As a homeowner, you know being diligent with proper upkeep and maintenance for all areas of your home is important. However, even if you’ve scheduled regular maintenance of your HVAC system with a professional technician, the air conditioning unit is one of those elements of a home that gets wear and tear. The fact is, regular AC maintenance contributes to a longer operating life, but as the season pass, you may wonder if it’s possible to make your AC unit last longer. Well, here are a few basic tips to keep your HVAC system up and running, ensuring it’ll have a long lifespan in keeping your family cool in the summer months.
Keeping the Vents Open
During the hotter months, your cooling system can work pretty hard, even if you leave the vents closed as part of your preventative maintenance. However, while you may not use every room in your house (such as guest rooms or bedrooms), leaving the vents open won’t actually help lower your energy bill. Believe it or not, your air conditioner needs to “breathe” through all of the vents throughout your home, allowing the cool air to flow at peak efficiency and not burning out the AC unit’s motor or fans. If you’re having an issue with the unit’s airflow, the filters should be the first thing you check.
Keeping the AC’s Temperature Consistent
As you’re aware, as a homeowner, each family member has their own preference for the house’s ideal temperature, causing them to run to adjust the settings repeatedly. Unfortunately, constantly changing the dial also puts unneeded stress on your HVAC unit, which could soon lead to more visits from an HVAC technician or even expensive repairs.
If this is the case, you may want to speak with your service technician if it’s a good idea to invest in a “smart” thermostat, a programmable thermostat unit that you can control with an app on your mobile device or tablet. Not only will this type of solution avoid the AC unit’s potential breakdowns, but it may be the best solution to ensuring that you are the one monitoring the AC system. Additionally, some “smart” system models can learn your preferences, a great way to keep the cooling system’s settings consistent. With less strain, your air system will have a longer life span.
Also, if you’re looking to put your home on the market, an energy-efficient air system is not only a huge selling point but if you’re throwing an open house, such new technology will instantly present a more modernized home to prospective buyers.
Replacing the Air Filter
If you’ve been monitoring your air system and scheduling regular AC maintenance, you may already be aware of how important it is to change out your old air filters a few times a year. By design, filters remove dust, debris, allergens, and other dirt from your home’s air quality and can get pretty worn out over several months.
Airborne contaminants aren’t just a danger to your family’s health and safety; clogged air filters make your AC unit run harder to do its job and can be a leading cause of burn-out. Part of your proper maintenance of the unit should always be to switch out dirty filters for new clean ones at least three times a year, guaranteeing a longer operating life.
Scheduling Regular Maintenance
Although it was mentioned above, the importance of scheduling regular maintenance of your HVAC system cannot be stressed enough. Although it may seem a significant investment to make routine maintenance part of your yearly checklist, even if you are diligent in keeping an eye on the air system, only an expert technician can spot the smaller potential problems that can lead to even more expensive repairs. Regular tune-ups will extend your air conditioner’s lifespan and increase the unit’s energy efficiency and save you a lot of money on your energy bill in the long run.