Frequently Asked Questions

Keeping up with the routine maintenance of your electronic air cleaner is vital to ensure the unit’s proper performance and efficiency. First, you’ll want to turn off your air conditioning and heating system. Then go ahead and turn off the power to the Electronic Air Cleaner and make sure the power is off.

Then wait for about 30 seconds and remove the access door. Gently remove the cells and the pre-filters, then replace the access door and make sure it remains closed while cleaning. Next, visually inspect the cells and pre-filters. If they are dirty, then they are now ready to be cleaned.

As with most things, with proper care and maintenance, your air conditioning unit will benefit greatly. Can you imagine buying a new car and then never changing the oil? I hope not! Consistently maintaining your air conditioning unit will avoid lots of problems for you.
Signing up for annual air conditioning and heating system service would include such tasks as cleaning the system, checking for any problems or lingering potential problems, and making adjustments to keep you running at maximum efficiency. This includes inspecting your ducts, indoor and outdoor units and all wiring.

Benefits of Annual Servicing Would Include:

• Increased Air Conditioning System Dependability (less repairs!)
• Source All Potential Problems and Repair Them Quickly (usually cheaper)
• Ensure Maximum Efficiency to Lower Your Energy Costs
• Prolong the Lifespan of all System Equipment
• Ensure Consistently Safe and Healthy Operation
• Significantly Diminish the Chance of a Breakdown

It is suggested that Heating and Air Conditioning equipment be serviced at least once a year. (Which is why we offer annual maintenance plans to provide this service.) The best situation is to have your heating system checked sometime in the Fall, before Winter strikes, and your air conditioning system checked in the early Spring.

If you have oil-fired equipment, it should absolutely be serviced and cleaned annually; preferably at the beginning of each heating season. Furnaces and heat pumps should be inspected at this frequency too.

We recommend that you use a garden hose with good water pressure. On the filter, you should notice an arrow indicating the unit’s airflow direction. First, you need to spray off the filter from the opposite side of the arrow. Then again from the other side. You can repeat this process several times if it is needed.

If the filter is extremely dirty, spray it with a detergent first and let soak for several minutes. Then thoroughly spray the unit off with water.

Be careful not to use too much water pressure or damage may be done to the filter media. When the water runs clear and the filter looks to be clean, simply shake off all excess water and return it to the system.

As the name implies, it should only be used in emergency situations. This is used when you notice that there is something wrong with first-stage heating (meaning the actual heat pump itself).

In other words, if you notice your house is way too cold and it isn’t heating properly and when you went outside you discovered that a tree fell and crushed your heat pump, that would be a proper situation for you to switch over to your emergency heat.

If you have switched to your emergency heat, then you may be in need of our professional heating services to get your back to your first-stage heating.

Heating systems are all different and so their life timeline varies a little depending on the specific type of unit you own. Industry averages have suggested that, in general, it’s safe to say a new heating system you purchase today will last you 10 to 15 years.

Some types of heating systems, like electric furnaces, can be expected to last a bit longer, but that will largely depend on the type and model of your system. Being sure to keep up with regular maintenance is one way to greatly extend the life of your home heating system.

We have experienced and professional technicians that will perform heater maintenance and repair services on just about any type of heating system you could have. It doesn’t matter who put in your current system or how old it is.

A professional may find during his inspection that your system would be more costly to repair than to replace. If this is the case you should consider installing a new heating system vs continuing to pay costly repairs for your old unit.

If you do find that you are in need a new heating unit, we can help you install a new heater so that you will have the new system running in no time.

First, you will have to give consideration to many different factors when making the decision on the right heating system for your home.

The following should be considered when choosing a heating system:

• Size (square footage to be heated), Dimensions and Orientation of your house will all weigh into the equation
• Also the specific sources of fuel available to you
• The type and design of your previous system
• What your family’s heating needs are (What temperature is comfortable and how much time do you need your home heated for)

Gathering all of this information can get to be a pretty overwhelming task, particularly if you have never had to purchase a new heating system before. In this situation, it would be helpful to gather professional advice and guidance so that you can get a better idea of what your options really are.

Our heating specialists can assist you by walking you through the selection process step-by-step.

All furnaces, just like any other piece of equipment, will eventually wear out. Our reliable and professional HVAC service technicians will analyze your furnace looking for certain indicators that tell them your furnace is wearing out. Some of these symptoms include:

• A delayed ignition
• Recurrent pilot light outages
• Wavering or yellow flame
• Excessive corrosion and soot
• Inconsistent heating
• Sulfur smell(burnt eggs)

Equipment owners often start considering replacing their units when the cost and frequency of maintenance and repairs present a bigger headache than the cost of a new unit.

The correct size of your new San Antonio air conditioning system is calculated by one of our qualified AC technicians with the help of the manufacturer’s manual and their own vast personal experience.

The tech will analyze the needs of your house with relation to the direction of the doors and windows along with the overall orientation of the residence. The sun states (we all know Texas is a sun state) are calculated using 105ºF as the baseline ambient temperature. Using blueprints can make the calculations very accurate.

Any technician or salesman that comes to your home and guesses at the proper size air conditioning unit should immediately be run off the job.

Well, according to recent studies done by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), general exposure to air pollutants was found to be as much as 100 times higher indoors than outdoors. So, maybe you should be concerned about the air quality inside your house and with good reason!

Our indoor air quality products at Will’s All Pro handle pollutants, humidity, and many other issues that all aim to improve you and your family’s health.

When you use the standard throwaway filters, you should remember to change them monthly or even consider changing them twice per month. If you have pets and or strong allergies, these could be reasons to change your filter more frequently.

On the other hand, high-efficiency pleated filters and media filters can last as long as 6 months before they need to be replaced.

There are a couple steps that take place when replacing an old air conditioning system. First, the placement of the new equipment will be analyzed and selected. Then, we will inspect several items and determine if they are functioning properly or whether they need to be supplied and replaced.

Items that should be inspected when replacing an air conditioning unit include:

• Duct-Work, Insulation
• Coolant Piping
• Electrical Circuits (components & wiring)
• Thermostat
• Condensate Piping
• Slabs
• Filters
• Driers
• Grills
• Drain Pans
• Evaporator Coil
• and More Depending on the System

Usually, there will be a number called a SEER rating that’s attached to your AC unit, and is used for different things, especially for CPS rebates. It stands for a Season Energy Efficiency Ratio which represents the standardized measurement for how efficient your AC system is as a whole. The higher the rating, the more efficient it is at cooling.

When the seasons change, so does your thermostat when you’re trying to adjust a right setting for your home. With a programmable thermostat, you can set certain temperatures for when you’re not home to help save on energy and your utility bills. Not only this, but the lifespan of your unit is much longer.

UV, just like UV rays, stands for ultraviolet light. Just like UV rays from the sun, you already know how powerful they can be from the burns you can get on a hot summer day. However, these UV lights help more than harm as they work to cleanse your air of all microbial growth and bacteria. Instead of zapping skin, these lights purify mold, fungi, and other pollutants that try and get to your house and are located right before your evaporator coil. With this, these pollutants are neutralized, your coil remains clean, and your indoor air quality will be greatly improved.

Capacity

• GPG = Grains per Gallon of hardness minerals in your water
• Multiply your daily gallons of used water by its GPG to calculate optimal size
• Water softening capacity, not tank size
• Dual-Tank water softeners for large capacity requirements

Example:
5 people use 75 gallons each per day = 375 gallons
GPG = 10
Capacity Used Per Day = 3,750

Controls

• What controls the regeneration cycles
• How long each cycle takes
• How much cash water and salt are used for recharging
• Even fully automatic types require occasional refilling with salt
• Two main control types, Timer and DIR (demand-initiated regeneration)
• Time: Electronic timers automatically recharge your softener at a collection time/day, based around your avg usage
• DIR: More sophisticated and efficient. Senses when to recharge resin, either electronically or with a usage meter

Lease/Own

• Leases range from $15 to $50 per month
• Lease provisions vary, pay attention to monthly fees, install costs, and unit specs
• Ownership annual cost can be $150
• Price to purchase new is $400 – $2,500
• Compare offers for perks like replacing exhausted units with charged units

It is usually not harmful to blend salts in a water softener, but there are types of softeners which are designed for specific water softening products. Whenever using products which aren’t recommended, these softeners will likely not function well.

One pair of salts you do not want to mix would be evaporated and rock salts. Mixing these two salts isn’t recommended, as this might clog the softening reservoir. Its recommended that you allow your system to completely empty of one type of salt before adding another to avoid the occurrence of any problems.

Rock salt contains a lot of matter that will not be water-soluble. As a result, the softening reservoirs need to be cleaned much more regularly. Rock salt is cheaper than evaporated salt and solar salt, but reservoir cleaning can take up a lot of your time and energy.

Solar salt contains a bit more water-insoluble matter than evaporated salt. When one makes a choice about which salt to use, consideration must be given to how much salt can be used, how often the softener needs cleaning out, and the softener design. If salt usage is low, the products could be used alternately. If salt usage is high, insoluble salts will build up faster when using solar salt. Additionally, the reservoir will need cleaning more often. If this is the case then evaporated salt is your best choice.

Salt is usually added to the reservoir during regeneration of the softener. The more frequently a softener is regenerated, the more often salt must be added.

Usually, water softening systems are checked once per month or every 30 days. To guarantee an ample supply of soft water, the salt level should be kept at least half-full all of the time.

Before salt starts working in a water softener it needs a tiny bit of residence time in the reservoir, since the salt is dissolving slowly. When one quickly starts regeneration after salt has been added to the reservoir, the water softener may not work according to standards as the salt needs to dissolve some more.

When the water softening does not take it could also indicate system malfunction or a problem aided by the salt that will be applied.

Well, that really depends on multiple factors, including the water being supplied to you. Some water softeners are more efficient than others and as a result, the operating costs, as well as purchasing price, may vary. When comparing water softener costs it is important to consider the initial price to purchase and install the water softener but also the price to operate the water softener.

There are time operated softeners and water meter-controlled softeners available. A general price range for purchasing a new water softener could be $500 – $1,200. The water meter-controlled units produce the softest water per pound of salt. Some softeners focus on electricity, but some more recent water softeners use water power.

Costs of operating a water softener greatly depend upon the character of water softener and the type of energy that will be used, but also upon the hardness of the water that needs softening and the water usage. When the water is very hard and used heavily, the costs of softening will rise.

Generally, the costs of operating a water softener will vary between $0, $35 and even up to $65 a day. The advantages and long-term cost savings far outweigh the costs of using water softeners.

Yes, with most modern water softeners it is really not a problem to move them to you. Generally speaking, the modern units have simple installation processes including such techniques as quick fitting connections, similar to those used in laundry machines.

All that has got to be done is closing off the inlet and outlet valves of the water softening system & opening up the bypass valve, which allows for hard water to flow to the storage tank and taps throughout your home. Only then can the softener be disconnected, transferred to its new position and installed there.

When the water doesn’t get soft enough, one should first think about problems because of the salt that will be used, or mechanical malfunctions of their water softener’s individual parts & components. When these elements are not the reason for the unsatisfactory water softening, it could be that you need to replace the softener resin, or perhaps even the entire softener.

Through experience, we know that most softener resins and ion-exchanged resins last about 25 years.

Softened water still possesses all the natural minerals that we require. It is just lacking its calcium and magnesium contents, and some sodium is added throughout the softening process. That is why more often than not, softened water is absolutely safe to drink. It is preferable that softened water contains only up to 300mg/L of sodium.

EXCEPTION: In areas with very high hardness the softened water mustn’t be used for the preparing of baby-milk, because of the high sodium content after the softening process has been completed.