Learn more about ways to save on your energy bills. Our home improvement articles contain topics on plumbing, heating, air conditioning and home performance.
In winter, we keep the windows and doors shut, run the furnace all the time, use our fireplaces and create really dry air inside our homes. That warm and toasty home feels good when it’s cold outside. But here are some signs the air in your home is too dry:
Given the dirty nature of bathrooms, and toilets in particular, all homeowners want to find fast and easy ways to clean in these spaces. That’s why many choose to use the drop-in toilet cleaners that often come in the form of bleach-chlorine tablets. These tablets may seem like simple solutions, but they are often more trouble — and damage-causing — than they are worth.
If you use drop-in toilet cleaner tablets, we recommend you change to a different method for keeping your toilet bowl clean. You may like the fresh blue look of the water when using in-tank tablets, but you are actually damaging your toilet — and the long-term cost of repairs and replacements to your toilet far outweigh the short-term ease of dropping in a cleaning solution.
Here’s a look at how these drop-in tablets came to be, why they are harmful and what you can choose to do as an alternative.
Air conditioning is a convenience we rely on during the hottest days of summer and — for those of us who live in the Southern United States — for many months of the year. While these useful appliances don’t usually give us any trouble, they are also known to leak, which can cause extensive water damage to your home. In this guide, we’ll teach you how to easily prevent this potentially catastrophic situation with a simple, affordable and easily installable device called an AC float switch or safety switch.
Most air conditioners serve two primary functions — Removing heat for the air and dehumidifying that air. We’ll briefly describe each of these functions below:
Air conditioners remove heat from the indoor air by making use of a remarkable law in physics. When a liquid turns into a gas — a process known as phase conversion — it absorbs heat. An air conditioning unit takes advantage of this law by forcing certain chemical compounds to evaporate and condense over and over within a coil system.
The chemical compounds used in this process are called refrigerants, which have properties that allow them to evaporate at fairly low temperatures. Air conditioning units are equipped with fans that bring in the relatively warm air from the surrounding environment and move it over these coils filled with cold refrigerant, which are known as evaporator coils. Central air conditioners contain entire duct systems that funnel air to and from these coils.
This cooling cycle consists of two main stages:
In addition to removing heat from the indoor air, most air conditioners also serve a second function — removing moisture from the air as it passes through the evaporator coil. As you now know, when warm air is moved over the evaporator coils and the refrigerant liquid inside evaporates, the surrounding air cools. As this air cools, moisture from the air will condense on the outside of the evaporator coils.To get rid of this moisture, air conditioning equipment contains drain pipes that allows the collected water inside the unit to drain. The water runs down the evaporator coil to a drip pan that temporarily contains the water until it goes down the drain.
Every once in a while, however, the drain pipes become clogged with debris and dirt, in which case they will no longer be able to effectively remove the water. Considering that a single HVAC unit can collect up to 20 gallons of condensed water a day, it’s not hard to imagine the damage that could occur if the water could not be adequately drained.
An HVAC wet switch/float switch, also known as a condensate overflow switch, serves to prevent this pan from overflowing if the AC drain stops working properly. The switch is activated when the level of the water in the pan comes above a certain point, causing the switch mechanism to trip/float to rise. When this happens, the switch will then send a message to the AC unit, and it will shut off, stopping the phase conversion and creation of condensation. At this point, a technician can locate and fix the source of the leak before water damage occurs.
The location of the wet switch/float switch depends on the orientation of your HVAC equipment. Horizontal units typically have a secondary drip pan, which is found under the unit to prevent excess condensation from doing damage. The wet switch/float switch is attached to this secondary drip pan.
For vertical units or horizontal ones that don’t have a secondary drip pan, you can install a float switch on the PVC drain pipe of the unit, which will become activated if the flow of water becomes obstructed. Some HVAC equipment have a condensate pump installed with it, which the condensation drains into from the AC equipment and is pumped out rather than letting gravity drain it. These pumps also come equipped with a mechanism that resembles a float switch and works in the same way by shutting off the equipment and thereby preventing serious water damage.
Regardless of the location of your AC, it is critical to have a wet switch/float switch, or, depending on the type of unit, a condensate pump. An AC wet switch/float switch provides the following benefits:
To give you a better idea of how destructive water damage can be, keep in mind that the average cost for drying your property out from a water leak that is “clean,” which means no other damage occurred, is $2,700. The average cost of drying out a home and fixing the damage done to carpeting, drywall and other areas is around $7,500. Costs can be even higher depending on how much water is involved and how extensive the damage is.
While a leak may seem like just an inconvenience, a leak can severely damage a home if not dealt with quickly. In addition to damaging areas like drywall and carpeting, it may also eventually lead to:
A common alternative to the float switch is a wet switch, which also detects when condensate water overflows. However, it does this in a different way. Unlike float switches, wet switches are normally placed in a secondary drain pan, which is usually dry. If there is an overflow in the primary pan, it will flow over into the second one. The wet switch, upon detecting this moisture, will turn off the unit to prevent water damage.
If you’re a homeowner in Lancaster, Chester or Delaware Counties in Pennsylvania, you can come to Summers and Zim’s for any of your cooling, heating or plumbing needs. We offer a wide variety of services for your AC system, including:
A properly functioning air conditioning system is critical for your comfort and — if it’s extremely hot — your safety as well. Summers and Zim’s will ensure your house stays the reliable refuge you need it to be when the outside temperatures push 100. Don’t hesitate to make an appointment with us for AC maintenance, replacement or repair.
We frequently respond to emergency calls to repair central air conditioning problems that the homeowners could have avoided by scheduling a maintenance service earlier on. Maintenance services let professional technicians examine your system and locate any potential problem areas before they cause emergencies.
Although you may give little thought to thermostats or comfort control, if either of these fail, you’ll certainly want them fixed very quickly. At Summers and Zim’s, we offer repair, maintenance and replacement services for your thermostat and home comfort system.
Although split ductless systems are not one of the more common heating and cooling methods, they work well in many specific situations, including in homes without ducts, multifamily housing and in smaller home additions and apartments. Although highly dependable, this system will eventually require maintenance, repair or replacement. We have the tools and experience to address any of your split ductless system needs.
When creating an ideal home environment, one thing that is often overlooked is overall efficiency, which refers to how well your HVAC equipment can keep the heated or cooled air in your house. The home efficiency testing we perform includes:
For over 80 years, we’ve been providing this community with high-quality repairs and preventative maintenance. However, our excellent equipment service isn’t the only reason we’ve been in business so long – we also offer superior customer service by following our 5-Point HVAC Guarantee, which includes the following promises:
Regardless of what service we perform, you can rest assured that we will always abide by this 5-Point HVAC Guarantee. If you need an installation, repair or routine maintenance, contact us via our online form.
Hiring an unlicensed contractor, or one who might scam you when seeking out plumbing or HVAC services in Pennsylvania, can be disastrous. When you need plumbing services, you want to be sure you’re hiring a certified, licensed plumber in Lancaster, PA or wherever you need service.
Of all the services that you engage for your home, one of the most neglected may be home performance testing. There are numerous benefits of home performance testing, and if you haven’t considered home performance testing in Westchester, PA, Coatesville, or homes throughout Lancaster and Chester County, you are missing out on an important opportunity.
Here’s a brief breakdown of the benefits of home efficiency testing in Lancaster, PA and beyond.
Plumbing problems can be annoying, but plumbing emergencies can be disastrous. While plumbing emergencies can’t always be avoided, there are some signs to watch for that can help you stop a plumbing problem before it becomes a plumbing emergency.
Here’s an overview of some of the most common plumbing problems.
You’d prefer to never have need of an HVAC technician, but when you do need one, you want to know you’re getting one you can trust. You want an HVAC technician who is licensed and certified to work on your system and one you know will provide the service they promise at a fair price.
An unlicensed, untrustworthy HVAC technician is certainly not going to announce that fact to you, but you’ll find out when that technician reneges on any heating system service guarantees they offer when their work fails to fix your system, if they offer any guarantee at all.
You rely on your heating system to get you through the tough cold spells of winter. But how well do you understand the type of heating system you have? Are you aware that there’s a wide variety of options when it comes to heating systems?
Here’s a brief breakdown of the many different types of heating systems available to homeowners and how they work.
If you need plumbing services, it’s very important that those services come from a trustworthy plumber. Why is a trustworthy plumber so important? Because many plumbers can deceive you as to their level of expertise, licensure or certification. You may think you’re getting a certified, licensed plumber in Lancaster, PA, for example, when in fact you’re getting someone who wants to represent themselves as one but who lacks the requirements to be certified or licensed.
JoAnn McElhany is the friendly voice that our customers enjoy speaking with when calling our office. In addition to filling her responsibilities as Service Manager, where she handles technician scheduling, orders, parts, deals, warranties and customer relations. JoAnn also ensures that employees and their families are well-informed and taken care of. She often acts as a second mother to our staff when we have injuries or need advice. Read more »
Summers & Zim’s supports Folds of Honor, providing educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service-members.
Donate Today
“Love & trust your company, techs and work. Had always recommended you to others. You have always been there for me when a problem would arise. It almost feels like I’m family.”
S.M. – East Fallowfield, PA.
Read All ReviewsService members get priority service and enjoy a discount on repair services.
Become a MemberCall (610) 593-5129 for emergency service, or submit a service request on our online scheduling page.
Schedule Your Appointment
