HVAC Maintenance Tips to Prepare Your Home For Summer
In this region, the cooling season is longer than our heating season. We experience more extreme heat and high humidity for longer periods, compared to the colder temps we experience in the mild, south Texas winter. Since warm weather is right around the corner, we are presenting some air conditioning tips that will help you stay comfortable and cool all summer long. These tips will also help your AC to run efficiently and avoid costly repairs. Take a look at these HVAC Maintenance tips:
- Change Your Air Filter
This tip seems to appear in every HVAC article, and for very good reasons.
- It is an easy, DIY task that really makes a difference. Most are amazed at how much dust, dirt, and debris an air filter collects every time they change a filter.
- Even though it is an easy task, homeowners often forget to change the filter.
Set a notification on your calendar to change the filter regularly, perhaps at the beginning of each season–more frequently if needed. A clogged filter will cause stress on your AC system, resulting in higher cooling costs. It also decreases efficiency airflow, so it will blow a little less cold air than normal. Changing your filter is well worth the effort.
- Clean Your Condenser
The condenser unit is the outdoor component of your air conditioner. One of its jobs is to take the heat from inside your house and disperse it outside. The heat is carried by refrigerant gas carried through copper tubing from your indoor cabinet to the condenser. When that gas reaches the condenser unit, it is very hot. The condenser walls contain a network of tubes and the tubes have very small aluminum fins radiating from the tubes. This network is designed to take the heat from the refrigerant gas and quickly disperse it. In the center of the condenser is a large fan pulling air very quickly through the fins to cool the gas.
Dispersing the heat is essential. Should the condenser overheat, it could lead to catastrophic failure. This is where you come in.
- Dust and grass clippings blow into the small spaces between the fins and block the airflow. When that happens, the gas will not cool properly. Use a hose (not a power washer, as that can damage the fins) and clean the condenser thoroughly.
- Make sure that leaves or limbs do not collect around the base of the condenser.
- Make sure to trim shrubs clear of the condenser unit to promote air circulation.
- Learn to Use Your Thermostat
The thermostat is the temperature-activated switch on the wall of your home. Most people never learn to use their thermostats efficiently. Here are some suggestions for thermostat use that might make a difference.
- There are a few days in the spring in which AC use is optional. Consider waiting to turn your air conditioner on for as long as possible.
- If you have a programmable or smart thermostat, schedule your thermostat and make only make necessary changes. Spiking the temperature up when you come in from the heat sounds like a good idea, but it will take between 30 minutes and an hour for the AC to make a difference. By that time, your body will be acclimated to the house temp.
- Another advantage of scheduling your thermostat is that you can turn the temperature up when it is not needed, say while the house is vacant or everyone is asleep. This can reduce your utility bill significantly.
- Consider switching the Fan setting from AUTO to ON. The AUTO setting uses the blower motor only during the cooling cycle, while the ON setting runs the fan continually. Running the fan continually circulates the air whether during a cooling cycle or not. This actually improves ventilation and thoroughly mixes the warm and cool air. The cost of running the fan continually is offset by the need for fewer cooling cycles.
Have Questions About Summertime AC Maintenance?
Northwind Air Conditioning and Heat can help with HVAC Maintenance, replacing Your HVAC system, maintenance, and AC repair. Contact us and get the answers you need.
