110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - magazine - Index

BLOOM I COOL STUFF I BY ANDREA STUART
THE COOL CATS
IN TOWN
Here in East County new homes are erupting from
the manicured soil almost as routinely as Old
Faithful gushes. This rapid growth has resulted in
some home builders engaging in questionable
building practices to save time. One such practice
is taking short cuts on installing appliances like
air conditioning units. The result of the poor workmanship
is a blistering race between homeowners
to find reliable companies to solve their air
conditioning problems.
That’s where Johnson Heating and Air
Conditioning, Inc. comes in. Husband and wife
team, Kevin and Janelle Johnson, began their
company in 2003 during East County’s residential
boom when they noticed that — among a variety
of other new home maladies — 75 percent of
homes were built with improperly charged and
installed air conditioners. This convinced Kevin
that homeowners need a solution to their woes.
“I recently visited a house where the builder
didn’t even turn the valves on to release the air
conditioner refrigerant. All of the joints were
strangely covered in solder and the unit wasn’t
open to pump the refrigerant. Turns out someone
put a hole in the refrigerant line. The builder
turned the unit off hoping no one would notice,”
Kevin stated. He is saddened to witness this kind
84 www.110mag.com September/October 2008
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO BUILD A GOOD DEFENSE
AGAINST RUDE SURPRISES.”
of poor quality work. “It gives us honest heating
and AC guys a bad rap,” Kevin continued.
The solution to this problem and others is to
build good defenses against rude surprises.
Homeowners should consider having the
furnace and AC checked immediately after they
move in. Kevin offers a 21-point inspection which
covers everything from electrical connections,
amperage, and cleaning, to refrigeration and
charge check, and more. And, Johnson HVAC guarantees
that if within 90 days you don’t see a
reduction on your utility bill in the amount that
you paid for the service, they will refund your
money.
In addition to new home building issues, there
are other situations to prepare for. For instance, the
slowing economy has motivated a string of air
conditioning thefts, which has left foreclosed
homes and business buildings with missing
condensers. Kevin recommends the up-keep of
premises and maintaining appliances of every property
to repel wannabe thieves from temptation.
Then there are hazards of nature to build a
defense against. Kevin suggests ozone-free electronic
air cleaners for homeowners or businesses
in East County. In our agriculturally rich East
County, these cleaners (which get out .03 microns
of dust and dirt) leave your home or office virtually
sneeze-free.
Johnson HVAC is also involved in the community.
The founder of Home Town Services — a local
community group of reputable, independently
owned service contractors — Johnson HVAC also
donates supplies to local schools and donated a
free HEPA Filtration System in Josh Maligro’s
home. Since 2006, Josh has been battling Acute
Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) — a fast-growing
cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Having
undergone a cord blood transplant in June, Josh’s
return home in the months to come will necessitate
the purest air possible.
“It was the least we could do for the Maligro’s.
We knew how badly they wanted Josh to come
home and now that he’s had the transplant he
needs the filtration system to stay healthy,” said
Janelle.
Not only is Johnson HVAC keeping East
County cool, they are keeping our community
in the pink.
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For more information: Visit Johnson HVAC at
www.johnsonhvac.com or call 925-516-7120. Also,
visit www.hometownservices.biz for professional
service references.