It’s what keeps your living space warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. Your home’s HVAC system is one of the main contributors to the comfort of modern-day living. Like your vehicles, your appliances, or any other piece of piece of equipment you may have, your HVAC system works best when it is properly maintained on a regular basis.
While much of the work regarding your home’s heating and cooling appliances is better left to the professionals, there are plenty of things that you, as a homeowner, can do to ensure that your unit will last for many years with trouble-free operation. Below, you will find a few tips for maintaining your indoor comfort components.
Change The Filter
You’ve probably heard this one a million times from your HVAC Service Provider. The thing is, it’s absolutely the most beneficial thing you can do for the system.
Inside your home’s furnace is a blower fan that pulls air into a return vent, through a coil or heat exchanger, then back out the air vents. Typically, there is a filter placed somewhere between the return vent and the coil or heat exchanger. This filter traps dust, debris, and microbes that may be in the air of your home before it reaches the coil. If dust is allowed to collect on your A/C coil or heat exchanger, it will reduce efficiency and could potentially cause a premature breakdown of the blower fan, or worse, the A/C compressor.
Just like a dirty coil can wreck a system, an extremely dirty filter can have the same effect. Dirty filters not only restrict air flow, but they can potentially fail, and cause large amounts of dist and dirt to reach the coil.
It is recommended that you change your filter every month, without fail. Set a reminder on your phone for the 1st of each month, so you know you won’t forget it. Some thermostats come with a feature that lets you know when it’s time to change the filter, as well. With all the technology available, you can make changing your HVAC system’s filter a hard task to forget.
Keep The Outside Coil Clean
Just like how dirt and debris can clog the inside coil of your system, the same thing can happen on the outside. In fact, the outside coil is more susceptible to dirt and dust, because it’s exposed to the elements. Bugs, dirt, leaves, grass clippings and more can all get sucked into the coil, causing blockages and reduce air flow. This reduced air flow decreases efficiency, makes the compressor run harder, and can cause premature failures.
Since there is no filter to change on the outside, the best defense is a good offense. Rinsing the coil with a low-pressure rinse (with the breaker turned off, of course) is a great way to keep your outside unit running efficiently between professional cleanings. If you rinse out the unit once every two months during it’s season of use, you should have no issues with air flow. Another way to help keep the coils clean is to mow so that you’re spreading grass clippings away from the unit. If you use a lawn service, be sure to suggest to them that you’d prefer they do the same.
Professional Service
Of course, in addition to your efforts to maintain your system, it is still recommended to have a licensed HVAC professional clean and service your unit once a year. There are a lot of components, electrical and chemical elements, and parts that only a trained person should be working on. Having a knowledgeable technician working on your equipment not only ensures your overall safety, but environmental safety, as well.
Who To Call
If you live in the Benton, Carroll, or Henry County area, and are in need of HVAC services, there are plenty of good, quality professionals you can contact. Here is a short list of vetted area HVAC Contractors:
- Speer’s Climate Control – Hollow Rock, Tennessee – (731) 358-1311
- Blankenship Heating & Cooling – Huntingdon, Tennessee – (731) 733-3333
- Fuller Heating and Cooling – Camden, Tennessee – (731) 584-6757
Your HVAC system is one of the most critical components to the comfort and air quality of your home. Don’t overlook the few small things that can prevent big catastrophes.