We’ve all had it happen when our heater goes out on the coldest day of the year, or the air conditioning turns itself off right as the temperature hits three digits and eggs start frying on the sidewalk. We tend to only pay attention to our heating and cooling systems whenever they are not working, which is often whenever there is a huge crisis mode.
However, what if you didn’t need to pay out big bucks and experience your system breaking down at the worst possible times? If you spend some time each week and each month maintaining your system and making sure that huge problems don’t get chance to pop up, then you might find that you will have better temperatures all year round!
Change And Clean Your Filters
Every HVAC system runs on filters; like all filters, they get dirty. Pet hair, dust, microscopic organisms, and more can all get into the air. Thankfully whenever you run your systems and the air moves around, the filters catch all of this bad stuff and trap it like a spiderweb traps files.
However, whenever filters are left alone and not changed, eventually, too much stuff gets stuck in the filters, and they don’t trap as much. Not only does this prevent you from having fresh and high-quality air in your home, but it can also lead to early problems with your heating and cooling systems.
Because the filter isn’t clean, the system needs to push more air out of the damaged filters in order to reach the temperature that you have set. This means that the system needs to work harder, and more wear and tear is placed on it, which can lead to you calling JC Heating And Cooling for repairs a lot more often.
So every month, make sure to replace the filters in your system and properly dispose of the old ones, and you will see much better airflow and also a much stronger filtration ability.
Eliminate Clutter Both Inside And Outside
If you can keep the area around the indoor and outdoor sections of your HVAC unit clear, then that can also help to improve the life of your unit. Having a clutter-free indoor HVAC unit improves both your air quality and your safety because an increased presence of clutter means that more dust will develop on that clutter.
Then all that dust will eventually make its way into the system and clog up the filters. Additionally, the more clutter you have, the more the air circulation around the vent system is reduced, and that can make your HVAC system even less efficient.
If you have an outdoor unit, then you also need to keep it clean and clear of leaves, twigs, and grass clippings. Pick off the smaller amounts of debris every time you are out maintaining the yard, and if you see that dirt starts to accumulate on the machine, you need to give it a spray down with the hose.
Additionally, if you have any other plants around the unit, make sure that they are all trimmed back at least two feet surrounding the HVAC system to allow for better airflow.
Clean The Condensing Unit
Nearly every single air conditioning unit has an outdoor condensing unit or a heat pump sitting outside that disperses the heat away from your house during the summer. That unit is often forgotten about whenever cleaning time comes, but if the heat pump isn’t properly cleaned and maintained, then the heat won’t be dispersed, and that can cause damage to your unit through increased wear and tear.
The metal fins on each unit can get clogged up with dirt, grime, pollen, and more, so you will want to spray the outside of the unit with a hose to wash it all down. Just use a normal hose and not a power washer because that high spray of water will damage your unit and cause you all sorts of problems.
Unclog The Evaporator Coil Drainpipe And Drain Pan
One of the most common problems that an HVAC repair company needs to fix is a clogged drain line. When the air is circulated through your home, it carries with it dirt, dust, and other airborne particles. That air will head toward an evaporator coil and turn into water, and sometimes all of those particles go with it.
Then they clog up the condensate drain line, which causes a blockage, which can lead to problems with the efficiency of your AC unit. Check the drainpipe of your HVAC system and clear out those blockages either by hand or with a wet-dry vacuum because it is one of the biggest problems that most people don’t know about until it is too late and already going to cost them big bucks to repair.
Work With Professionals For Regular Maintenance
You don’t always have to call a professional repair service whenever your heating and cooling system stops working. You can also schedule a maintenance checkup where a repairman comes to your house and does a checkup on your system. Then they can carry out any minor repairs, tell you about any problems they are seeing, and just give you a second pair of eyes that can tell you your system is okay.
It’s good practice to get a maintenance check on your HVAC system every two months; that way, any minor problems can be caught before they become a major inconvenience. So don’t be afraid to call!
Keep Your System Working And Your Home Temperature Stable!
If you take the time to properly maintain your HVAC system, you will find that you need to call (and pay) for massive repairs a lot less. Instead, your home will be able to keep the temperature you like, and you will feel better about the quality of the air flowing through your home and into your lungs. Surely that is worth a little extra work, right?
