THE JIM BROWN COMPANY 870-425-5775
Our Family Serving Yours Since 1964
ENERGY MGMT The Jim Brown Company is offering you an energy saving program that involves new high tech equipment and highly trained specialized technicians to perform these jobs . It is a high tech energy wellness test and it will show you how your heating and cooling system is functioning.This equipment allows us to test and analyze your comfort system's efficiency . It will show you if it is working at it's true capacity . High efficiency has nothing to do with SEER, HSPF or any manufacturer 's rating unless the entire system has been tested in it's installed condition !! Find out how you can get the most efficiency from your comfort system today and start saving money . So , don't delay call us today and find out how well your comfort system is performing . This program is brought to Arkansas by the Entergy power company and the test is FREE to all Entergy customers . It will cost co -op customers $ 75.00 for the test .This program will save you energy dollars . We can be reached @ 800-467-1775, 870-425-5775 or by e-mail @ jim@jimbrowncompany.com . 2011 Entergy Customer System Wellness Program Entergy will pay for the wellness test / tune up to done --the customer pays nothing . Last year Clearesults , the consulting firm that Entergy uses for their program found that almost every system that was tested was at least 30% below standard .With few exceptions there were 3 things that were found to be deficient . They are dirty blower wheels , dirty indoor coils and dirty condensing units. Along with these major contributors to lower performance were improper refrigerant levels , and duct related airflow problems. In 2010 the Entergy program will provide the following incentives: 1) Free testing -- this is a $75. 00 value that has no cost . 2) Entergy will pay the first $25.00 of the cost to clean the blower wheel 3) Entergy will pay the first $25.00 to clean the evaporator coil 4) Entergy will pay the first $25.00 to clean the outdoor unit coils The Jim Brown Company will match these Entergy coupon amounts for any repair that takes place during the wellness test/ tune up visit .The only exclusion will be refrigerant. Click onto the WELLNESS TEST subpage and find out more about this wellness program for your comfort system . WHO NEEDS AN AC TUNE UP ? Anyone that has an air conditioner that is older than 2 years needs an air conditioning tune up performed. How hard does the average air conditioner work ? If the average size air conditioner is a 3 ton unit , then the following data is true . If the system runs 20% of the time, then the following information is accurate ; more run time the numbers grows , less run time the number decreases. The same is true with the size of the equipment, a 2 ton unit will move less air , a 5 ton unit will move more air. A 3 ton unit produces 1200 CFM (cubic feet per minute ) of air to the conditioned space . At 20% run time that would be reduced to 240CFM .There are 60 minutes in an hour making that unit produce 14,400 CFM per hour. There are 24 hours in a day making that unit produce 345,600 CFM per day .There are 365 days in a year ( we are dealing with an air conditioner that works only in the summer , but the fan delivers air for the heater so the CFM of air data has to be a full year) making that unit deliver 126,144,00 CFM of air in a year. Even if the unit only ran 1 % of the time that would represent 6,307,200 CFM a year. That is a big number , even the most thrifty home owner will use the comfort system more than 1% of the time . With this huge volume of air moving through a system it is not surprising that a good bit of dust accumulates on the blower, indoor coil , outdoor coil and the duct system of a normal well maintained system . There are 3 elements that have to work together to make an air conditioner work like it should . They are air flow , refrigerant levels and properly sized equipment . An air conditioning tune up is a very complex group of calculations that will measure the actual data of how the system is operating as it is found . To do this test some very sophisticated equipment is require. The oudoor temperture needs to be 70 degrees or above . No longer can the normal refrigerant gauges be used to analzye the data ; special computerized gauges are required along with many other special tools . The air must be measured for temperature and humidity . All of this data is fed into a notebook computer that is part of the onsite visit. The notebook computer has the software in it to properly analzye the data to make sure that the test is true and accurate . When complete the, airflow data , the refrigerant data and the equipment compatibility data will all be compared. This will allow an accurate statmement to be issued as to the performance and efficiency of the unit as it now stands. During the test , the entire system will be checked and the data will tell where the problems , if any exist , are. After hundreds of test , the Jim Brown Company has found that very few systems are without need for upgrading . Our data has shown that the average system is operating at 70% of the rated capability, and many much less. When the list of items to remediate has been given to the customer they must determine how many of the items listed will be addressed , if any. A price will be given for the work and scheduled to be done . When the remediation process is complete the validation part of the process begins . The same test work and data collection will be done that determined the original efficiency of the equipment will be done .This will prove the remediation work was done properly or not. If not , the JBCO will return to improve their work. If the work has been done , and the final data is given , the new performance data will be shared with the customer . All of this will be done in written report form .This is possible due to the use and ability of the notebook computer . MY HOME HAS TOO MUCH DUST There are 3 major reasons for dust to accumulate inside a home. The first is to have dust inside the duct system that is sent into the space with the conditioned air. The second is to have appliances like bathroom fans , kitchen hoods , clothes dryers and leaky supply ducts that are creating a negative pressure inside the conditioned space forcing outside air to enter the space and bringing dust along with it . The third reason is to have an open hearth wood burning fireplace or other wood burning appliance . Solution for dust entering the conditioned space from the duct system : To determine if the duct system is distributing dust inside the home , a visual check of the system and the duct must be made . If the duct system is bringing dust to the conditioned space the blower wheel will be covered with dust . That dust will have been forced to go through the evaporator coil of the AC system then enter the ducts where it will be distributed throughtout the duct system and will end up in the conditioned space .There are 2 reason for this to happen . First is not servicing the filters in the return air allowing dust to enter the system and ducts . Solution : Properly service the filters . They need to be changed whe they show signs that dust has collected on them. Second is to have a break in the return air system . Solution : Perform a blower door and duct blaster test to find the leaks in the return air ducts and sheet rocked chases so they can be repaired . Cost for this is $90.00 for the test and whatever it takes to fix the problem. When the repair has been made and the system is tight with clean filters , this is the proper time to perform a duct cleaning to remove the dust that was forced into the system . Solution for the forced air infiltration problem When an appliance such as a bathroom fan , clothes dryer, kitchen hood or leaky supply air duct is present in a home , air is evacuated from the space making the conditioned space to have a negative pressure. To determine if this is happening or not , a visual inspection of the indoor blower must be made . If it is clean , that eliminates the duct system from the dust problem . This means that the air is coming into the conditioned space from outside the conditoned space .This happens when there are places for the air to enter the space such as electrical outlets , can lights , holes where plumbing or electrical work or duct work was done that was no properly sealed . Doors , windows and walls all provide places where air can infiltrate the conditioned space . Solution: A blower door and duct blaster test must be done . This will find the leaks in the duct system and the home structure in the one test . When the test has been complete, the places where the air is escaping will have identifed themselves . With this knowledge only the trouble areas will be addressed . When the problem areas have been repaired , a retest is done to prove the quality of the work completed . The cost for a blower door, duct blaster test is $90.00 plust the cost of the needed repairs . All homes have appliances and duct systems that are forcing outside air to enter the conditioned space .Sealing the home leaks and tightening the duct system is a great deterrent from having future dust problems but it does not address the issue that bathroom fans , clothes dryers ,and kitchen hoods evacuate air from the space making it be negative and forces air inside even the tightest home . Solution: The air that is forced out of the conditioned space must be repalaced with conditioned air from the outside to bring the conditioned space to neutral or slightly positive . This is done with a duct from the return air that has a damper to adjust the amount needed to the outside .This will draw air from the outside, condition it and return it to the conditioned space . At first this seems to be not cost effective --to insert outside air into the return air . This is not true . When the air has been replaced and the conditoned space is returned to neutral there can not be any additional cost to do this since the air will enter one way or the other. The only time additional cost is incurred is to bring the space to a positive pressure . A slight positive pressure is not a waste of energy and will provide the solution the the problem . Dealing with wood burning appliances : Wood burning appliances must evacuate air from the conditioned space to ventilate the flue. This creates negative pressure inside the space .The act of buring wood creates ash and that becomes dust . As long as the appliance has burned wood and has ashes in it this will be the easiest way for air to enter the space and bring the ash and dust with it . Solution : When using a wood burning appliance it is important to seal off from the conditioned space . Good glass doors on a fireplace and tight wood stoves accomplish this task. |
