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HVAC: What You Should Know Before You Begin

An HVAC unit is a valuable system is something that many people pick to have inside their home. An HVAC system helps your home maintain a temperature that’s comfortable. You will generally need to hire a professional to install it and maintain your unit. Read on to learn more about the best tips for your HVAC.

Know what type of your HVAC system before looking for a repair person.This will help you give the new contractor you hire has all the necessary information.

What do you need done? Know this before calling a contractor. They won’t be able to offer you a quote if they haven’t seen your system. If you do not know what you want, the process can become tedious, especially over the phone. So, you should know this beforehand.

TIP! Know what work you want done before you select an HVAC contractor. This will make the quote process much easier.

If your HVAC doesn’t seem to be working properly, tour your home before calling a technician. This will help the contractor determine where the problem is.

Be sure to regularly clean debris from external condenser units regularly.You never know when things can pile up, like right after it’s windy or rains, and that can ruin your system. It can cause your unit.

Your outside condenser fan can be helped to run better by you cleaning the fan blades and coils prior to summer starting up. Before you do clean the coils and fan blades, always take the precaution of turning off all power to the unit. If you see debris, get rid of it.

TIP! By the end of spring, the fan blades and coils of your condenser should be thoroughly cleaned, so operation can proceed with greater efficiency. Except when you do superficial cleaning, you need to always make sure the power is off on the unit.

Turn the power off first so you don’t get hurt or break something. Then, pop off its grills, pull the blades out, and gently clean them as well as the unit itself.

Grass Clippings

Clean your outdoor condensers often. Things pile up after storms and damage your system. Also, you are risking your system overheating.

TIP! Clean the debris from outside units often. Your HVAC system may run into problems after storms if it is surrounded by debris.

Don’t get grass clippings on your outdoor condenser. Aim your grass clippings in a direction away from your unit. This also applies to leaf blowing and any other yard work that results in the yard.

Lubricate your fan condenser once a year. You can find these ports have a rubber or metal caps. Use a lightweight, and put 10 drops or fewer in each port, putting 10 drops in each port.

Make sure your condenser fan is in good working order by wiping down the fan blades and the coils. For safety, always turn the power off first. Next, remove the grill, take the blades and clean them gently, then clean the actual unit.

TIP! The coils and blades on the fans should be cleaned once a year. For safety, always turn the power off first.

Turn off any outdoor condenser units when the weather turns cold. This should turn it off to prevent damage if the temperature drops below 60ºF to avoid damage. This will help keep the life of your unit.

It is a good idea to swap out single pane windows with ones that have double pane ones. This also keeps warm air during the colder months.

Don’t let grass clippings pile up against your outdoor condenser. Direct the clippings away from the equipment. The same thing should go on when you blow leaves, so take your time when you’re working around HVAC units that are around when you’re blowing debris around.

TIP! When you mow your lawn, take care that you don’t get grass clippings all over your outdoor unit. Aim your grass cuttings in a direction away from your unit.

A programmable thermostat can really help save money on air conditioning costs. Some of these thermostats can even be controlled from a PC or computer.

When they come out for a service visit, oil the parts that move, moving parts well oiled and the level of freon adjusted if necessary. These few simple things will keep your system running at peak performance.

If you want to know where you should put an outdoor compressor, you should place it somewhere where there is a lot of shade. When the unit sucks in cooler air, then less work is required to cool it further which in turn boosts the units efficiency.

TIP! If you want to know where you should put an outdoor compressor, you should place it somewhere where there is a lot of shade. In this way, it will be cooling air that is already somewhat cooled.

Do not let your house get extremely hot. An air conditioning unit will reduce the temperature by twenty degrees in a fair time. If the temperature in your home rises to 100 degrees F or higher, it will only reduce it to 80 or more. This won’t be a safe and comfortable temperature for you to sleep in.

Companies that are well established have track records typically provide better service. Hiring a newer contractor means taking a bigger risk.

Place your HVAC unit in the shade to boost efficiency. The unit will have to do less work cooling this air.

TIP! In order to boost efficiency, place new outdoor units or move your current unit to a place which resides in the shade. It will reduce the temperature of the air going into the unit, meaning that it will not have to work as hard to cool it.

Ask for helpful information when you can find a reputable HVAC contractor. People will tell you who they have had a good experience are worth calling. This can also a great way to get names of companies that you should be avoided.

There are a lot of sites now that let customers to share their experiences with different services. This will help you who is great and who isn’t.

It is very important that your HVAC system is serviced two times a year. Ideally, you should have it looked at in the spring and fall so you know everything is set for the hot and cold months. It doesn’t matter if your unit seems to be properly working, it is still advisable that you perform maintenance and resolve any potential problems.

TIP! Have your heating and cooling system inspected twice a year. This should be checked often for debris and malfunctions.

Check the ducts to find any leaks if you you feel your unit seems to not be working efficiently. When these leaks are fixed, you may see that the testing pays for itself.

Measure the living area that needs cooling before going air conditioner shopping. You generally need 20 BTU for each square foot. If more than one room needs AC service, make sure to add the square footage together.

If the house is yours or you’re permitted to, replace the windows that are single pane with windows that are double pane. Having a double pane window helps limit your need for air conditioning during the summer months. Likewise, in the winter more hot air stays inside during the cold season.

TIP! Update the windows in your home to double-paned if you own it. Double pane windows will help keep your home cooler in the summer.

Pick an HVAC business that know what they’re doing and works quickly to solve the problem. The best companies will ensure that their technicians will always be on schedule and keep appointments. A licensed technician should also have no problem diagnosing any problems with your HVAC unit quickly. After they see what the problem is, they should then know how to deal with the problem.

Ask a contractor about their experience.You need to verify they have done the type of experience needed to work you require.

To cut energy costs, you should service your cooling and heating system once a year at least. During this service visit, they will inspect the motor of the system, oil the moving parts and check the freon levels in the system. This ensures your system runs smoothly.

TIP! Keep energy costs from rising by having your system serviced annually. This visit will include a motor inspection and checking the freon.

Any HVAC contractor you hire should have a 24-hour emergency number available to customers around the clock. They owe it to you to show up to fix anything, in any weather.

Some contractors will attempt to charge you later for fuel or extra material. A contract will prevent this possible problem.

If nobody is home, turn off the AC. When you turn it off, the house heats up, but only to a certain threshold. Leaving your heating or cooling running full blast while you are away is a waste of money and energy.

TIP! Turn your AC off if no one is at home. The house will only heat to certain level and a decent HVAC system can quickly cool this down once you are home.

Always check any references provided to you receive for an HVAC contractor.

These units are energy efficient and meet strict efficiency guidelines. The guidelines are established by the EPA. They are called the environment and human health. Taking time to fully research various units may help you get long-term savings on energy costs.

Don’t let your house get too hot. It takes quite a while to cool a home by more than 20 degrees. So, if you house heats up to about 95, you won’t see the temperature go below 75 for a while. Depending on how humid the environment is, that is not a healthy temperature for the human body when it rests during sleep.

TIP! Don’t let your house get too hot. Even the best air conditioners can only realistically cool your home approximately 20 degrees Farenheit.

Keep your condenser protected in cold weather. A nice cover should be placed on top of it to prevent any debris from coming in.

There are many things to help when you want information on HVAC units. You need to make sure you get a unit correctly installed, then maintain it so it works well. Put the above tips to use to have a properly functioning HVAC system.

If you need recommendations for an HVAC contractor, check online. There are different sites that let customers share experiences of different services. Read through them and figure out who you want to try out.

TIP! If you need recommendations for an HVAC contractor, check online. There are plenty of online websites that give people the opportunity to leave comments about the service they received.