Hugo D. Your HVAC system works hard for you all year but particularly during the winter and summer months when the weather becomes more extreme. During the icy winter months, your heating system helps ensure you have a warm and cozy place to take shelter from the elements.
When summer arrives, the air conditioning unit in your HVAC system is responsible for keeping the scorching outdoor temperatures at bay. In between these periods of heavy use, it’s critical to ensure your HVAC system is thoroughly cleaned and properly maintained. It’s time for HVAC spring cleaning.
While there’s never a bad time to give your heating and cooling units some much-needed attention, the perfect time to complete this critical task is during the more temperate spring season. Here are a few of the top reasons why spring is a great time for HVAC cleaning and how it can help ensure your heating and cooling system is in optimal operating condition before temperatures begin to rise.
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HVAC Maintenance: What’s Involved?
The term “HVAC” is an acronym that stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. An HVAC system is composed of many separate elements that work together to control the environment in your home, keeping it at the ideal temperature, controlling the humidity, maintaining the air quality, and so on.
An HVAC system includes a heating element—usually a furnace of some type—and a cooling unit—typically an air conditioner. The system must also have a method of circulating the heated or cooled air throughout the home.
In most cases, this is through a blower fan and a system of ductwork and vents, although other methods exist as well. There also needs a filtration system to keep pollutants out of the indoor air. All of this is controlled by a computerized thermostat, which ensures the preferred temperature is achieved and that the system turns on and off when it’s supposed to.
As large volumes of air circulate throughout the building, the HVAC system begins to accumulate a buildup of dust and dirt. Wear and tear will also occur as a result of heavy seasonal use. HVAC repair and maintenance involves a professional contractor, such as a licensed company like All Weather Heating & Cooling, cleaning the system and working down a maintenance checklist to address all possible concerns.
Identify Issues Early
Continuous heavy use that occurs during the peak seasons puts a strain on your HVAC system and its components. In addition, the nature of this type of technology means that even one element failing to function properly can cause the system to become compromised. For example, faulty wiring in a thermostat can prevent it from communicating with the system, making it impossible to achieve the desired settings.
Often, larger issues occur because critical maintenance was neglected, and as you can imagine, they tend to happen at the worst possible times. Major problems commonly arise when an HVAC system is working its hardest: during days of extreme weather conditions, such as during particularly hot or especially cold days. Since these times are the busiest for HVAC workers, homeowners can typically expect higher costs and long wait times during these periods.
Springtime maintenance, however, can help you avoid this by ensuring your HVAC system is in good working order before the summer months. Have an HVAC contractor identify and address potential issues early by investing in HVAC spring cleaning.
Improve Energy Efficiency
Poorly maintained HVAC systems tend to be inefficient when it comes to energy usage. As leaks occur in the ductwork, dirt gets into the equipment and filters, and coolant levels drop, the system is forced to work harder to achieve the same temperatures as before. This translates to higher energy costs, which can lead to astronomical bills when the machinery is seeing heavy use.
HVAC spring cleaning and maintenance ensures that minimal energy is wasted during the daily operation of the machinery. For example, even a small leak in the ductwork can cause a great deal of heat to enter the ducts as the air circulates.
In turn, this means more electricity must be used to bring the temperature back down, leading to increased costs for the user. Taking the time to repair your ductwork during spring will help prevent an excessive air conditioning bill during the hot summer months.
Enhance Indoor Air Quality
As air circulates throughout your home, it carries with it accumulated dust and dirt. Your HVAC system is equipped with filters, which capture the particles as they travel through your system. However, over time, pollutants and impurities will begin to build up in these filters, eventually hampering their ability to perform their critical work. When this happens, the dust and dirt can be reintroduced to the indoor atmosphere, negatively impacting the air quality in your home.
When the weather warms up, you’ll be running your HVAC system continuously, with the windows and doors tightly shut. If the filters in your system haven’t been changed or cleaned in a while, the resulting reduction in air quality can lead to increased respiratory problems for the inhabitants of the home, including allergies and asthma. For this reason, replacing or cleaning the filters in your system is an important step in HVAC spring cleaning.
Ensure Your System Runs Smoothly When Needed
As mentioned above, investing in HVAC care during the off-season is key to avoiding major problems that would otherwise arise on the hottest days of the year. Having a properly functioning HVAC system isn’t just a matter of convenience, either.
It can also be one of safety for the inhabitants of your home, as human health depends on having a place to find protection from temperature extremes. Having a malfunctioning HVAC system when it’s over 100 degrees outside can pose a serious risk to the people living in a building, which is why it’s critical to ensure your system is running smoothly when it’s needed most.
Take advantage of the slower season for HVAC contractors by making a maintenance appointment during the spring, before the weather turns and they become busier. Contact your local HVAC professional today and ask them to perform spring cleaning and maintenance on all the heating and cooling systems in your home. Then, look forward to your summer knowing you’ll be able to relax in safety and comfort.
