A reliable HVAC system is important for your home. But when your system suddenly stops working, it can be a nightmare. Learning how to maintain your HVAC system begins with the chances of a breakdown; these tips below.
Before you contact people to assist you in getting your system fixed, know what kind of system you’re working with in the first place. Know what the manufacturer’s name is, which particular model you have and what’s gone on with the unit in the past. This will help make sure that the contractor you hire has all the necessary information.
Know what type of system you currently have before looking for a repair person. This will enable you to give your new contractor any information they need.
If you struggle with your HVAC, try touring your home before calling a professional. Know what part of the house is cold and which is hot. Doing so can help your technician fix your HVAC issue quickly.
Don’t get grass clippings on your outdoor condenser. Aim the grass in the other direction. This applies to leaf blowing and any other yard work that results in debris.
Clean your condenser’s fan blades and coils come spring. Before you do clean the coils and fan blades, always take the precaution of turning off all power to the unit. Clean the outside of your condenser unit regularly.
Your outdoor HVAC units might suffer when trees start to lose leaves. Make sure the fan’s grill often during the fall. The fan must not have anything in the way so that air can flow into it, and if it becomes blocked, you’ll have a lot of headaches eventually.
Make sure that you regularly clean debris that might build up on external condenser units. Things pile up after storms and damage your system. Overheating may be the result if you don’t.
Sae 20 Oil
Make certain that an outdoor unit is in the shade. If your unit is sucking in cooler air, it will have less work to do to cool that air as it sends it inside which boosts efficiency.
Lubricate the oil ports on your condenser at least once a year. These are usually covered by a rubber or metal caps. Use SAE 20 oil that is non-detergent and lightweight, detergent-free SAE 20 oil, putting 10 drops in each port.
Be sure you have the HVAC unit in your home checked about two times every year. Generally, you want it done in the fall and the spring. A quick check is worth it to avoid problems down the road.
A programmable thermostat is a simple way to help you save money on air conditioning bill. Some of these thermostats can even be controlled from your smart phone or other device.
A programmable thermostat can help you save money on your air conditioning bill. It will help save on your heating and cooling costs by turning itself down at certain times. Additionally, these items can be controlled remotely through your computer.
During your service visit, they will inspect the motor of the system, oil the different moving parts as well as check the system’s freon levels. These simple tasks will help keep your system to run at its peak performance.
Research the companies that you consider using. Check with different references to determine the best one for your situation. When done in advance you can be sure of making a sound decision.
Air conditioners tend to ice up.The drain line may also freeze over. If this is something that’s happening to you, immediately put your thermostat on the fan setting to turn off your compressor. You can call a HVAC professional, but switching to the fan setting should start to melt the ice.
Sometimes air conditioners get iced up. There can be occasional freezes in their drain lines, and these are usually confused with plumbing leaks. If this happens, disable the compressor by switching the thermostat to run the fan only. You should still call a professional to help regardless.
Look for calculators online to truly understand what size of unit you need for your home. Look at the manual or on the manufacturer website for air conditioners.
Look online for a/c sizing calculators so you can really understand the unit size needed for your home or room. If you purchase something that is too big, it won’t be cost effective to run. Check the manual it comes with for the information you need.
Ask your friends and family for contractor recommendations. People who have used and if they are worth calling. This is also help you learn the names of companies that should be avoided.
Prior to hiring any HVAC contractor, you should ask how long their business has operated. This gives you some history so that you can be sure the company is reliable. Hiring a new contractor means taking a bigger risk.
There are a number of sites out there that let customers talk about how they were treated by services. This is a great way to find decent people to hire.
Your friends or family likely have recommendations for a local HVAC specialist. People usually love to boast about the wonderful work they have had done, so you should be given great leads to follow. It’s also important to do this to learn which companies should not be contracted for work.
Contractors are responsible for their own charges and fees, so make sure that you acquire multiple estimates. You can save some money by asking for many quotes. You should try to contact 5 to 6 contractors to determine what price you can reasonably expect to pay.
Use online reviews to help you find a source for HVAC maintenance. There are many sites that other customers can place their reviews. This is useful for finding people that you wish to work with and those that you don’t.
Are you looking at purchasing a HVAC system installed? You need to take a few important things. Systems get rated according to the total area they effectively heat or cool. You are better off purchasing a unit rather than a smaller one.
Each contractor will have their own fee schedule, so make sure you get several different quotes before you hire anybody. This can help you to save money by knowing what people are charging. Ideally, you should call five to six contractors to get a good idea of what a reasonable rate is.
If the HVAC unit makes a clicking noise, see if there is any debris in it. Often it is being caused by debris hitting the fans in the cooling system. Check it out before you call in the professionals.
To help your heating and cooling system run efficiently, install a radiant barrier in your attic. It blocks the heat from inside out, reducing the energy that’s needed for your home to get cooled during the summer. You may even find that you can use the attic space more effectively.
Square Footage
Are you going to buy a new HVAC system? There are a number of things to think about first. The systems are generally rated based on the area they cover. You are wise to err on the side of a bigger unit rather than a smaller one.
Measure the living area that requires air conditioner shopping. You will need about 20 BTU per square footage of room space. If you need to cool multiple rooms, add together their square footage to reach this calculation.
If your system doesn’t seem to be working efficiently, check your ducts for leaks. Call the utility company to test for you, it will usually be cheaper than a contractor. The testing will pay for itself once you find and repair the leaks.
Replace the air filter monthly to keep your HVAC system every month. This is the easiest step to take to ensure that you can do to keep your unit running in good operating condition.
Hire an HVAC contractor that is efficient and quick. Good companies attend to their customers in a timely manner. These techs that come out should be quickly able to figure out the issue and remedy the problem right away. Once the technician figures out what’s wrong, they can help resolve the problems in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Pick an HVAC companies that understands the unit and can work quickly. The most reliable companies will ensure that their technicians will always be on schedule and keep appointments. The tech will also know what to do to figure out what’s going wrong with an HVAC unit quickly. Once they know what’s wrong, they can help resolve the problems in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Prior to hiring any HVAC contractor, you ought to ask about their level of experience. It’s important that a contractor is experienced in the area of the kind of work you require. While someone with less experience might be able to do a great job too, you do not want to take that chance.
Ask a contractor about their experience.You need to verify they have the sort of experience needed to work on your particular system.
Make sure to get references when hiring your contractor. Call and ask if their service was everything they expected, timely, and that it stayed on budget. Checking references helps you avoid scammers.
Always get some references from a contractor.
The services you are paying a contractor to do should be clearly spelled out in your contract. There are contractors out there that will make you pay for extra things like charges for fuel or materials. Having a solid written contract will help you avoid any issues like this.
Any HVAC contractor or installer should have an emergency hotline. They should be there when you need them, be it in the middle of a heatwave or in the worst snowstorm of the year.
Look into the references an HVAC contractor provides to you. Often people skip this step, but it is important to follow through and check references. It only takes a few minutes out of your busy schedule to check a contractor out, so don’t risk it.
Cover your condenser in the weather becomes less than optimal. This can help it last longer when you’re not in use. Use the fan setting only to avoid putting strain on the unit.
When you get a contractor to come by to offer a quote to you, make sure they do include heat-loss calculation. This particular equation will help you estimate the number of BTUs needed to keep the home in a comfortable condition. They should be counting windows and doors, checking insulation, and measuring your home’s internal space as well.
Now that you have the information from the above article, it is easy to see the importance of keeping your HVAC system well maintained. If you don’t take care of it, it will fail. Hopefully, you’ll keep up the regular HVAC maintenance and won’t ever need to worry about this nightmare gripping you or your home.
Use a contractor that installs and uses Energy Star equipment. Anything that has the logo for Energy Star on it has met the guidelines that the EPA has set up for the environment. This means that they can help you save money on your heating and cooling bills throughout the year.
