If you haven’t signed on for preventative maintenance with a trusted local HVAC repair service, you should make arrangements to do so. As a homeowner responsible for an expensive and necessary system for your household, the investment will ultimately give you significant returns.
The last thing anyone wants or needs is the air conditioning to give out, particularly in the extreme temperatures. Part of ensuring that doesn’t happen involves regular service calls and homeowner care and upkeep.
As with all systems in the home (or with a vehicle), the HVAC can’t function to full capacity, if adequate, regular “tune-ups” aren’t performed by an air conditioning repair contractor to test and replace defective or faulty parts. The goal of professional HVAC repair services is to ensure your system is in optimum condition.
You might not look at your unit on an everyday basis or even think about it regularly, but forgetting that it’s there or neglecting its upkeep is not an option regardless of how modern, sleek, or “smart;” it can’t maintain itself.
Mechanical equipment is subject to a fault and will at some point require a repair. These can decrease with a professional HVAC contractor monitoring the system.
Expertise Tips From Local HVAC Contractors
Pursuing professional HVAC contractors for preventative home maintenance of your system is a wise investment for which you will likely see both immediate benefits and measures that will prevent future problems, ultimately extending the lifespan and saving you from replacement.
You, as the homeowner, will also need to participate in minor care and upkeep in between service calls to ensure optimum functionality. None of the DIY tasks for homeowner upkeep involve manipulating the intricacies of the air conditioning unit. If you have minimum knowledge, tools, or skills, attempting a fix on your own can merely increase the damage and add significant expense to your bill.
The DIY tasks you should plan to perform throughout the cooling season to keep everything running smoothly until the next service call – professional recommendations include:
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Change filters
The filters can grow filthy and clog quite quickly, restricting the airflow to the air conditioning unit. It’s vital that this receives a change out at least every three months.
If you use your system extensively, particularly in the extreme heat of the summer months or if you live in a region where the temperatures remain hot, these should change every 30 days and have a regular check at the end of each week. That’s especially true for anyone who has pets which can create much more debris for the filter.
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Outdoor Unit
It’s essential to keep up with the outdoor unit. It needs to remain clean and free of debris. Any foliage or obstacles that mean to disguise the system should stay at least 2-3’ away from the area.
You want to keep these shrubbery trimmed away, and when mowing, ensure that you keep the cuttings in the direction of the yard and not towards the house. When washing away the dirt and debris, use a garden hose gently and wipe down fans and fins with a very soft touch. These are very fragile, with the capacity to bend and distort with little effort.
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Vents
Inside vents should have no obstructions of any kind. There should be no furniture sitting on top of them, no curtains blocking or rugs covering. There is a common misconception that it is wise to close vents in rooms you don’t use on a frequent basis to save energy, but that is an incorrect assessment.
The fact is you need to have even airflow throughout the house with all vents open for the betterment of the air conditioner and the optimum efficiency for the unit.
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Thermostat
Check your thermostat relatively frequently to ensure the settings are as they should be with the levers on “cool” and the temperature at 78 degrees (the recommendation for highest energy efficiency).
Often repair techs go to homes for repair calls only to find the thermostat inadvertently switched to the “heat” setting or that the temperature has traveled too far up or down. Also, check the batteries. When these go out, the air conditioning will not function.
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Energy Bills
A profound method for noticing a problem as a homeowner is if your energy bills increase without any difference with your usage. Your costs should remain relatively the same each period with only elevated periods in the extreme weather with excessive use. Still, if you notice these are increasingly going up with little reason for the extra costs, it’s time to call for your HVAC service provider.
Final Thought
No one wants to go through a cooling season where the air conditioner continually malfunctions, and there’s a constant need to call for repairs. Following the guidance provided above with homeowner care and upkeep, plus signing on with a trusted, reliable HVAC contractor for professional preventative maintenance on an annual or biannual basis, should keep repairs minimal.
Preventative measures will keep the system running optimally well into the future. Take this link for exceptional professional maintenance tips. When HVAC systems receive these types of services, it not only increases efficiency and functionality, but it spares the parts from excessive wear and tear from overworking.
It ultimately leads to an extended lifespan and less likelihood for you to need a replacement – at least for a while.
