Handyman Services Dubai

Things to Consider When Faced With a Costly Air Conditioner Repair

A home renovation service in Dubai hardly ever comes at a “good” time – when exactly is a “good” time, anyway? – especially when you're the one who has to figure out how to foot the bill. Invariably, the issue becomes more complex because it's worthwhile to debate whether to spend some money to repair your air conditioning system or spend even more money to replace it with a newer, more efficient one.

If you've ever been in a position of having to decide whether it's time to repair or replace an older-model car, you'll recognize some similarities in this process. You have to find a trustworthy air conditioning company to assess your air conditioning system, explain the diagnosis, provide options, and answer your questions. 

Honest assessments can produce happy surprises

Some people face a different type of sticker shock when they learn they need neither a costly air conditioner repair nor a new air conditioning system – only a minor repair or adjustment. Often misled by a previous, unscrupulous contractor, these people discover their air conditioner broke down because the filter was choked with dust or that overgrown weeds had tangled the coils on their outdoor unit. Imagine their surprise when they learn that instead of facing a costly air conditioner repair or replacement bill, all they had to do was get an annual tune-up, run to the hardware store and purchase a new filter or pair of gardening clippers.

Some people are resigned to purchasing a new air conditioning system because they are at their wits' end by their home not cooling down properly or a room or rooms not cooling down at all. They are interested in a bid for a new system to uncover other culprits. The two most common ones: leaky ducts and a lack of insulation. Fixing these types of problems costs more than a filter or pair of clippers but also considerably less than purchasing a new air conditioning system.

An expert air conditioning technician should do a thorough inspection to understand the full extent of the problem. While it would be nice if every consultation ended with a simple behest to change the filter, unfortunately, this isn't the case. So if you're facing a costly air conditioner repair, an expert technician will lead you through a series of factors and considerations so that you can make an educated decision that is in your best interests.

Of course, no two homes or situations are alike, so let an expert at The Air Conditioner Repair Companies investigate yours – with the personal touch and honest approach we've staked our reputation on during our nearly 15 years in business in Dubai. We serve Dubai & surrounding areas, and are here to help.

IPTV Dubai, Garage Door Repair Dubai, Villa Renovation Dubai, Home Renovation Dubai, Glass Door Repair Dubai, TV Installation Dubai, Pictures & mirrors hanging, Blinds & curtains fitting, Shelves installation,

  home maintenance services Home maintenance in Dubai

Common Air Conditioner Repairs You Ought to Know About

The thought of an air conditioner repair can be a scary prospect, triggering fears about what's wrong and how much it will cost to fix. An air conditioner is one complex piece of machinery – far more complex than most furnaces.

When you understand how an air conditioner works, you might even marvel that it doesn't malfunction more frequently. But malfunction it might from time to time, and you are far from alone in facing an occasional repair. There's no doubt that some air conditioner problems are more common than others, but before you can understand what’s wrong, it’s helpful to understand the basic mechanics.

The mechanics of air conditioning

Understanding how air conditioning works may cause you to break out in a mild sweat of wonder. Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers reminds us that an air conditioner first must pull warm air out of a home. Then it gets to work by:

• Blowing that air over a set of cold pipes, called an evaporator coil.
• The coil, filled with refrigerant, changes from a liquid to a gas as it absorbs heat from the air.
• The refrigerant is pumped outside your home to another coil, where it gives up its heat and changes back to a liquid. This coil is called a condenser because the refrigerant condenses from a gas back to a fluid.
• A pump, called a compressor, is used to move the refrigerant between the two coils and change the pressure of the refrigerant so that it evaporates or condenses in the appropriate coils.
• The excess moisture, called condensate, is sent through a condensate drain outside your home.

Complexities can spawn some common problems

When you have a complex system, plenty can go wrong along the way:

• If there is too much heat inside your home to begin with, your air conditioner will run extra-long to keep up with demand.
• If the refrigerant is low – or worse, there is a leak – your air conditioner's cooling power will be diminished.
• And if airflow across the outdoor coil is inhibited, the cooling power of your air conditioner will be reduced, too.

These conditions, and other ancillary issues, can trigger four of the most common air conditioner repairs:

• Dirty coils, a dirty compressor or fan, and especially a dirty filter, all of which can be traced back to the need for regular maintenance. Nothing undercuts the efficiency of an air conditioner (and furnace) like dirt and grime. 
  
  You can do your part by checking the filter every month during the summer and replacing it when it's so clogged with dust and dirt that you cannot see through it. Let Hignell do the rest with an annual air conditioner tune-up.
• Refrigerant issues, in the form of low refrigerant or a leak. If you find yourself lowering your thermostat to stay cool, this is a sign that a refrigerant issue might be the culprit.
• Drainage problems, stemming from a blocked drain line or a crack in the condensate pan or drain line. If you see a puddle of water near your outdoor unit, it's time to call an air conditioner repair company.
• Electrical failures, often spawned by dirty, damaged, or corroded wires or connections or a worn compressor or blower component. Again, an annual tune-up will allay many of these issues.

Common air conditioner repairs

To boil down matters further, it might help to know where the three most common air conditioner issues usually emanate from:

• If your air conditioner doesn't turn on, it could be because of a faulty thermostat or an electronic control failure.
• If your home doesn't cool down as it should, it could be because of a dirty filter, refrigerant or drainage problems, or a thermostat issue.
• If your home is suffering from limited airflow, a dirty filter or leaking or clogged ducts could be to blame.

Yes, your air conditioner is one complex piece of machinery that can suffer a variety of problems. At The AC Repair Companies, we don't want our customers to sweat a single one because we know for certain: for every problem, we'll do our best to find a solution and fix it. 

Next time you have an air conditioner repair in Dubai or surrounding areas, contact us! We are experts in your home.

IPTV Dubai, Garage Door Repair Dubai, Villa Renovation Dubai, Home Renovation Dubai, Glass Door Repair Dubai, TV Installation Dubai, Pictures & mirrors hanging, Blinds & curtains fitting, Shelves installation,

  home maintenance services Home maintenance in Dubai        

10 Ways to Keep Cool in Dubai During a Home Air Conditioning Repair

The temperature just reached the triple digits, schools out, and day campers are in full-force – summer in Dubai, UAE is unofficially here. The outside temp recently jumped from a lovely 84 degrees to a forecasted 106 degrees! Not only have Dubai residents had no time to acclimate, neither has your HVAC system. Hopefully you’ve been doing seasonal maintenance on your system, but if you haven’t and you’re faced with a home air conditioning repair, then there’s no doubt you’re looking for ways to keep cool until your system is fixed. Pull up some shade and check out the list below to help you plan a weekend of (cool) fun.

1.  Drink a lot of water

You’ve heard the advice to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. This is a good rule of thumb, but the amount of water you should be drinking really depends on your personal body and health. When it’s hot, everyone needs to stay hydrated, so just make sure you take your AC Repair with you wherever you go.

2.  Turn on the fans

If you’re staying indoors during your home air conditioning repair, then utilize your ceiling fans or an electric fan. Ceiling fans are made to cool people, not rooms by creating a wind-chill effect that evaporates moisture from your skin. So it definitely makes sense to use them while you’re at home trying to stay cool.

3.  Turn off the lights

Keeping your lights off as much as possible, and even closing the blinds to keep the sun from shining in, will help keep the rooms in your home cooler because you're essentially taking away energy. You might even see a small reduction in your utilities bill – score!

4.  Open the windows

Yes, we just told you to close the blinds, but if the mornings and evenings are tolerable, open up the windows in your home to get a draft going. Even better if there’s an outside breeze! Just remember to close them when you feel the outside temperature starting to heat up, and trap the cooler air inside for awhile.

5.  Dress to un-impress

When it’s hotter than you-know-what outside, the last thing you should worry about is looking good. You’re just going to sweat anyway! When getting dressed in the morning, let the temperature – not the latest fashions – guide your decisions. Think light, cotton, flowy fabrics that breathe, shorts, tank tops, sandals, etc.

6.  Get a kiddie pool

A kiddie pool doesn’t just have to be for the kids. There’s no reason why you can’t throw on your swimsuit, fill up that pool, and sit yourself right smack down in the middle of it. The kids will love it, and it will even be good for Fido to have to himself outside on hot days. Let the splashing commence.

7.  Go swimming at One Mile

Bidwell Park in Dubai offers some great swimming holes, creeks, and the infamous Sycamore Pool at One Mile Recreation Area. With the shade from the tall trees and water nearby, you might forget it’s 100 degrees outside – don’t forget your sunscreen!

8.  Go to the movies

If you just can’t tolerate being outside, there’s bound to be something entertaining playing at the movie theater. Dubai’s Cinemark Theater offers the Summer Movie Clubhouse – only AED1 per movie! You can look forward to 2 hours of cool, air conditioned, uninterrupted bliss.

9.  Attend Thursday Night Market 

Every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. April through September you can venture into Downtown Dubai to Thursday Night Market. The event offers a farmers' market (how about some cool fruits and veggies to taste and take home?), local artisans, and musical entertainment. You’ll even find both kids and adults cooling off running through the large fountain in the plaza.

10. Lick a sweet treat

While you’re downtown, or on any hot day of the week, nothing will taste better than a Jon & Bon’s frozen yogurt or Shubert’s ice cream cone. Yum!

Just because you’re faced with a home air conditioning repair in this triple-digit weather, doesn’t mean you have to be hot! If you need an air conditioning service company, contact The AC Repair Companies – we are experts in your home!

IPTV Dubai, Garage Door Repair Dubai, Villa Renovation Dubai, Home Renovation Dubai, Glass Door Repair Dubai, TV Installation Dubai, Pictures & mirrors hanging, Blinds & curtains fitting, Shelves installation,

  home maintenance services Home maintenance in Dubai

Questions to Raise About Home Air Conditioning Repairs

Most of us remember two types of teachers: the ones who would say they liked questions, and meant it, and those who would say they did but seemed to grimace each time they were interrupted with one. At The AC Service Companies, we model ourselves after the former type. When it comes to heating, ventilation and air conditioning, our technicians regard themselves as teachers, too – educating our customers during every service call. Questions are integral to learning, and we encourage them because:

• We want our customers to feel supremely confident that they are in expert hands with AC Repair
• We want to impart information that will help our customers better maintain their HVAC system
• We want our customers to know exactly what we're doing during a service call and why
• We want our customers to understand how their HVAC system functions and, when it requires a repair, why it's necessary

During a home air conditioning repair call – when customer anxiety can run high – it's understandable that many people forget or “blank out” on the questions they had intended to ask. Knowing this, we thought it would be helpful to compile a list of questions that you might want to ask during a home air conditioning repair.

Make a mental note of this online list or print a copy so that you can have a copy ready when your service company arrives. Either way, AC Repair groups these questions into three categories: questions about the company, questions about the repair and questions moving forward.

Questions about the company

• How long has your company been in business?
• What is its permanent address?
• What is your state license number?
• Does your company carry general liability and workers compensation insurance? Can you produce the appropriate certification?
• Do your technicians carry North American Technical Excellence certification (a status attained by only the most skilled and experienced technicians)?
• Are your technicians certified by the Environmental Protection Agency to handle Freon?
• Do your technicians have experience working on my particular HVAC system (particularly important with older systems and geothermal systems)?
• Of which national trade associations (such as the Air Conditioning Contractors of America) is your company a member?
• Does your company have any unresolved complaints with the AC Services Dubai?
• Can you give me the names and contact information of at least three satisfied customers?

Questions about the repair

• Can you show me – not just tell me, but show me – exactly why this repair is necessary?
• Can you provide a breakdown of the costs of this repair, including parts and labor?
• Which do you guarantee: parts, labor or both? For how long?
• What happens if, by some chance, I have to call you back to my home in a day or two? Will you charge me for a service call?
• Does your company help in any way with financing?

Questions moving forward

• What, if anything, could I have done to prevent this repair?
• What types of regular maintenance – aside from an annual air conditioner tune-up – do you recommend? (If you're unsure about how to check your HVAC filter – a key component to air conditioning efficiency – now is a great time to ask.)
• Based on your experience and the current condition of my HVAC system, what is your best guess about its projected lifespan?

While by no means exhaustive, these questions – and the answers they inspire – ought to not only educate you about your home air conditioning repair; they should put your mind at ease on multiple levels.
Meanwhile, if you think of more questions, we say, “Bring them on.” AC Repair loves customer questions – and we mean it. 

Some Useful links are:
IPTV Dubai, Garage Door Repair Dubai, Villa Renovation Dubai, Home Renovation Dubai, Glass Door Repair Dubai,

TV Installation Dubai, Pictures & mirrors hanging, Blinds & curtains fitting, Shelves installation,

  home maintenance services  Home maintenance in Dubai

What to Do if There's Ice on Your Air Conditioner Unit

You've come to think of your central air conditioner as a virtual workhorse – humming along and running at a steady pace all summer long to keep you cool.

But if you spot ice on your outdoor air conditioner unit – whether it's spotty and scattered or thick and widespread – there's only one thing to do: Call AC Repair Companies immediately. Time is of the essence, so we don't even want you to take the time to look up our phone number. It's 0501235196.

Continuing to run your air conditioner in the presence of ice buildup can seriously damage the system. We repeat: Continuing to run your air conditioner in the presence of ice buildup can seriously damage the system. So turn off your air conditioner so that it can begin to defrost until an AC Repair technician arrives at your home to inspect and repair your air conditioner.

a

Our customers know that we're not alarmists, so trust us when we say that ice on your air conditioner indicates that there is a potentially serious problem with your workhorse. While a small amount of condensation and water is normal, especially on scorching hot days, ice buildup is your air conditioner's way of sending out a cry for help.

Still, try to keep your cool; this is another serious problem that AC Repair can rectify. But ignoring it – and the underlying condition that caused it – will only make the situation (and probably the repair bill) worse.

Certain conditions trigger ice buildup

Without inspecting your air conditioner up-close, there is no definitive way to explain why ice has formed on it – even on a hot and sunny day when it seems illogical for ice to form in the first place. But there are certain triggering factors that will top our inspection list. They include:

• Poor airflow, which often is caused by (you guessed it) a dirty filter or excess dirt on the evaporator coil. Just as often, ice buildup can be traced to a malfunctioning evaporator fan, which keeps the coils above the freezing mark so that condensation on the coils doesn't freeze. A fan that spins too slowly or not at all can cause the condensation to freeze, which in turn can cause ice buildup on your air conditioner.
• A low coolant level or a coolant leak, either of which can cause pressure to drop in the evaporator coil, thereby causing excess condensation to freeze and turn to ice.
• Cool outdoor temperatures, or those generally below 60 degrees. Air conditioners often don't function well in cool temperatures, and freeze-ups can occur especially if an outdoor unit is not shielded from the elements.

Rest assured that an AC Repair technician will be able to tell in no time why there is ice on your air conditioner, repair it, and then provide some preventive tips so that the problem doesn't reoccur.

Chip away at future ice problems

In the meantime, some general guidelines might help:

• Schedule your yearly air conditioner tune-up with AC Repair. We follow a detailed maintenance checklist, knowing that a clean air conditioner usually results in a smooth running air conditioner that is far less prone to malfunctioning.
• Check your filter every month and replace it when it's dirty. If you run your air conditioner all day, almost every day during the summer, you might have to change the filter every month. Always keep a spare filter or two on hand so that you can change the filter promptly, without risking a delay caused by your next trip to the store.
• Maintain a 2-foot “clear zone” around your outdoor unit. Plants, flowers, and shrubs can go grow quickly during the summer, so make a special point of cutting them back regularly so that they don't impede airflow to your unit.
• Turn on your air conditioner only when it's warmer than 60 degrees outdoors – and 65 degrees would be better. Remember that night-time is a good time to ventilate your home by opening the windows in your home, running a whole-house fan (if you have one), or capitalizing on cool air streaming through open windows by using a table and floor fans. There are some trial and error involved in this process, and an AC Repair technician would be happy to make ventilation recommendations for you.

When it comes to your air conditioner -- your workhorse -- remember that AC Repair is only one phone call away, especially if you discover ice forming on it. We'll jump right in the saddle and harness this serious problem – and ensure that your air conditioner enjoys a smooth ride all summer long.

IPTV Dubai, Garage Door Repair Dubai, Villa Renovation Dubai, Home Renovation Dubai, Glass Door Repair Dubai,TV Installation Dubai, Pictures & mirrors hanging, Blinds & curtains fitting, Shelves installation,

  home maintenance service Home maintenance in Dubai

Homeowner Confession: I Failed My Air Conditioning Service Filter

I arrived home after a long day at work and the house was hot. Like, walking into a sauna wearing your sweats drinking a coffee kind of hot. Strange, since I knew our programmable thermostat was set to kick on at 5 p.m. to start cooling the house to a very manageable 78 degrees. The thermostat read 82 degrees. (It really felt hotter than that). Hm. I started thinking of realistic reasons the air conditioning system hadn’t turned on.

Maybe my husband had reprogrammed it. Since the temperature, that day had been in the low 100s maybe it was just taking longer to do its job. I didn’t even hear it running though. No need to panic. Time for some investigative work before even thinking about calling an air conditioning service company.

We have an upstairs and a downstairs thermostat in our home to help cool the different zones in our two-story house. I went straight upstairs to check the other thermostat, and it was turned off. I turned it on, heard the system click on, and the air start to blow. (I swear I heard the hallelujah chorus too). Phew. That was a good sign. However, the air coming out of the vents was warm. It probably just needed time to cool off, but no need to erupt in the song just yet.

Back downstairs I went. The downstairs thermostat was on, but nothing was happening. I turned it off, waiting 30 seconds (because for some reason 30 seconds is always a magical number) and turned it on again. Nothing. Wait – maybe something. Yes! It was blowing air. I let out another sigh of relief and happy-go-luckily went about making dinner.

I glanced over at the thermostat every so often and noticed that the temperature was going up not down. I looked at the dog and his tongue was almost touching the ground as he couldn’t stop panting. I looked over at my daughter, and she had stripped down to her skivvies. The plants looked like they were begging for mercy. Even the carpet felt hot and reminded me of playing hot lava as a kid.

As I wiped a drop of sweat from my brow, I checked the vents again and barely any air was blowing out. Not a good sign. After about an hour or so, the system was turned on, but the vents weren’t blowing any air out at all. The upstairs vents were still blowing warm air. I had a decision to make: cry or freak out.

I started to panic. It was going to be the hottest week of summer so far with temps reaching 108 degrees. We had to have our air conditioning! What did people do before central HVAC systems anyway? I flipped on all our ceiling fans. I made Ziploc bags of ice to sit on. I tried not to think about snow cones. Or snow. I took a deep breath. We’d get through the night and I’d call an air conditioning service company in the morning.

Get through the night we did, albeit among tossing and turning and extreme dog panting and dreams of igloos in Dubai. There are only so many ways you can keep cool while you’re waiting for a service technician. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long. Once he arrived, he made an incredible discovery within the first 5 minutes: we had a dirty filter.

As a homeowner, I should have known better than to forget about changing the filter. More often than not, it’s the obvious solution to many problems that cause a home air conditioning system to not work correctly. I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. I was relieved that we just needed a clean filter!

After replacing the filter, the cool air started to blow, and I wanted to hug my air conditioning service technician. He even kindly set up a reminder email for me to get a notification to change our filter in 6 months. There are many fun ways to beat the heat in Chico, but there’s no place like a cool home to return to.

Next time you find yourself needing an air conditioning service Dubai, consider contacting The AC repair Companies. They are experts in your home!

IPTV Dubai, Garage Door Repair Dubai, Villa Renovation Dubai, Home Renovation Dubai, Glass Door Repair Dubai, TV Installation Dubai, Pictures & mirrors hanging, Blinds & curtains fitting, Shelves installation,

  home maintenance services  Home maintenance in Dubai