Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, takes the cover off a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, repairs a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, repairs a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, looks for the source of a noise in a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, repairs a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, looks for the source of a noise in a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
The cool climate provided by a working air conditioner is a blessing during the intense heat and sunshine of Yakima Valley summers. But misuse and inattention to maintenance can turn that blessing into a curse — and curse words — when the AC fails in the middle of a heat wave.
Local businesses and utility companies have plenty of advice for avoiding breakdowns, and saving energy and money, during this week of record-setting temperatures in Central Washington.
The first of these might seem surprising: Don’t turn off the air conditioner at night.
“We recommend keeping a constant temp on your thermostat all day,” said Zane Tegan, president of Vance Heating & Air Conditioning in Terrace Heights. “If you let your house warm up during extreme heat, it may not recover until well into the evening, or even the next day.”
“You definitely don’t want to turn it off at night,” Vance Heating & Air Conditioning technician Makala Yager said Wednesday, as she was repairing a split unit in an upper-story bedroom of an older home in the West Valley.
Yager said during intense summer heat, an air conditioner’s capacitor is one of the main components that breaks down. The capacitor provides the initial jolt of electricity to rev up the unit’s motor as it starts the cooling cycle — so if the air conditioner is turned on and off repeatedly, the capacitor works harder.
“We do see more refrigeration issues in the summer,” she said. “But capacitors are the most common problem. Usually it’s on the very first, hottest day of the year.
“Either your fan outside will stop spinning, or you’ll hear that something’s wrong,” Yager said.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, repairs a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
Tegan added that any sounds coming from an air conditioner or furnace that are out of the ordinary should be addressed as quickly as possible.
Other signs of trouble include moisture around the indoor portion of an AC system; low air flow; warm air and/or strange smells coming from the vents; and a higher-than-usual electricity bill.
Regular annual maintenance, along with changing the furnace filter year round, help keep the air conditioner working when families need it most, Yager and Tegan said.
“The most important thing homeowners can do is make sure they have a new furnace filter in their system when we have extreme temperatures like this,” Tegan said.
Makala Yager, tech with Vance Heating and Air Conditioning, takes the cover off a split air conditioning unit in a house in West Valley Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Yakima, Wash.
After last summer’s record-setting heat dome in late June and early July, Pacific Power — which provides electricity for most of the Yakima Valley — was prepared for this week’s triple-digit heat, spokesperson Brandon Zero said Monday.
“Weather makes the greatest impact on energy use,” Zero said. “System usage peaks are increasing each year ... (as) extreme weather is becoming more frequent, forcing high energy-use appliances to increase demand on the grid. In the summer, that means extra demand generated by data centers and space cooling appliances, for instance.”
While refrigeration and air conditioning units kick demand into overdrive during a heat wave, Zero and Erik Brookhouse, vice president of system operations for Pacific Power, say the energy grid in Central Washington is built to withstand this level of use.
“We’ve taken steps for grid hardening, in particular since last summer, to prevent overloading at the substation level and on the distribution system,” Brookhouse said in a Pacific Power news release. “We are confident about our network’s readiness for this summer.”
Despite that, both residential and commercial customers can help save energy — and money — by following a list of recommendations listed on the company’s website.
Like air conditioning manufacturers, Pacific Power also recommends changing air filters and keeping the thermostat set at a consistent temperature — preferably 78 degrees or higher during extremely hot days.
Limiting use of the oven, running high-energy appliances such as the dryer and dishwasher at night, and keeping curtains or blinds closed during the day are among the other common-sense suggestions.
And should the air conditioning system fail to work property, Vance Heating and Air Conditioning and other contractors say they are ready to help, with Yager among 10 technicians available for repairs.
“When we see near record temperatures like the Yakima Valley is experiencing this week, we get very busy, but we prioritize still getting out to our customers very quickly, often the same day,” Tegan said.
Contact Joel Donofrio at jdonofrio@yakimaherald.com.
More high-temperature daily records are being met or exceeded as the National Weather Service’s excessive heat warning has been extended one more day, through 11 p.m. Sunday.
A high temperature of 106 was reached late Wednesday afternoon at the Yakima Air Terminal, tying the daily record for Yakima set on July 27, 1998. Ellensburg (105 degrees on Wednesday) and Sunnyside (104) also were at or near record-setting levels, the National Weather Service’s Pendleton office reported.
Yakima’s all-time high temperatures of 105 degrees on July 28, 29 and 30 also could be broken as forecasters predict late-afternoon peaks of 110, 109 and 108 in the city Thursday through Saturday.
The heat wave is not expected to ease until early next week, when the weather service expects high temperatures of 95 on Monday and 89 on Tuesday, with nighttime lows returning to the upper 50s and low 60s.
With “dangerously hot” weather expected through the weekend, the National Weather Service has extended its excessive heat warning to 11 p.m. Sunday.
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