The Heat is On

In like a lamb…out like a…Dragon?

Las Vegas has a lot of nicknames, ranging from The Strip for downtown, or my favorite, rivaling Paris or Tokyo, The City of Lights. What it doesn’t have is a reference to our very changeable climate. With average daily temperatures of 106° F in July (not including humidity), and then plummeting down to 58° F in December and January, it is a pretty dramatic place for weather.
We’ve hit 117° F twice, and been below freezing at 8° F (way back in 1963 when Frank, Sammy, and Dean were still popularizing The Sands). No one in this town should accept shoddy heating or cooling.

We are your Local Experts
ACPlus has been serving Las Vegas and its surrounding cities for almost a quarter of a century. As native Las Vegans, we know the area; we know the extremes that can be reached; we know that absolute reliability is essential.
It certainly isn’t a game for some fly-by-night installer using the cheapest possible solution, offering a 20-year warranty and going out of business within just a few months. And our dramatic weather can have life-threatening consequences if heating or cooling ever fails during an extreme period.

When things go wrong
At this time of year, when the heat is at its peak, your air conditioning is running almost 24 hours a day. To keep everything cool, there are some very cold elements in your conditioning system, and it is inevitable that they will collect water. This is entirely expected, and with a properly installed system, it raises absolutely no concerns.

Problems arise when our humidity suddenly rises by 30% in July and August, and the drainage systems have to be at maximum efficiency. Any AC System needs to dispose of this water. It drips into a condensation pan, flows through a drain line, and ends up outside where it harmlessly evaporates.

If, however, the drain pan accumulates household dust, sludge, or mineral deposits the drain line can become clogged, allowing the condensation to build up until that drain pan overflows.

It can also manifest itself as moisture across the ceiling, along walls, or any place where poorly installed, uninsulated, cold elements of your conditioning system collect moisture until it starts to damage your property. This is the consequence of getting an under-qualified installer.

Warning Signs
Sometimes the tattletales will start producing water. The entire reason for the existence of the secondary air conditioning drain system is to alert you to the fact that the main drain is clogged and to protect your property. Located above doorways, windows, or in the ceiling of the garage, they’re designed to be obvious so that you can take action right away before any damage occurs.

For those furnaces and air conditioners located in the garage both for convenience and safety, if you start to get condensation around the base, it flows safely away from the foundation of your house. It should not, however, be ignored. This is something that needs attention, is not costly to repair, and will save you a much more expensive repair later on.

In Las Vegas, however, more often are those furnaces and air conditioning evaporators located in the attic that when they have problems it can cause water damage to the ceiling when the drain pan or drain lines have problems.

It might be as simple as dirty air filters, low refrigerant, or an air movement problem through the coils. Sometimes it can be faulty float-switches in the drain pan, or even a failed main drain pan, and a clogged secondary drain pan. This is particular to an attic-type installation, with a roof-mounted air conditioner, that is seldom inspected and possibly exposed to a lot of dust.

And wherever water appears, in puddles around the AC unit, dripping off the roof edge, or even indoors, once it turns brown, or leaves rust stains, it means that the evaporator has already started to deteriorate and may need to be replaced. Don’t let it get that far—call us right away and let’s prevent that damage from occurring in the first place!

The Takeaway
My name is Matt Herdt, your personal expert at ACPlus Heating & Air Conditioning Service. I would love to hear from you and have the opportunity to deliver the precise solution that you require. Call us for a free assessment of your difficulty before it becomes a huge problem.

We’re here for you!

If you’re from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Mountains Edge, Anthem, Green Valley, Southern Highlands, Seven Hills, or anywhere in-between, give us a call at (702) 241-7294 or click the link to go directly to our online contact form, where you can type a detailed inquiry.