The way your home has a lot to do with whether or not it is being heated and cooled properly. This means that it is of utmost importance your HVAC system needs to be in top shape.If you don’t properly care for your unit, you can expect costly repairs and miserable living conditions. Here are some suggestions to help you keep your HVAC system running smoothly.
Check the whole house before you call for help. Determine which rooms are hotter or colder than they should be. Give this information to your contractor when they arrive.
Know the name and type of your HVAC system you currently have before looking for a repair person. This will help you to give the new contractor any information they might need.
Before selecting a HVAC repairman, know what you need done. A contractor will not be able to give you an accurate price without accurate information about your system. They also won’t be able to offer you a quote if they don’t have a detailed idea of what you want done. So, figure out this information before anything else.
Be sure to clean external condenser units. You don’t know when things are going to pile up, especially after a windy or rainy storm, and that can ruin your system. It could overheat and cause a disaster with your system to malfunction by overheating.
Clean the debris on your condenser units. Debris quickly gathers here, even more so if there is a storm. This can cause major issues with your system. The whole thing can overheat, causing major problems and possibly an enormous expense for you.
Turn it off so nothing moves.Next, pop off the grill, put the blades out and start to gently clean them along with the unit.
Clean the fan blades and coils in your condenser each spring. Before you do anything, however, turn the power off. Then, pop off its grills, pull the blades out, and begin cleaning the unit and them gently.
Don’t let grass clippings on your outside unit. Aim your grass cuttings in a different direction from your unit. This applies to leaf blowing and any other yard work that results in debris.
When you cut the grass, make sure your mower isn’t tossing clippings toward your outdoor units. Direct the grass clippings in a direction away from the HVAC unit. Do the same when blowing snow or leaves.
Your HVAC units might suffer when your trees lose their leaves. Make sure you clean out your fan grill often during the fall. The fan needs to have an unobstructed path for air to enter the unit, and if it becomes blocked, you’ll have a lot of headaches eventually.
Your outdoor HVAC units might suffer when your trees lose leaves. Be sure to clean your fan grill frequently when trees nearby are shedding. Your fan needs an unobstructed way to get air inside, and the more blocked up it becomes, the more headaches will develop for you with the system.
Put your outdoor units in places with shade.
If you want to know where you should put an outdoor compressor, you should place it somewhere where there is a lot of shade. If you have a unit taking in air that’s cooler, it won’t have to work so hard to cool air that it sends to your home.
Turn off outdoor condensers you have when the weather gets cold. This means that you should be done when the weather falls under 60 degrees Farenheit. This will help keep it in good condition for many years to come.
Put outdoor units in the shade if you are installing them. As your air conditioner sucks in cool air, little will have to be done to cool it any further, saving you a ton on your energy bills.
Research the reputation of companies that you consider using. Check with different references to determine the best one for reviews of potential companies online. This will help you to choose a smart decision.
Have your heating and cooling system inspected twice a year. Checks in the spring as well as in autumn are the best. This type if preventative maintenance is highly necessary to ward off any expensive troubles from coming your way.
Air conditioners sometimes ice up at times. The drain line may also freeze over. If you see this, change the setting on your thermostat to the fan setting and this will disable the compressor. If this doesn’t work, call in help.
If at all possible, install double-paned windows in your home instead of those with a single pane. Double pane windows can help minimize how much you use your air conditioner in the summer, because they keep cool air inside the home. Conversely, this also works to keep warm air in during colder months.
Ask around so you can find a HVAC contractor. People who have been happy with work they have had great service are normally more than happy to recommend their contractors. This is an excellent way to get names of companies to stay away from.
Putting in a programmable thermostat is a smart way to cut back on air-conditioning costs. A thermostat that’s programmable is going to save you around ten percent on the heating and cooling costs you have to pay when you turn it back about fifteen percent for a part of the day. Additionally, these items can be controlled remotely through your computer.
There are plenty of online websites that let customers talk about the service they were treated by services. This will make it easier for you should work with and people that may not work well with you.
If you want your energy costs to go down, have the heating an cooling system you own serviced every year at least. During your service visit, the serviceman will inspect the unit’s motor, oil the unit’s moving parts and ensure the unit has proper freon levels. These simple tasks will help keep your HVAC system running smoothly.
A radiant barrier is an awesome device which will help improve the efficiency of your HVAC. It will make sure you won’t have to use more energy to keep your home and the outside. You may even use your attic as part of your living space if it is done right.
Each contractor establishes his own fees, so before you hire one, obtain a few estimates. You have the potential to save a great deal of money if you make several calls prior to reaching a final decision. You should try to contact 5 to 6 contractors to find out what price you can reasonably expect to pay.
Are you thinking about buying a new heating/cooling system? There are many things you should consider. Systems get rated according to the total area they effectively heat or cool. You are wise to err on the side of a unit rather than a smaller one.
Are you going to buy a new HVAC system? You should first think about several things. An HVAC system gets its rating by how effective it will heat and cool an area. It is always better to buy a unit that is a little bit bigger rather than one that might be slightly smaller.
If your HVAC system is clicking, immediately start looking for any obstructions. Often the issue is some sort of debris hitting the fans in the cooling system. Look before calling a technician.
If the system you’re using now isn’t working great, then check the ducts for some leakage. Your utility company can test this for you, oftentimes at no charge. If not, it should be less expensive than a HVAC contractor. When you repair the leaks, you’ll see that the tests paid for themselves.
Measure the area you wish to cool before going air conditioner shopping. You generally need 20 BTU for each square foot in the area to be cooled. If more than one room needs AC service, sum their areas.
Look for leaves or other debris if you notice a thumping sound in your unit. Many times it could be debris hitting the cooling system fans. Cleaning the debris will likely stop the noise. Before you call a technician, look at it yourself.
If you can only put it into a corner, be sure you can change the direction of air flow to avoid having it hit the wall.
Pick HVAC companies that know what they’re doing and can work quickly. Good companies attend to their customers in a timely manner. The tech will also know how to find the problem quickly. Once the problem is identified, fixing it should be quick and easy.
Now you should be able to see what must be done to keep your HVAC system in working order. Pay attention to keeping it maintained to make sure it won’t go bad. Use what you’ve learned here to keep things working right so you don’t get home and find out there’s a disaster on your hands.
Any HVAC contractor or installer should have an emergency number available to customers around the clock. They need to be able to come to you when they are needed, even if when the weather gets to be extreme.
