Content by-Regan Lauesen
Keeping a home cool in the summer and warm in the winter is one of the most fundamental duties of a homeowner. Knowing the right person to call in the event of an equipment failure is essential to staying comfortable on a year-round basis. By reading the material below, there should never be any doubt about what steps to take.
Inspect the temps in your home before you call a service to help you with any HVAC issues you're having. Determine which rooms are hotter or colder than they should be. If you do this, it will be a great help to the future contractor, who will now be able to quickly locate the problem issue.
Before you hire anyone to do any work on your HVAC, be sure to get a written estimate which has itemized costs listed on it. This will ensure that comparing one contractor to another will be simple as you can see what one offers that another doesn't, or what price they're charging for the same items.
Do not be surprised if the HVAC contractor you choose does an evaluation on your home. Any good contractor will spend time looking at the system you currently have and what the needs are for your home. They will also take a look at your duct system and look for air leaks.
Make sure that your contractor provides a home assessment. Not every HVAC solution is for everyone. Your home could have special needs for heating and cooling. Your contractor should do a walk around of your space to judge what is best. If they aren't be sure to request one.
If your condenser units are outisde, make sure any debris is cleaned from them regularly. Debris quickly gathers here, even more so if there is a storm. This can cause major issues with your system. It can also cause it to overheat.
Once it gets cold outside, you should turn off the outdoor condenser unit. The unit will become damaged if you do not take care of it. Doing this keeps your system working well for years and saves you from having to spend money to repair it.
Whether you have an air conditioner in a window or outside your home, be sure to keep it in the shade. The cooler the air around it, and the cooler the condenser itself, the easier a time it will have of keeping the air inside your home cool as well.
Always ask for references before you allow anyone to start doing work on your HVAC system. Call several of them to make sure that they are legitimate. Many people take the word of the contractor when it comes to customer satisfaction and that can prove to be a mistake in the end.
If you have a window air conditioner without a timer, use a regular outlet timer to control when it is on or off. These are the same ones you use for holiday lights, so all you have to do is plug your air conditioner into the timer and set it to cool you during the day.
Improve the efficiency of your air conditioning by installing ceiling fans. Change the airflow direction of the ceiling fans. During the summer, the blades should move in a counter-clockwise direction. During the winter, the blades should move clockwise to help move the hot air in the ceiling down into the room.
Never allow the temperature in your home to rise to a dangerously high level. AC units will only cool a house down 20 degrees. So, if
ac repair canyon country reaches 100 degrees, your air conditioning will only bring that temp down to about 80 degrees. Depending on how humid the environment is, that is not a healthy temperature for the human body when it rests during sleep.
Outer coils can be cleaned with a regular outdoor hose before you turn the unit on for the season. That said, interior coils should be taken care of by a professional so that you don't do any damage as you attempt to clean them. Bring someone in to complete a check up.
If your home gets hot in the summer and you'd like to use your air conditioner less often, consider a metal roof. It reflects the heat right back up into the sky, allowing your home to gain less heat on sunny days. Since metal roofs are permanent, you'll save on repair and replacement costs also.
In order to save money overnight, buy an air conditioner with a switch that sets it to be fan-only. This will push hot air outside and bring in cool air from near the ground. Turn
air conditioning service on just before bed so that you can cool the house as you sleep.
Improve the efficiency of your air conditioning by installing ceiling fans. Change the airflow direction of the ceiling fans. During the summer, the blades should move in a counter-clockwise direction. During the winter, the blades should move clockwise to help move the hot air in the ceiling down into the room.
Consider a digital window air conditioner with a remote to make use easy as pie. These often come with a thermostat in the remote, turning off the unit when the air near the remote is cool enough. Place the remote on the other side of the room so that the whole area cools down.
If you feel like you are spending too much money on your heating and cooling, there is a simple way to reduce this cost. Raise or lower the temperature depending on the season. A single degree in temperature change can equate to almost a nine percent savings in cooling and heating costs.
Expect an evaluation. Any good HVAC contractor will want to look at your home before proposing any changes or recommending any products. Every home is different and what works for one home may not work well in another. If a contractor starts trying to sell you on a particular HVAC system without actually seeing your home, look elsewhere.
Ask for referrals from friends and family.
hvac duct replacement near me to judge if an HVAC company is going to do a good job is from people who have actually used them. Ask your acquaintances if they have had work done, and find out if they were happy with the job, timeliness, and budget.
Now you know how to keep your HVAC running smoothly. Don't allow things to go bad because you don't pay attention to doing maintenance. Use the above tips to make sure it keeps working properly.