Kilowatt Heating, Air Conditioning and Electrical Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Studio City’

AC Repair This Fall May Be Critical!

Monday, September 19th, 2022

This year, Southern California has experienced one of the hottest later summers on record. These are the times when having a working air conditioning system in a house can be literally life-saving.

Just because it’s almost officially fall doesn’t mean we’re safe from heatwaves. September and even October can still be brutally hot in SoCal. Your home’s air conditioning system isn’t likely to get a serious break until November (and even then, warm temperatures can stage a comeback at any time).

This is why we want to stress to you the importance of staying on top of any air conditioning repairs in Studio City, CA or elsewhere in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley that you may need. We know you’ll feel tempted to shrug off “minor” AC issues, but something minor often hides something major, or it will turn into something major. When you move early to intercept a malfunctioning air conditioning system, you’ll prevent a much worse and more expensive trouble in the future, and that includes having your AC fail on you completely on a blazing hot day.

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A Short History of Air Conditioning Refrigerant

Monday, July 25th, 2022
ac-maintenance

Refrigerant is a critical part of air conditioning systems and of most refrigeration equipment, such as refrigerators and freezers. Although people associate the word refrigerant with cold, refrigerant actually goes through stages of low and high temperatures. What refrigerant does is allow for the process of heat exchange: refrigerant can easily shift between liquid and gaseous states, and as it does this it absorbs and releases heat. In an AC, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the indoor air and then expels it to the outdoor air.

There isn’t a single refrigerant type: many different chemicals have done this job. Usually, these refrigerants are referred to as blends. The word freon is also used to describe refrigerants, but this isn’t accurate, as we’ll talk about below when we look into refrigerant history.

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Common Amateur AC Repair Mistakes

Monday, June 27th, 2022
stripping-electrical-wires

We know homeowners often look for ways to save money when it comes to taking care of their house, which is why they often go in for “do-it-yourself” work or have a friend help out with projects. But repairing an air conditioning system isn’t a job for amateurs. Unless you have professional training and certification in HVAC, you shouldn’t attempt an AC repair yourself. Nor should you entrust the job to anyone who claims they can make the repairs but don’t have the licensing or training to back up that claim. When an amateur quotes you a cheap price, you’ll get what you pay for!

We have a long history handling air conditioning repair in Studio City, CA and throughout Los Angeles and the Valley. We’ve often seen air conditioning systems have their lives shortened because of amateur repair mistakes. To help you understand why it’s best to leave this work to the pros, we’ll go over a short list of the common mistakes amateurs make with AC repairs.

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April Is a Great Time to Get Your Annual AC Tune-Up

Monday, April 4th, 2022
coil-cleaner

What do you think the weather will be like this summer in Southern California? It seems like a silly question—it will be mostly hot, like it is every summer. But we ask this because people sometimes take for granted how they’re able to make it through the regular summer heat each year, and that is their home air conditioning systems. Try to picture this summer without a reliable AC working to cool down your house. It’s not an attractive picture. But it’s what might happen if your air conditioner doesn’t receive its regular maintenance service during spring.

Spring has only just started, and April is the ideal time to arrange for your air conditioning maintenance in Studio City, CA. This is usually one of the least busy periods for HVAC technicians since we deal with fewer cooling or heating emergencies, and that makes it easy for you to schedule a convenient maintenance visit with our team. You can join our HVAC maintenance program and enjoy great regular service for your AC as well as special membership benefits.

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What Happened to Pilot Lights in Furnaces?

Monday, March 21st, 2022
furnace

This is a question people sometimes ask when they look at the furnaces professionals currently install in homes, or when they see a new furnace in a home. Most current homeowners likely grew up in houses with furnaces that used pilot lights, or owned a furnace with a pilot light. Yet the pilot light is becoming an endangered species in home heating. 

What happened? Why has the standing pilot light been extinguished, and what took its place?

This isn’t just trivia questions. You can understand a good deal about your furnace’s operation and how it uses energy when you know a bit more about the fate of the standing pilot light.

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Is It Time for an Electric Panel Upgrade?

Monday, January 25th, 2021
proper-electrical-panel-wiring

The electric panel is one of the most important parts of the electrical system for your home. Possibly the most important, because it is the “central station” for the electricity from the grid entering the house where it is divided into different circuits. Breaker switches in the panel help to protect the electric system from electric shorts in the house. 

No electrical panel will last forever, and at some point, you will need to have your current one replaced. Not only do these panels wear down, they can also be made obsolete because of the changing electrical demands in a house. In this post, we’ll give you some guidelines for when you should consider calling us for electric panel and circuit breaker upgrades in Studio City, CA or elsewhere in our service area.

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The Condensing Furnace: What You Need to Know

Monday, March 9th, 2020
furnace-installation

There is never a wrong time during the year to consider doing upgrades or heating repair in Studio City, CA or elsewhere in So Cal. Heaters do less work in our climate, and there are long stretches around the year where you can plan to make a major replacement without much worry about losing out on comfort because of lower temperatures.

With that in mind, we’d like to talk about one of the best choices available to you for an upgrade from your current, older furnace: the ­condensing furnace.

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Can I Buy a Used Furnace?

Monday, February 10th, 2020
open-gas-furnace

Buying used products is often a great way to save money and get vintage items with a special luster you won’t find on the modern market. Getting a used car? A smart shopper can find excellent deals on autos with many years left in them. Buying used books? If the text is legible, the function is the same as if it were new. Picking up a used fountain pen? The best pens only get better with age!

And getting a used furnace? Yes, that’s a …

No. Don’t. Don’t even consider it. Stop reading. Clicking on the CONTINUE READING button below will just waste your valuable time. There’s a REPLACE button at the top of this screen. And a phone number (818-280-8018). Click or call, set up an appointment, and we’ll get you the right furnace. Thanks for stopping by—we’re glad to be your choice for furnace replacement and furnace repair in Studio City, CA.

Serving Los Angeles, Van Nuys, and the San Fernando Valley since 1990!

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When the Thermostat Causes Heating Problems

Monday, January 27th, 2020
old-honeywell-thermostat

“He’s a renegade cop who doesn’t play by the rules … but he gets results!” An action movie cliché from decades ago, although it gave us some fun popcorn movies. But you don’t want a renegade thermostat that doesn’t play by the rules in your house … because the results it gets won’t be the ones you want.

Renegade is a tough language to describe a thermostat. But whenever a thermostat malfunctions, reads incorrect temperatures or fails to accurately operate the heating system, it can mean discomfort and wasted energy. It may even lead to heater repair in Studio City, CA. If the thermostat isn’t doing its job, call our experts to fix or replace it.

Below are some common thermostat troubles leading to poor heating.

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Efficiency With Gas and Electric Furnaces—It Can Be Tricky

Monday, December 2nd, 2019
heating-element

The hunt for your next high-quality heating system will probably involve looking for the best efficiency you can find. Efficiency is an important word with most home appliances today—the more efficient the appliance rating, the less power it will consume when it runs. At least, ideally. (Poor installation or poor unit selection can negate those benefits, making information about efficiency essential for any consumer.) If the type of heating system you’re looking at is a furnace, either gas or electric, you may run into a dilemma about their efficiency ratings, one that might lead you to the wrong unit.

We’re going to analyze the big trick with gas and electric furnace efficiencies to help you out. But to ensure you have the best unit that does what you need with the ideal efficiency, always call on our professionals. We’ll ensure you don’t end up with the wrong type of heating system.

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