When the winter season is approaching quickly, it’s time to start thinking about winterizing your home. That change from cooling to heating can be a real challenge if you don’t adopt a proactive approach. If the HVAC system is not ready, it may underperform, there could be unexpected repairs, and the energy efficiency will be compromised. In this article, we will take a closer look at four ways that you can prepare your HVAC system for colder weather conditions.
A Brief Primer on Preventative Maintenance
Although we rely on our HVAC systems to keep our homes comfortable throughout the year, we tend to take them for granted. Why? Most of the system is located in out of sight areas, and a lot of the system is hidden. So, it’s not surprising that many people don’t pay attention to their heating and cooling equipment until something goes wrong.
It’s better to adopt a proactive approach with preventative maintenance for your HVAC system. Well maintained equipment is less likely to fail when you need it most. If you schedule regular maintenance, there are performance gains and energy efficiency savings. During professional maintenance, the technician can identify minor or potential problems and fix them before they become more serious and more expensive to fix.
The best time to schedule maintenance is before the start of summer and winter to limit the potential for downtime when you need extra heating or cooling. But, if you have somewhere cool or warm to hang out for a while, you can still schedule preventative HVAC maintenance outside these periods.
1. Professional HVAC Maintenance
During regularly scheduled preventative maintenance, the technician will prepare your HVAC system for the season ahead. As we mentioned above, twice yearly maintenance before each summer or winter season makes good sense. For winter, the HVAC technician will thoroughly inspect the furnace to ensure that safe combustion and venting are working as intended. This is important; many home fires are started by cracks in the heat exchanger that can be hard to detect because they seal up when the furnace is cold. These cracks can release carbon monoxide, which is known as “the silent killer,” for a very good reason. If you don’t have carbon monoxide detectors, they should be installed on each floor and near the furnace and checked once per month. Other components are cleaned, and you will be informed if there are any problems. At the end of the HVAC service, you will have an HVAC system that performs at the optimal efficiency for a system of that age.
2. Check and Replace Dirty Air Filters
The primary purpose of HVAC air filters is to capture and remove particulates that could cause damage to sensitive components. Any improvements to the indoor air quality (IAQ) should be regarded as a secondary benefit. The HVAC system relies on a steady supply of fresh air to run at optimal efficiency. If the air filter is clogged, the equipment is overworked as it attempts to compensate for the lack of airflow. The extra stress placed on equipment that’s already working hard makes components more likely to fail. This increases the chance of downtime when you need heating most.
Another aspect of overworked equipment is that it consumes more energy, and this drives up the utility bills. The performance also suffers; the system cannot transport the treated air to where it needs to go, which means that you’re paying for energy for no reason. The owner’s manual for your system will have full details on how and when you should change or clean the air filter. For easy reference, change the air filter monthly or when it looks dirty and more often if you have pets in the home. This will keep your HVAC system operating more efficiently throughout the entire year.
3. Seal Air Leaks
When you have air leaks around doors, windows, and even from your ductwork system, you’re wasting treated air (warm or cool). This loss of heat in winter may be felt in certain areas with cold spots where the heating seems to be less effective. A common location for heat to escape is via breaks or cracks in the ductwork that runs through the attic. Checking for air leaks is easy; hold up a candle around the door and window seals, and if it sputters, you have a leak.
Air leaks should be sealed with caulk and weather stripping to keep the treated air indoors where it belongs. It’s harder to repair ductwork because a lot of it is hidden in hard to reach locations. If you can see cracks in exposed ductwork, it can be sealed with duct tape, but this is a temporary fix. So, if you’re concerned about air leaks, contact your local heating and cooling specialist and ask about a ductwork inspection and cleaning. If the ductwork is in bad shape, it’s often cheaper and more efficient to simply replace it.
4. Upgrade Your Thermostat
Making a switch to an upgraded thermostat can make a huge difference to your lifestyle. A programmable or smart thermostat gives you more control and monitoring options to improve performance and energy efficiency. You can set the temperature to rise or fall depending on when you need heat with incredible precision. If you opt for a smart thermostat, you can even make changes remotely in real time via an app on your favorite mobile device or a computer. Making temperature adjustments as you sleep or when you’re away from home can save a lot of energy and lower your utility bills.
In Conclusion
As you can see, there are a number of good reasons to invest in professional HVAC maintenance for your home. Many people avoid their essential maintenance commitments to “save money,” but this is a false economy. It’s also a bad idea to hire a handyman to do this work or to try a DIY approach. An HVAC system represents a significant investment, and it makes sense to protect that investment with professional maintenance. If you want to schedule an inspection for your system, contact your local heating and cooling specialist.