Find an Air Conditioning Engineer you can trust in Heriot.

Are you planning to install a new climate control in your home or property? If yes, then there are a number of things you’d have to consider before making a financial commitment and that’s related to air conditioning planning permission. It’s crucial to equip yourself with the facts so as to avoid any hiccups along the ways and end up with an AC system that works well and complies with all relevant air conditioning regulations. In this post, we’re going to give you a good insight into planning permission for air conditioning in homes. Let’s take a look!

In general, majority of small air conditioning installations do not need planning permission. In other words, you don’t have to submit a planning permission application to install an air conditioning system in your home or property – if you want to, simply go ahead with it. However, there’s a need to ensure that your external air conditioning units meet some regulations. These regulations include:

• It isn’t bigger than 0.6m3
• It’s over a metre from the boundaries of any property
• It’s more than a metre away from the edge of a flat roof
• It shouldn’t be fitted on a pitched roof

In addition, you’d have to ensure that there isn’t a wind turbine on the property. For a more accurate information, it’s more advisable to reach out to your local authority for advice on air conditioning planning permission before installing your air conditioning unit. They’re in a much better position to advise you on how to ensure that your air conditioning complies with the relevant regulations as well as whether or not you’ll need a planning permission.
 

Several individuals think that the the way their air conditioning system works is simply by pumping hot air out of their homes or offices, blowing a cool air in return. This is absolutely wrong! The hot air is, in fact, cycled back in as cold air and this process continues until the thermostats gets dropped down to the required or set temperature. The air conditioning system manages this in a similar way to how the refrigerator manages to stay cold and of course, excluding the insulated box.

The short and simple answer to the question of what gas an air conditioning use is Freon. This is a non inflammable gas which is subjected to the evaporation process over and over again in most refrigerators to keep the temperature at a low level. This same process is repeated in air conditioning systems. Now let’s take a look at how the Freon gas is incorporated in AC systems.

The cold Freon gas is firstly compressed by a compressor in the air conditioner. The gas is then combined with a little quantity of oil in order to lubricate the compressor. When Freon gas is compressed, the pressure is increased which makes it incredibly hot. It then moves through a couple of coils which works to lowering the heat and turning it to liquid. This Freon liquid will then be transmitted via an expansion valve which causes it to cool down until evaporation takes place. The outcome of this is a low pressure cold Freon gas which is then transmitted via another set of coils allowing the gas to collect the heat and lower the air within the room.

The air conditioner now filters the air and clears out the dust, smoke, pollen and other kinds of air pollutants. The system also absorbs excess liquid from the air too which it uses to cool down the system and pump it through a hose.

We all know how helpful air conditioning systems can be especially during the hot summer season which is great at making your home feel nothing less than an inferno. So if you have an AC system, you’d probably want to know if leaving it on will be cheaper and more efficient.

The short and simple answer to this question is yes, leaving your air conditioning system on will make make it cheaper and more efficient. This isn’t what you or many other people will have in mind though. Under no circumstances should you leave you air conditioning system on full blast 24/7. To make your air conditioning system more efficient by leaving it on has a right and wrong way you can go about it. Let’s have a look!

If you’d ever noticed, any time you turn your air conditioner off during a very a hot day, even if it’s for just a couple of hours, things tend to get thrown out of balance pretty quickly. When turned back on, your AC system will have to work even harder to restore the usual comfort levels in the room. When you abuse this dial in such a fashion, the AC system can only become more inefficient rather than making your home more comfortable quickly.

On the other hand, your AC system ( when tuned to the right settings) can help maintain the proper temperature and humidity balance within your home instead of turning it off while away. And upon getting back, you can simply turn down the thermostat a bit which helps you prevent the usual stagnant air that you’d be hit with when your return home (with the AC system turned off) that’ll have you racing for the dial.

Also referred to as Freon, the refrigerant “R22 is a commonly used chlordiflouromethane that’s usually incorporated in air conditioning systems as well as many other refrigeration applications. However, because of the evidence discovered which shows the gas can contribute to the damage of the ozone layer, the refrigerant has now been banned since Dec 31, 2009 as it became legally required that any system making use of R22 and became faulty must be replaced.

Generally, R22 owners in commercial applications are now responsible for checking for leaks, record keeping as well as labelling of equipment using this type of gas. Failure to comply with these directives can lead to hefty fines.

Existing refrigeration and air conditioning equipment that makes use of R22 can still be used. However, the owner of the equipment will be denied any rights to purchase extra tanks of gas that’ll keep the equipment running. In the event whereby an air conditioning system requires a complete recharge of the R22 refrigerant, according to the law, it’ll be considered obsolete and therefore will have to be replaced. What’s more? As the remaining supplies of R22 starts to decline, the price of getting the refrigerant is expected to skyrocket. As a result, do not be shocked if the cost of purchasing more R22 to keep your current equipment running outweighs the cost of replacing your existing equipment with a new and environmentally approved one.

As R22 is gradually being phased out, there are new ozone friendly alternatives which are being introduced into the refrigerant market. Out of these alternatives, the most common one is the R410A, which is purely a combination of hydrofluorocarbons which does not deplete the ozone layer.

NO - as air conditioning systems use fluorinated gases as refrigerants, all work on them must be done by professionals holding valid F-Gas certification. There is a range of different qualifications and certifications that apply for this, so it's always best to ask someone who is qualified to do this.

As the heat start to come up especially during the summer months, the swelter will mercifully be kept in check by air conditioning. The technology has made a significant impact on modern life and it can now be considered a norm for all new and modern homes. So if you’re also planning to fit new HVAC air conditioning systems in your home or property, you may also be interested in knowing exactly how it works. In this article, we aim to provide you with an in depth insight into how air conditioning operates. Now let’s take a closer look at the process!

✓ A grille at the bottom of the machine absorbs warm air from the room

✓ The warm air is transmitted over some chiller pipes through which a coolant fluid is circulating. Working in a similar fashion as the chiller cabinet in a refrigerator, this part cools down the transmitted warm air and any excess moisture is duly removed by a dehumidifier.

✓ The air is then transmitted over a heating element which is quite similar to the one present in a fan heater. On a cold day, this part of the unit can be turned up in order to allow the HVAC works as heater.

✓ A fan which is positioned at the top blows the air back through another grilled into the room.

✓ Coolant flows through the the chiller pipes. In the process, it carries heat from the air blowing past the pipes and then it evaporates - converting the cool liquid into a hotter gas. This heat is then transported to the outside of the building from inside the room.

✓ With time, the heat inside the building slowly blows away into the outside air.

Are you trying to choose the perfect air conditioning unit for your home or property? Or perhaps you’re simply trying to figure out if it could be the right climate control option for your house. Regardless of your purpose, determining the amount AC systems cost to run can play a key role in identifying what your best options really are.

Obtaining estimates for the amount your new air conditioning units will cost to run may not be on top of your priority list and even more so if you’re always busy trying to determine the installation price. However, it won’t be the wisest decision to procure a new air conditioning system you can’t afford to use.

There are a lot of factors that determines the cost of running an air conditioning system. However, to give a rough idea of how much it’ll cost to run your new AC system, here’s a cost guide for two of the most popular types of air conditioning - split and multi split units.

For a small room size with an air conditioning output of about 2.5 kW, the cost to run per hour is about £10. Meanwhile,a mid-sized room with an air conditioning output of about 3.5 kW, the cost to run per hour is about £14. And lastly, a large room size with an air conditioning output of about 5 kW, the cost to run per house will be about £20.

In the event whereby you’re eager to fit a new air conditioning system, your best bet for a more accurate quote will be to get in touch with an air conditioning technician who will go through your unique project as well as the price influencing factors to provide a unique price for your project as well as its running cost.

The importance of having your office heating and cooling system serviced on a regular basis simply can’t be overemphasized. Not only does it ensure the proper functioning of your system, but it also ensures it’s energy efficiency, helps you save some cool cash and and also ensures that a great indoor air quality is maintained. However, what discourages most business owners from servicing their air conditioning unit on a regular basis is the fear that the cost of doing so might be high and since the unit is not giving any issues yet, then any required maintenance efforts can be overlooked. The reality here is, no matter how high the cost of servicing your office air conditioning system seems to be, you’d have to pay higher to get it fixed when it starts developing series of faults that could have been prevented with proper maintenance. In this post, we’re going to consider the cost involved in the servicing of office air conditioning systems. Let’s take a look!

First and foremost, you should note that during an office air con service, the refrigerant will be recharged and the complete quantity of refrigerant is pumped out of the AC system weighed, filtered and dried. Once done, the AC system will be re-gassed with the quantity of refrigerant prescribed by the manufacturer. Furthermore, the quantity of the AC compressor oil is also changed with the same amount of fresh oil. A vacuum test will also be carried out to determine whether or not there are damages or leaks in the AC system which has to be fixed.

The cost of an office air con service depends on a number of factors including quantity and type of refrigerant required, location and more. On the average, the amount you can expect to incur to service your air conditioning system would be within the range of £60 to £90.