Talking About HVAC

Posted on: 8 January 2018

Maintaining your HVAC system is something that requires constant attention and care. Most people don't do the required HVAC maintenance in the suggested timeframe. This is true when it comes to everything from heat pump cleaning, filter replacement, duct cleaning, and much more. Obviously, calling an HVAC professional to do all these small jobs is simply not practical. Otherwise, you would be having a professional coming to your house once every couple months to do minor jobs, like replacing the air filters. This article explains how to do two of the easiest, yet the most essential HVAC maintenance tasks. These are jobs that you should do every six months at the very least to prevent heating and plumbing repairs.

Air Filter Replacement

Your most regular and frequent HVAC maintenance should be the replacement of your air filters. Most homes are going to have several air filters throughout the house. Of course, this depends on the size of the furnace, the size of your home, and the capacity of the duct system. Obviously, it also depends on how often you are running your heat and/or AC. The more you run them, the more often the filter will need to be replaced. At the same time, some filters in your home are going to get dirtier than others.

Checking Your Filters

Basically, you have to check your filters frequently just to see how dirty they are. The absolute best filter maintenance is to replace your filters whenever they are dirty. This requires checking them regularly. Most people don't check their air filters even once a year. But it is a good idea to check them every six months. Whatever your filter looks dirty, just replace it. The trick is to always have filters on hand. You can buy filters in bulk from any store, so you always have them readily available.

Cleaning the Heat Pump

And another simple job you should always do yourself, at least once every six months, is to clean the heat pump. The pump is located on the outside of the house, and it is central to both heating and air-conditioning functions. That is, it is it only part of the heating system. The pump, since it is outside, gets dirty over time, especially on the outside walls. The outside walls of the heat pump are lined with important metal coils that are part of the evaporator system. When these coils get dirty, the evaporator doesn't function properly. So, you want to check and clean your coils once every six months.