5 Spring and Summer HVAC Tips for Homeowners

You might not give it much thought, but you depend on your HVAC system for a lot. You rely on it to remove contaminants from the air your family breathes and keep your comfortable throughout the year. Even the best HVAC system needs some TLC from time to time.

Check out these spring and summer HVAC tips to learn how to keep your system in excellent condition over the next few months.

Clean or Replace the Filter

Keeping up with cleaning or replacing filters is one of the most important steps when taking care of your HVAC system. We recommend performing filter maintenance in the spring and fall, or according to the manufacturer’s specifications. In addition to allowing airborne contaminants to circulate throughout your home, a dirty filter could force your system to work harder, resulting in higher bills and even system failure.

spring and summer hvac tips
Air conditioner flickr photo by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine shared into the public domain using Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

Give Your AC Some Breathing Room

Whether you’ve already fired your AC up for the season or you’re getting ready to for the first time this year, make sure it has some room to breathe. The outdoor unit needs to have at least 1’ of clearance on all sides. Get rid of dirt, leaves and other debris, and trim any bushes that are touching the unit.

Examine Your Ducts

Leaky ducts add up to serious heating and cooling loss. This drives up your bills and forces your system to work harder to keep your home cool during the summer and warm during the winter. Check for holes and gaps periodically, and repair any you find right away.

Keep the Vents Open

Closing a few vents in rooms you don’t use often might seem like a good way to lower your energy costs, but it actually could drive them even higher. When some vents are closed, the system is forced to work harder to achieve the correct temperature inside your home.

Schedule Professional Maintenance

Having your HVAC system professionally maintained is, by far, the absolute best way to save money and avoid breakdowns. At Larry & Sons, we recommend having us service your system annually. When you call us, we will clean or replace filters, clean and inspect motors and blowers, test safety controls, and much more.

At Larry & Sons, we are here to help with all of your HVAC maintenance needs in Hagerstown and the surrounding areas. If you have any questions about these HVAC tips or need help taking care of your HVAC system this spring or summer, please call 301-733-5428.

Pre-Season Furnace Inspection

Inspect and Maintain your heater before winter startsWhen you’ve used it, your HVAC unit has worked splendidly this year, but, even though it uses the same thermostat, your furnace is a different system and should be treated differently.  The end of September marks the closing of summer and the beginning of winter, which means it’s time to schedule a pre-season maintenance for your heating system, before you start it for the first time.  Regular maintenance and a pre-start inspection with cleaning are essential to the health of your heating unit.  Every year that you start up the system without conducting an inspection and basic maintenance is a slightly higher chance that your heating system will fail, leading to expensive repairs.  While we recommend getting a professional inspection every fall, there are a few things you can do on your own first. Continue reading “Pre-Season Furnace Inspection”