6 Care Tips for Extending the Life of Your HVAC System

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(Newswire.net — February 7, 2021) — One expensive component of your home is your HVAC system. If you’re like most homeowners, you want to do everything possible to extend the life of your system. While there are many ways that you can do so, we’re going to provide you with six common care tips that you should integrate into your HVAC care routine.

Change Air Filters Regularly

The air filter of your HVAC system is an essential component to ensure that the air in your home is free from harmful allergens and debris. It also helps to keep these nasty particles out of your HVAC system. Air filters will eventually start to clog up and need to be replaced.

If you let the filter go without replacing it, your HVAC system is going to have to work harder to push air through the filter to get it delivered throughout your home. This causes unnecessary wear and tear on your HVAC system. Aim for replacing your filter every three months.

Schedule Regular Maintenance

Your HVAC system should undergo regular maintenance checks throughout the year. The best rule of thumb is to have your furnace checked in the fall, and your air conditioner checked in the spring. Your service professionals will look for worn out and damaged system components. They’ll also lubricate any moving parts to ensure optimal efficiency for your system. By having regular maintenance performed, you can replace worn parts before they damage other components of your system.

Fix Problems Early

When your HVAC system starts to make a weird noise, you need to get it checked out. You don’t want to let this problem go just because your system is still currently working. This could end up causing more expensive damage as time progresses. As a general rule of thumb, any strange noises, odd odors, or poor performance issues should be checked out by a professional reasonably soon.

Don’t Keep Vents Closed

One big mistake that homeowners make is shutting vents in rooms that they don’t use. For some reason, they believe that this is going to keep the heat or air conditioning in the rooms that they regularly use. The truth is that closing vents just makes your HVAC system work harder. This is because it increases the amount of air pressure inside of the ductwork. Over time, the pressure can cause your ducting to split or crack.

Get Annual Duct Cleaning

You should have your HVAC professional regularly clean your ducting. This will help to remove any built-up dust, dirt, mold, and other debris that stays trapped in your ductwork. This will also help to greatly increase the air quality in your home. During the cleaning process, your HVAC professional should be able to reveal if there are any major leaks present in your system so that you can get them repaired.

Clean Your Outdoor Unit

Each HVAC system will have an outdoor condenser unit. You’ll usually find this at the side of your house on a concrete pad. It’s important that you clean this unit regularly. The outside elements and the wind can cause loose debris to get stuck in the grating of the condenser unit. Leaves are some of the most common issues. When they block the grating of the unit, it obstructs the airflow. This decreases the efficiency of your system and can lead to damage.

Taking care of your HVAC system requires some routine maintenance. The above are six main tasks that you’ll want to complete to ensure that your HVAC system sticks around for a while. Remember that the little bit of time that you invest throughout the years of living there will go a long way in saving you a bundle in not having to prematurely replace your HVAC system.