In this interview, HVAC specialist Derek Cole answers homeowner questions about troubleshooting and maintaining heating and air conditioning systems. He advises checking the breaker box and thermostat settings before calling a service technician. Cole identifies dirt as the primary cause of 90‑98% of HVAC breakdowns, explaining how even a 1/20th inch of dust can reduce efficiency by 21% according to EPA data. He stresses the importance of regular filter changes and system maintenance, dispelling the myth that newer units require less upkeep due to thinner aluminum components. The discussion also touches on whether a larger blower can improve AC performance, setting up a later explanation.
Questions this video answers
Yes. Check the breaker box to ensure no breaker has tripped, and verify the thermostat is on and set to the correct mode (cooling or heating) for the season.
Dirt. About 90‑98% of breakdowns are dirt‑related. Keeping the system clean through filter changes and regular maintenance prevents overheating of fan motors and efficiency loss.
Is there anything I can check myself before booking a service call?
Yes, a few things you can check yourself. One is the breaker box inside. Make sure a breaker hasn't tripped. A lot of times this time of year after a thunderstorm or a storm goes by, power has the means to trip. So check that out and make sure you're not without power because it needs power to actually work. So I would check that and I would check your thermostat. A lot of times we go to a house and the thermostat is not actually on, which is kind of weird. So check your thermostat to make sure it is on, it is calling for whatever season you're in. If you're in cooling, make sure the cooling is set on. If it's in heating, then make sure the heating is set on. So those are a couple of things you can check. Quickly before you give us a call. But if you need us, please call us.
What's the worst enemy for my heating and air system?
The worst enemy for any system is dirt. 98% of all breakdowns are dirt-related. So the one thing we do as technicians, as professionals, is we got to figure out a way to keep the dirt out of the system. So if 98% of breakdowns are dirt-related, then our goal is to stay stop the dirt. So changing filters, getting maintenances, all this will help you along the lines of keeping the dirt out of the system. Because most time when a fan motor goes out, you know, sometimes it has to do with it failing on that end, but most of the time it's because dirt has got on the fan, therefore it is overheated and it ran out sooner than its life. Again, maintenance is key. Keeping it clean is key. I think I talked to somebody, they said, "Oh, I got a brand new unit. I don't need to do maintenance." That is 100% not correct. You need to do maintenance because the units today, again, are not like the units 25 years ago. You don't have a thick piece of copper, you have a thin piece of aluminum today and dirt According to the EPA now, this is EPA, so epa.gov, look it up, 1/20th of an inch of dirt can affect your efficiency by 21%. That's unbelievable. I mean, 1/20th of an inch is very, very, very small. So that's why you need to do maintenance. You need to keep it clean, change your filter, check your filter. That is the biggest problem we've seen in homes. Again, 90% of all breakdowns are dirt related, so our job is to keep the dirt out of the system.
Will a larger blower help my AC?
No, it won't. You got to look at two things, okay? And I've told some guys this before. They said, "Well, I can go from a 3-ton unit to a 4-ton unit. I'll get more air." All right, let's think about that a little bit. You have a 3-ton duct system, so it doesn't matter if you have a 20-ton unit, you're only going to get 3 tons in your house. So the blower size, all that stuff is not going to matter if your ductwork or air distribution system is not going to allow it to happen. So it doesn't really matter. So no, a larger blower on the same size duct, same size outdoor unit, same size unit, it's not gonna help you out. I mean, it might blow a little harder, um, but it's not gonna give you more capacity, uh, and that's what you're looking for. You're looking for capacity. That's why I think that question is worded in that way, is because you're trying to get— you know, it's 98 degrees, my thermostat's getting behind, I need more of a unit, I need a bigger blower, I need more capacity. Well, not really, because units are only designed at 95 degrees. Here we're sized at 95 degrees. So if you have a 3-ton unit and it's 98 degrees, then yes, you have lost capacity because now you're at 98 and not 95. So you're not at design temperature anymore. But then step back and think about it— how many days do we actually have 98, 100-degree weather? Well, in the scheme of 365 days, what is it like 10, 20 days they're like that. So you'll be over capacity for 340 days of the year to be comfortable on 20 days. So you don't want to do that. So no, a bigger blower is not going to help you out. Um, a bigger unit is not going to help you out. So again, it doesn't matter if we upsize the unit. If you still have a 2-ton duct system and you upsize to a 4-ton, It's not going to matter. You're going to get 2 tons of air. So you think about the whole scenario in which you're working in and think about what all is happening. So I tell the techs all the time is we check the unit, we check the duct system, and then we check the envelope, which is the house or the conditions around the house. So if the unit's working great and the duct system is sized properly, then it has to be a house problem. We had an issue with excessive moisture. Well, the problem is that there's excessive moisture under the house, which is coming into the crawl space, which is then going into the unit up to the house. So we don't have a unit problem or a duct problem, we have an envelope problem. And we can fix that envelope problem with some crawl space sealing, dehumidifiers, sump pumps. We can fix those problems. So we'll look at all 3 to get you a choice on what is the best way to go. That is a long answer for a question about a blower motor, but there you go.
