1. Change your filter!
Whenever you have a clogged filter, you’re going to starve your HVAC system for air, and it’s not going to work properly. It can even cause the breakdown of the unit. We see filters get clogged a lot quicker in environments that have pets. So if you have pets in your home, you need to really be conscious about that. And if you have a filter that is in an area of the home that’s really dusty, for instance, a basement or near a garage or something like that, you may need to change that more frequently just because of the dust level there.
2. Keep your Condenser Unit Clear
Your condenser unit for the air conditioner is the equipment that lives outdoors. It’s generally right up against the house, sometimes in a mulch bed. Sometimes they have plants around them. you need to keep that area free of any type of debris. If you don’t have mulch or anything, protect the unit from mud bouncing up on the unit, which can clog the small fins. Sometimes houses have laundry exhaust near the condenser. The important thing is to check it every so often and make sure it doesn’t have debris blocking it.
3. Vacuum often
Dirt that’s caught in a vacuum bag cannot make it to your filter to cause clogging. So, the more you vacuum, especially if you have pets, the easier it is on your filters.
4. Professional maintenance
One of the most important reasons to enroll in a regular maintenance program is that there are parts of your heating and cooling system that should be cleaned and maintained by a professional. The goal of any good maintenance plan is to head off costly repairs. When a professional has a look at your system several times a year, you can avoid repairs by fixing things before they break.
5. Don’t procrastinate calling in the pros.
Sometimes homeowners get the feeling in the hottest part of summer that maybe their system isn’t working as well as it should…but they wait to call. And then, when milder weather comes, they assume that the system is fine. It takes a very well-tuned system to be able to cool the space when it’s 90 degrees outside. When it’s 20 degrees outside, it takes a well-tuned system to be able to heat the space when it’s that cold. And so do not procrastinate until the 90 degree days or the 20 degree days!, That is when the demand is the highest for service calls. Go ahead and call for service whenever the demand is low and it’ll be a lot less stressful of a situation, when your home’s not extremely hot or extremely cold,
