The Benefits of Servicing your HVAC Equipment

Do you know where your filter is and have you changed it lately? Is your condensate leaking? Does your blower motor need oiling? These are just a few of the things that a general service on your heating, ventilation and cooling equipment can help you find.

Most manufacturers advise customers to have their equipment serviced every year. While there is no harm in doing this, I would recommend every other year or every 2 years. As long as you’re changing the filter(s) in your new equipment regularly, there aren’t too many things that can go wrong in 1 year (knock on wood!). If your equipment is older and approaching what we like to call “retirement age,” you would probably benefit from having a yearly maintenance to keep an eye on heat exchanger cracks and/or Freon leaks. If you do have an older gas furnace, please pick up some CO detectors at your local home improvement store and install them in the bedrooms of the home. CO is difficult to detect and can be harmful to your health when a heat exchanger fails.

The time of year that you schedule your check-up is entirely up to you, but let me give you some tips on this touchy subject. Twice a year every year we get flooded with service calls. What are these customers calling about? No heating and no air conditioning! This year has been no exception so far, the first day our temperatures reached above 70 degrees we were flooded with calls, “I turned my air conditioning on today and it doesn’t work.” Sadly, this never had to happen. I’m not saying these people are bad people, we all forget things like this. But a check-up prevents these frustrations for your family and could save you money if we catch a problem early.

The best time to schedule a service on your heating and air conditioning equipment is when the weather is mild. Spring and Fall when the temperatures are in the 60s or so seem to work best. HVAC shops aren’t swamped with emergencies during these times and can easily schedule these sorts of appointments for you.

Most people will wait until the heat is unbearable or the temperature drops below 30 degrees to call for service. Next time be the person one step ahead of everyone else and schedule your maintenance early in the season.

The bottom line is, I feel sorry for my customers who are without heat or air conditioning when the weather calls for it. And each time one of them calls, I wish they had scheduled a preventative maintenance with me 2 to 3 months prior. Remember: your furnace and air conditioner are machinery and machinery needs to be maintained.

Schedule a maintenance with a local company today – and check your filters regularly!