Household Guide to Preventing Costly HVAC Repairs
As a successful and responsible person, you wouldn't drive your car for 100,000 miles without any maintenance. The same sort of logic should be followed when running your home's HVAC system.
With regular preventative HVAC maintenance, you can prevent costly HVAC repairs from occurring, while keeping your system running at its peak performance. Doing so helps to keep your energy bill from getting out of control while ensuring efficiency, no matter the season.
The following is a guide to preventing costly HVAC repairs.
Tune Up Annually
Annually, a complete HVAC system tune-up should be completed by a professional. This will lead to lower energy bills throughout the year, a longer lifespan of the equipment, and the chance of fewer repairs throughout the year.
When an expert is performing a tune-up on an HVAC system, here's what you can expect as a customer:
- The fuel line connections in your heating system will be checked.
- The coolant charge in your air conditioning system will be inspected.
- All moving parts will be lubricated.
- Electrical connections will be tightened.
- The thermostat will be checked.
- All system controls will be checked.
- Your blower will be cleaned and adjusted.
By having an annual tune up performed, you can rest assured that your HVAC system will be in optimal working condition, all year long.
Clean Outside Debris
When you're maintaining your outdoor AC unit, preventative maintenance should be performed twice per year, in the spring and the fall.
Cleaning outside debris plays a huge function in this maintenance, as any excess debris can build up and cause the air conditioning unit to run less effectively.
With a basic toolkit, you can complete a basic cleanup. Before you begin, turn off the unit completely.
Remove all dead leaves, grass, and other debris from around the air conditioning unit. You can take off the cover, and clean out any leaves that are present within the unit.
Using a garden hose on low pressure, spray off any dirt or dust build-up from the sides of the unit.
Check, Clean, or Replace the Filter
You should plan to check your air filter in your home's HVAC system once a month, to ensure that it is still clean, and efficiently filtering the air in your home.
For an added tip, your air filter packaging should say how often it should be changed. This can vary anywhere between a monthly recommendation to a change every six months.
If you notice that the filter is filling up with dust, dirt, or other debris, you can attempt to clean it gently, depending on the type of filter that it is.
There are other factors to consider when deciding how often to clean or replace your filter, including:
- If you have smokers within your home.
- If anyone in your home has allergies.
- If your home has pets living inside.
- The time of year. Spring and fall can be extremely dusty seasons, meaning that air filters will clog up more quickly.