Preparing for Seasonal Maintenance

It might seem a little strange to begin talking about spring as the winter holidays have just past. Snow may be on the ground near you, and you are still running the heat and snuggling up to the fireplace. But …

Before you know it, the days will turn from cold to cool and it some parts of the country directly to HOT. So, you need to put your air conditioning system on your radar or more importantly on your calendar.

Different parts of the country have different cooling systems. Some may be as simple as a window air conditioning unit, while others might be a swamp cooler or the more popular central HVAC system. All of these are machines that have sat dormant for four to six months. During that time, stuff builds up. Bugs create nests, oil and grease harden with the help of settling dust, rust, and even plant matter can clog up the system.

So, you should consider talking to your local AC company to see if you can get on their schedule. You can have them do simple maintenance that makes your unit run smoothly. This work is a lot less costly than waiting until something significant happens and now not only do you not have any cooling when you need it, but you have this HUGE price tag to replace major parts of the system. Planning regular maintenance should be an annual event to keep your AC performing at its best.

If you have a central air system, then you have ductwork that feeds the air to your different rooms in your home. Typically, this system does not have any moving parts that can stop running, but the switching back and forth from cool air to heated air and back again to cool builds up dust and dirt and all sorts of other things in the tubes. This switching reduces the efficiency of the system which the puts more pressure on the AC unit to perform. Some ducts have booster fans to push air farther. Have your professional AC maintenance folk check the blades for gunk or damage.

You might want to consider also putting on your calendar to have the ductwork professionally cleaned. If you have allergies, you will thank yourself.

TIP: Maintenance of all your household equipment once annually can save you large and expensive repairs.