough to honor its warranties is whether the company has been around in the past.  Most reputable companies state their business tenure.  Beware of companies that close due to a poor reputation and reopen with a new name.

4. Does the company offer financing? You may not need financing, but you should still look for companies that offer it because its shows concern for affordability and shows the company can meet the minimum qualifications to offer financing.

5. Does the company perform Manual J. design calculations? Good companies perform engineering calculations based on the Air Conditioning Contractors of America’s “Manual J,” to ensure the equipment they provide is the right size (over sizing an air conditioner is just as bad as under sizing one).  Improperly sized heating and air conditioning systems are all too common. Poor quality companies replace with the same size as the existing equipment or use rules of thumb (i.e., they guess).

6. Does the company provide “ARI Performance Certification?” When you are replacing an air conditioner or heat pump, it is important to replace both the outdoor unit and indoor components together, as a matched set. Otherwise, you will get reduced efficiency and increased breakdowns.  Good contractors provide system certification from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute.

7. Doe the company give you choices? A wide variety of options exist for heating and cooling your home. Good companies present you with choices in efficiency, refrigerant, filtration, controls, and financing.

8. Are the company’s service vehicles clean and well maintained? The condition of a company’s service vehicles is an indication of the way the technician will take care of your home.

These are questions that we get asked all the time. Our answer to all of them is yes. If you have any questions about this, please give us a call at 681-0100. We’d love to hear from you.

Central air is something many Buffalo and Western New York homeowners long for. With the warm weather finally here, we offer these helpful tips for choosing the right air conditioner for your home.

Efficiency

If you are concerned about energy efficiency, look for the Energy Star label.  The cooling efficiency of an air conditioner is indicated by a SEER rating. SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating and it tells you how well a unit uses electricity.  If the SEER number is higher, the efficiency is better.  A minimum cooling efficiency standard has been set by the government at 13.0 SEER. For high efficiency air conditioner units, a rating of at least 16.0 SEER is required.

Select the Correct Size

Often times, people think bigger is better. That is not always the case.  In order to achieve comfortable cooling and dehumidification, the system must be correctly sized for your home. If you are looking to replace your existing unit, you may have to purchase a larger unit than your present air conditioner. By larger we mean more tons, not necessarily size.

If you own a smaller home, installing an air conditioning unit that is too large will cost you more in the end and will not get the level of comfort you deserve. A unit too large will lower the temperature too quickly and force the unit to shut off before it has properly dehumidified the air being conditioned.  Also, with a unit that is too large, you will not feel the comfort. The temperature will be lowered but the humidity will still be there.  It is important to have a heating professional measure the house to calculate the correct sizing with heat loss analysis.

The Noise Factor

If you are looking for a relatively quiet air conditioning unit be sure to look for a unit that uses scroll compressors instead of traditional piston-driven compressors. The scroll compressors and the precision balanced direct drive fan allow them to operate without producing so much noise. Speak with an air conditioning expert if you have questions.

Comfort Features

Other comfort features are available with some air conditioners. For example, a two-speed unit has a low speed, which can run using 50% efficiency.  Ultimately, this feature will use fewer on/off cycles and produce fewer drafts and much smaller temperature swings.

The air conditioning experts at Emerald Heating and Cooling are ready to help you with your air conditioning needs.  Contact us online or call us at 681-0100.

At Emerald Heating & Cooling, our customers are extremely important to us.  We appreciate it when they take the time to say thank you.

Here are a few comments we have received from our wonderful customers.

• Just a few lines to let you know how happy that I had your company do the installation for my central air. Your workers (Darrel & Tony) were both friendly, helpful, informative and neat. I loved the fact that the owner personally stopped by to check how things were going. I can’t thank you enough. Aggie Lancaster, NY

• Just a quick note to say thank you for your timely & courteous service today. From when I called and spoke to the friendly and helpful person who answered the phone to your arrival was less than an hour! Then, even though the problem wasn’t yours, you helped me find the solution ~ for no charge!! I’m sure I was too tired and incoherent to thank you appropriately and wanted to be sure you know how much I appreciate your service! Christina - Cheektowaga, NY
• It’s been a year since you and your helper at Emerald replaced that old bear of a furnace with the new Bryant furnace and Puron central air conditioning unit. We were impressed by your prompt service and your care in cleaning up after the job. And like you told us it would it made our lives more comfortable and has saved us money on our utility bills. Although we are on budget billing for our gas and electric, we have saved about $118 per month, at that rate it will have paid for itself within a 2 ½ year period. We never felt we could afford central air, and now we feel we can’t afford not to have it. Thanks ever so much for your help. We would recommend Emerald to anyone who is looking to improve their quality of life with heating and cooling needs. They really know what they’re talking about. Bob T. – Lockport, NY

If you are looking for installation of central air in your home, Emerald Heating and Cooling would be proud to help you. Call us today at 656-0100.

At Emerald Heating & Cooling, it’s all about you.  We have been helping families with their air conditioning and heating needs for over ten years.

So, why should you hire Emerald for your air conditioning needs? 

First and foremost, we believe in outstanding customer service and superior workmanship. This is the foundation of our business.  It is important to us to provide you with the solutions that will improve the comfort in your home.

We treat our customers the way we would expect to be treated.  Each job is approached with the care and professionalism we would expect in our own homes.

Second, we are experienced professionals. Professionalism and integrity are the standard for everything we do.  When we install a central air system in your home, you can have peace of mind as we back up our work with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. 

You have our word.  Emerald Heating & Cooling provides service 24 hours per day, 7 days per week on any make or model air conditioning product. We will be there when you need us.  You have our word.

For additional peace of mind, Emerald Heating & Cooling has a BBB (Better Business Bureau) rating of A+ on a scale of A+ to F.

Contact our central air professionals online today or call us today at 681-0100.

It’s summer.  The mercury is rising, but the sweat starts forming when the utility bills arrive.  Energy costs are soaring!

Expensive energy means expensive air conditioning.  Just in time for another hot summer.  There are things you can do to control the high cost of comfort.

Control Your Thermostat Setting

Raising your thermostat setting a degree or two really does make a difference in your air conditioning usage.  While it varies based on your air conditioner efficiency, the temperature, and humidity levels, you can generally expect a savings of 10% to 15% from raising your thermostat two degrees.

Of course, it goes without saying that you should set back your thermostat when no one’s home.  If you have trouble remembering to set your thermostat back, invest in a programmable thermostat and forget about it.

Control Your Fans

Air movement helps you feel cooler by aiding in the evaporation of perspiration. Ceiling and floor fans can give the sensation of comfort at a higher thermostat setting. But, operating a fan when you are not in the room, uses energy for no benefit and adds heat from the fan motor.  It’s more important to turn fans off than lights when leaving a room.

Control your heat sources

Lights, appliances, cooking and consumer electronics add heat.  Turn lights off when not in use and replace old incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents.  Compact fluorescents use less energy and generate less heat.

A lot of appliances continue to draw low levels of power when off or in standby mode.  This costs money and adds heat.  A decade ago, a Lawrence Berkeley Labs study estimates that Americans waste $1 Billion from standby energy loss alone.  You may not mind the heat gain and energy loss from a DVR, set to record your favorite TV show or sports program, but there’s no reason for many electronic products to remain in standby mode.  Plug them into power strips that can be switched off.

Cooking is another significant heat source.  Move it outdoors in the summer by using a backyard grill whenever possible.  When it’s not possible, try to use a toaster over rather than a full size oven.

Control Your Air Conditioner

One of the single most important things you can do to reduce your energy usage while improving comfort is to get annual air conditioning service.  An air conditioner precision tune-up has been documented in utility research studies to save more than its costs with summer operation alone.  Plus, it prevents breakdowns, restores lost capacity, extends equipment life, and keeps you in compliance with manufacturer warranty requirements.

Sooner or later, you will replace your air conditioner.  The average life for an air conditioner is 15 years.  For a heat pump, it’s less, around 12 years.  If your system is closing in on, or past the average, it may be worth considering a replacement now.  Air conditioners are 30% more efficient than in recent years.  Depending on the age and condition of your existing system, it’s entirely possible that we can cut your air conditioning usage in half!  Plus, we can improve the air quality (great for pet owners and allergy and asthma sufferers).  Call Marty today – 716-681-0100.