How To Properly Maintain Your HVAC System

Keeping up with the maintenance of your HVAC system is important.  Here is a guide to help you properly maintain your HVAC system.

Why It’s Important to Maintain Your HVAC System

A properly functioning HVAC and air filtration system is important to keeping your family safe and ensuring that your HVAC system doesn’t break on you.

Temperature

First, there’s temperature control. We’re in the thick of spring, and that means that temperatures are going to fluctuate between heat and cool rain. To adapt your home and keep it comfortable, you need a properly functioning cooling system. If your air conditioning is ineffective or slow to change, it will be cycling often to play catch-up as your rooms fluctuate between chilly and uncomfortably warm. A well-installed and maintained HVAC system can provide quick, accurate temperature control that can ensure a consistently comfortable environment. Check that your AC units are capable of blowing cold air, and that your thermostat is consistently reading at the correct temperature.

Air Quality

An effective air filtration system can help keep your air fresh and crisp for maximum comfort. Your air filters also help protect against pollen and other springtime allergens. Check that the filters on your HVAC systems have all been cleaned or replaced as needed. If you don’t know how to find your filters, we can help you.

Circulation and Humidity

An overly humid house can make you irritable, tired, and unmotivated when you’re stuck indoors. Inadequate circulation can also make your home’s temperature uneven and inconsistent, making it difficult for your HVAC system to keep up. You need a properly functioning air ventilation system to keep air crisp and moving throughout your home.

Providing HVAC services during this time requires expertise and a disciplined team.

At Vaughan, we’re proud to provide the most exemplary maintenance HVAC service while ensuring the safety of our clients and staff. Maintaining your HVAC system is a priority that deserves careful attention during quarantine, so please give us a call or use our contact page if you have any questions or concerns about your home environment.

Tips For Maintaining Your HVAC System

Declutter

Your HVAC system can only run effectively when the vents which deliver warm air to the many areas of your home remain unblocked. While tidying up for holiday soirees and removing clutter from different areas of the home, be sure that you do not unintentionally block vents. Watch out for this problem when rearranging furniture to create more space for guests, too.

Swap Out Old Air Filters

Greet your guests with confidence in the air quality in your home by changing out old air filters. Air filters should be replaced, at minimum, each season, but if you have pets or smoke you’ll probably need to up that figure to keep your air clean and your system from working too hard to properly heat your home.

Consider Adding a Zoning System

Many of our clients complain that during the holiday season, constant cooking and the presence of many people keeps the main living areas warm, but leaves other parts of the house uncomfortably chilly. This is due to the fact that your thermostat is usually located in one of those main areas, like the living or dining room. It simply will not begin cycling on until the temperature drops down below where the unit is set. This can make finished basements, studies, bedrooms, and other areas of your home way cooler than preferred. The best way to address this problem is by having a zoned HVAC system installed. The different zones will help you maintain a balanced temperature throughout your home regardless of how warm certain areas are.

Best Time For HVAC Maintenance

Here are a few reasons why you should get HVAC system maintenance done in the spring.

Extra Money to Invest from Tax Returns

After a hard-earned year of work, a little extra cash comes in to line your pockets. Why not invest it in something that works just as hard as you do to keep your home comfortable all year long? Say a little thank you to your HVAC system by making sure it stays in great shape for the summer ahead!

Warm Weather is Coming

Speaking of summer, the brutal heat is on its way so be sure to seek repairs or maintenance on your system before it gets too hot. Maintenance in the spring is an investment that makes sure your home will stay cool during the hot summer months. Now that the snow is out of the way and the sun is shining, it’s the perfect time to make sure your HVAC system is working as it should.

Prep Your Home for the Summer Holidays

Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day. Spring holidays are coming up quickly and there is no better way to sour the mood of a party than the discomfort of a house with faulty air conditioning! Keep guests (and yourself!) comfortable this season by having your HVAC system inspected before the holidays come around.

Spring Cleaning Mood Boosters

Coming out of the dreary winter, you probably have a little extra pep in your step! With the sunshine coming in and beach season coming up, you’ll want to keep that energy going. Getting outside for some natural Vitamin D is a must, but coming back inside to a nice cool home is just as important. Keep your HVAC system happy, and you’ll be happy too!

It can be tempting to put off home improvements, but there will be a time when “maybe next season” comes too late. Don’t be caught this summer with a broken HVAC system, make sure your home stays cool all summer by getting it maintained now!

HVAC-Friendly Pet Practices

The best way to keep your HVAC system in tip-top shape all year, but especially in the winter months, is to change your air filters regularly. As the authors of this article, written for the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), explain, “A system that has a dirty filter can suffer from pressure drop, which can lead to reduced air flow, or ‘blow-out,’ resulting in no air infiltration at all. 

Any of these conditions can cause the system to work harder to keep the home warm or cool (depending on the season and the setting).  And any mechanical component that has to work harder to run efficiently puts undue stress on the whole system, which can lead to premature failure, resulting in repair or replacement.” To best protect your HVAC system, InterNACHI suggests that pet owners change out air filters on a monthly basis.

You can also lessen the burden on your heating system this winter by keeping your pets groomed. Regular bathing keeps animals’ dander at bay, and grooming does away with the excess hair that many animals grow in the winter, when we are not as eager schedule their haircuts as we may be in the summer months. Even the simple act of regularly brushing your pet (outdoors or on the back porch!) is a great way to cut down on the hair and dander that can make its way into your home’s air filters.

Pet hair doesn’t just tax your air filters, though. If you look closely, you will notice that unless you are really diligent about it, hair begins to accumulate in the registers and vents throughout your home, too. Be sure to give these vents some TLC each time your vacuum in order to ward off the buildup of hair which both prevents proper airflow and puts dust and hair back into the air each time your heating unit cycles on.

With these simple commitments, you can help your HVAC system run as efficiently as possible.

Getting Help With Your HVAC Maintenance

If you are in the New Jersey area, call (856) 627-0303 or contact the expert HVAC technicians online at Vaughan Comfort Services to get started on HVAC maintenance or for your next HVAC system.