Both heating and cooling solutions have become an essential part of life. Regardless of whether you need HVAC units for commercial or residential purposes, they play an important role in maintaining the optimum temperature for us and our surroundings.
However, these units can be quite expensive and the last thing you want is extensive wear and tear resulting in a complete breakdown.
Ideally, you should maintain these units regularly before the worst case scenario or needing emergency HVAC repair services.
Some of the things you can do on a regular basis to increase the life of your heater or air conditioners are as follows:
1) Regular cleaning
Did you know it is possible that HVAC units can make your home dirtier than before? Yes, this is true considering these units have a number of parts including air filters, ducts, ventilation systems etc where dirt and other particles can accumulate.
As these particles continue to settle in various parts of your HVAC unit, the pressure on the machine starts to go up. It is not just about air quality but about your units ability to heat or cool itself.
Regular cleaning is the number one thing you can do to increase the life of your heater, furnace or cooler. Lets put it this way, if you do not get your HVAC units cleaned regularly, then you are most certainly setting up a date with a repair service.
Now, I understand that cleaning HVAC units is not an easy task and you really need to know how these machines work if cleaning yourself. Hence it is advisable to take the help of professionals for such jobs.
If you feel you have a simple HVAC unit at home and can clean it yourself, please make sure you follow all precautions and guidelines set by the manufacturer. Last thing you want is to accidentally damage a part of your unit and create a large repair bill.
2) Ease the load
Most experts in the field would tell you that although these units are capable of extensive heating or cooling prowess, it is best if you take the load of them whenever possible.
So for air conditioners, you do not always want to keep it at the lowest setting. Increasing the temperature by just 2 degrees Celsius can make a lot of difference. Sometimes you may want to have a fan to provide assist with the air circulation. Fans allow you to set the temperature higher for air conditioners.
Same goes with heaters. If not too cold, adjust the temperature to ease the load on the machine. Whatever you can do to take some load off, will end up increasing your HVAC unit’s lifespan.
3) Keep an eye on voltage and electric fluctuations
This is a point often ignored by most users. HVAC units are ultimately machines powered by electricity. If there is even the slightest power fluctuation or some issue with the wiring, then you will face problems.
Obviously all good HVAC units come with power stabilizers and can take some fluctuation to a certain extent. The commercial grade units come with higher capacity energy stabilizers.
However, you never know when the power unit of the HVAC unit gives out thanks to some sudden power fluctuation. It is advisable to check if power supply in your home or office is stable and if any old wiring needs to be changed, go ahead and do so.
This is something you do not need to do often. Maybe a check every few months or so should be fine unless there were power outages recently in your area.
Final thoughts
HVAC unit repair costs can be quite high. Buying new units would definitely dent any budget. Therefore, you need to ensure you maintain your heating and cooling machines as well as you can.
Simple, regular servicing of air filters, ducts, ventilation systems etc. is enough to keep your unit running nice and smooth. And remember, take the load of your HVAC unit whenever possible. This will not only result in a better lifespan but also lower electricity bills.
