HVAC Services
Residential HVAC Services
We offer a wide range of products and services to assist with all of your Air conditioning and Heating Service needs.
What is HVAC ?
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)[1] is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. “Refrigeration” is sometimes added to the field’s abbreviation, as HVAC&R or HVACR or “ventilation” is dropped, as in HACR (as in the designation of HACR-rated circuit breakers).
HVAC is an important part of residential structures such as single family homes, apartment buildings, hotels and senior living facilities, medium to large industrial and office buildings such as skyscrapers and hospitals, vehicles such as cars, trains, airplanes, ships and submarines, and in marine environments, where safe and healthy building conditions are regulated with respect to temperature and humidity, using fresh air from outdoors.
Ventilating or ventilation (the “V” in HVAC) is the process of exchanging or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality which involves temperature control, oxygen replenishment, and removal of moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases. Ventilation removes unpleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduces outside air, keeps interior building air circulating, and prevents stagnation of the interior air.
Ventilation often refers to the intentional delivery of the outside air to the building indoor environment. It is one of the most important factors for maintaining acceptable indoor air quality in buildings. Methods for ventilating a building are divided into mechanical/forced and natural types.[2]
The three major functions of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning are interrelated, especially with the need to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality within reasonable installation, operation, and maintenance costs. HVAC systems can be used in both domestic and commercial environments. HVAC systems can provide ventilation, and maintain pressure relationships between spaces. The means of air delivery and removal from spaces is known as room air distribution.[3]
Individual systems
In modern buildings, the design, installation, and control systems of these functions are integrated into one or more HVAC systems. For very small buildings, contractors normally estimate the capacity and type of system needed and then design the system, selecting the appropriate refrigerant and various components needed. For larger buildings, building service designers, mechanical engineers, or building services engineers analyze, design, and specify the HVAC systems. Specialty mechanical contractors and suppliers then fabricate, install and commission the systems. Building permits and code-compliance inspections of the installations are normally required for all sizes of building.
Can a poorly maintained HVAC System make me sick?
The answer is a resounding YES!
Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a condition in which people in a building suffer from symptoms of illness or become infected with chronic disease from the building in which they work or reside.[1] The outbreaks may or may not be a direct result of inadequate cleaning or inappropriate cleaning methods.[2] SBS has also been used to describe staff concerns in post-war brutalist-style buildings with misplanned building aerodynamics, defects in the construction materials or assembly process and-or inadequate maintenance.[2] Certain symptoms tend to increase in severity with the time people spend in the building; often improving over time or even disappearing when people are away from the building.[2] Exposure to toxic black mold might be a problem.[3] SBS is also used interchangeably with “building-related symptoms”, which orients the name of the condition around patients symptoms rather than a “sick” building.[4] A 1984 World Health Organization (WHO) report suggested up to 30% of new and remodeled buildings worldwide may be subject of complaints related to poor indoor air quality.[5] Other causes have been attributed to contaminants produced by outgassing of some types of building materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC), molds (see mold health issues),[6][7] improper exhaust ventilation of ozone (byproduct of some office machinery), light industrial chemicals used within, or lack of adequate fresh-air intake/air filtration (see minimum efficiency reporting value).[2]
The main identifying observation is an increased incidence of complaints of symptoms such as headache, eye, nose, and throat irritation, fatigue, and dizziness and nausea. In fact the 1989 Oxford English Dictionary defines SBS in that way.[2] The World Health Organization created a 484-page tome on indoor air quality back in 1984 when SBS was attributed only to non-organic causes, and suggested that the book might form a basis for legislation or litigation.[8]
A Swedish researcher named Thörn states that “the case study methodology can contribute to a better understanding and management of sick building syndrome.” In the particular case that he studied, after many years the building itself was condemned.[9] Sick building causes are frequently pinned down to flaws in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. However, there have been inconsistent findings on whether air conditioning systems result in SBS or not.[10]
More recently, sick building was confirmed as a vector for the transmission of SARS in 2003.[11][12] Norovirus has also been linked with buildings because of “the small inoculum required to produce infection (<100 viral particles), prolonged viral shedding, and its ability to survive in the environment.”[13] Many cases of Norwalk virus and norovirus outbreak have been traced back to cruise ships with food service in unsanitary conditions,[14][15][16] or filthy personal hygiene around the toilet.[17]
Signs and symptoms
Human exposure to aerosols has been documented to give rise to a variety of adverse health effects.[18] Building occupants complain of symptoms such as sensory irritation of the eyes, nose, or throat; neurotoxic or general health problems; skin irritation; nonspecific hypersensitivity reactions; infectious diseases;[19] and odor and taste sensations.[20] Exposure to poor lighting conditions has led to general malaise.[21]
Extrinsic allergic alveolitis has been associated with the presence of fungi and bacteria in the moist air of residential houses and commercial offices.[22] A study in 2017 correlated several inflammatory diseases of the respiration tract with objective evidence of damp-caused damage in homes.[23]
The WHO has classified the reported symptoms into broad categories, including: mucous membrane irritation (eye, nose, and throat irritation), neurotoxic effects (headaches, fatigue, and irritability), asthma and asthma-like symptoms (chest tightness and wheezing), skin dryness and irritation, gastrointestinal complaints and more.[24]
Several sick occupants may report individual symptoms which do not appear to be connected. The key to discovery is the increased incidence of illnesses in general with onset or exacerbation within a fairly close time frame – usually within a period of weeks. In most cases, SBS symptoms will be relieved soon after the occupants leave the particular room or zone.[25] However, there can be lingering effects of various neurotoxins, which may not clear up when the occupant leaves the building. In some cases – particularly in sensitive individuals – there can be long-term health effects.
