Straight answers to the questions we hear every week, written for the humidity, pollen and cold snaps we actually get here. Every guide is written and kept current by Virgil Odom, our HVAC Tips & Guides Editor.
Our guides cover what a new system costs, why an AC struggles on muggy days or freezes up, when to repair or replace, heat pumps versus gas furnaces, a heat pump blowing cold in winter, drain lines, pollen and filters, furnace tune-ups, duct problems, sizing, mini-splits and thermostat settings.
Cool air from a heat pump on a winter morning can be perfectly normal or a sign of a real fault. Here is how to tell the defrost cycle from a problem, what you can check yourself and when a Birmingham cold snap calls for a technician.
The right thermostat settings in Alabama balance comfort, humidity and the power bill. Here are the numbers we suggest, plus the settings that trip up heat pumps, fans and smart thermostats.
Some rooms are hard to heat and cool with ducts: a bonus room over the garage, a glassy sunroom or a 1920s bungalow with no space for ductwork. A ductless mini-split often solves the problem without tearing into walls.
Bigger sounds safer in a Birmingham summer, but an oversized air conditioner cools fast, quits early and leaves the house sticky. Here is why it happens and how proper sizing works.
Ductwork hides in the two hardest places in a Birmingham house: a damp crawlspace and a hot attic. Here is how ducts fail in each spot, how to read the signs and what a proper repair looks like.
A real furnace tune-up is a set of measurements, not a quick vacuum and a sticker. Here is what gets tested, why each step matters before a Birmingham cold snap, and what you can check yourself.
Every March and April, pine and oak pollen coat Birmingham in yellow-green dust, and a lot of it ends up in your HVAC filter. Here is how MERV works, which filter suits your system and how often to change it while the pollen is flying.
Your air conditioner pulls a lot of water out of Birmingham air, and all of it has to leave through one small pipe. Here is how to spot a clog early, what a float switch does and the one flush you can safely do yourself.
Birmingham winters are mild most days and sharp for a few nights each year. That pattern decides whether a heat pump, a gas furnace or a dual fuel system fits your house, and the answer is not the same for every home.
Ice on the copper line or the indoor unit means something is starving the coil of heat. Here is what usually causes it, what you can safely do while it thaws and when the fix needs a technician.
A 15 year old air conditioner with a big repair bill is one of the hardest calls a homeowner makes. Here is how we weigh age, refrigerant, repair cost and efficiency, with typical Birmingham price ranges.
On a sticky Birmingham afternoon your air conditioner fights two loads at once: heat and water. Here is why the house can feel clammy at 76 degrees, what you can check yourself and when the fix is sizing, airflow or a dehumidifier.
A new heating and cooling system is one of the largest checks most homeowners write for the house. Here is what drives the price around Birmingham, typical installed ranges by system type and how to tell when a repair still makes more sense.
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