With Georgia temperatures reaching record breaking highs, the last thing you want in the summer is for your air conditioning to go out. Seasonal maintenance is a MUST for a cool summer.
Hot Already? What Could Go Wrong
Picture it, you’ve worked in the yard all day. You’re sweaty, dirty and just beat from all that work. You can’t wait to get inside, take a nice cold shower and wind down for the day. As soon as you step inside, the heat hits you dead in the face. You immediately know something is wrong. How could this be? You know you set the air to a reasonable temperature and it was JUST working earlier in the day. Now you are forced to call your trusted HVAC company to come out and take a look at it. Now you’ll have to wait in your sopping wet clothes or brave the shower just to get sweaty again waiting for the AC guy to get there.
While you can likely get your AC repaired rather quickly, its going to cost you. If you can’t fix it, its going to cost you even more and you’ll have to wait in the heat for the repairs. Once you find yourself in this predicament, you start to wonder “what could I have done differently?”
How do I prevent This Nightmare?
The answer is seasonal maintenance. Most seasonal maintenance can be either done by you or you can hire a professional to give you a hand. Here are some items on many HVAC companies top things to do to prep for summer ( and winter).
Schedule Seasonal HVAC Maintenance Inspections.
Most HVAC companies have technicians readily available for seasonal maintenance inspections in the spring but you can schedule yours at any time of year. We recommend doing it well before summer, just in case your system needs some TLC. While a once a year inspection is great, some companies recommend having it done twice a year. When you schedule your inspection, make sure that the technician will be inspecting both your cooling and heating functions of your system. We recommend finding a BBB Certified Business that has an A+ rating.
Change Your Air Filter as Part of Your Seasonal Maintenance
Set a monthly reminder on your phone to change it. You should naturally be in the habit of changing your filter monthly, it is especially important when the use of your unit will increase. If your filter is dirty, it can block the air that is needed to flow through your system and cause it to freeze up. Maintaining your HVAC system’s air filter can reduce the system’s energy consumption by as much as 15 percent. If your unit has a permanent electrostatic filter, regularly cleaning it should be sufficient. Make sure to inspect the filter every 30 days.
Check Your HVAC Drain Pipe
Check the flow of moisture through the drain pipe. The drain pipe allows your HVAC unit to remove excess moisture as a protective measure. It can get clogged by debris, which can stop the unit’s dehumidifying process. You can use a shop vac’s suction to clear out a clogged drainpipe or line. You can also put a leak alarm in the drip pan to alert you to a clog or if the drain pan fills with water. This could indicate a problem with the drainage and can help prevent overflow into your home causing damage.
Clean Your Air Ducts
This is something that often gets overlooked by home owners because the correlation between dirty ducts and an inefficient HVAC system is not seen. Having dust, debris, microbial growth and even objects lodged into your ducts can cause a variety of health issues for your family but also your HVAC system. Clogged ducts can not only make your filter accumulate more dust and lead to inefficiency but it can also cause the air flow in your vents to slow. This can cause the unit to over work and the components may break down faster. Imagine blowing air through a straw that has a pipe cleaner in it, you’ll find yourself struggling to get air through.
Check Online For the Best of the Best in Service
We recommend finding a company that is certified by the National Air Duct Cleaning Association. You will find that Daffy Ducts is not only certified by NADCA but has been voted Best of Georgia and Best of Gwinnett several years running. Give us a call today to schedule your next cleaning!
Do Some Outdoor Seasonal Maintenance Clean up
Clean up around your outside unit. Its important that your outside unit has adequate room to pull in air unobstructed. You can do this as part of your seasonal maintenance as well as monthly maintenance. This can easily be done by clearing out any grass, bushes, debris or junk from around the
outside of the unit. You want to give the unit a 1 foot buffer around its outer shell. You can also remove the shell and blow out any dust, leaves or sticks that may have found their way into the unit cover.
These simple steps will set you up for a cool summer and help you stay on budget this year.
Seasonal Maintenance can make or break your year. Give Daffy Ducts a call for all of your Duct Cleaning, Dryer Vent Cleaning, and Insulation needs today and stay cool this summer!
