How Often Should A Furnace Be Serviced

Even though they perform a simple task– heating and cooling your dwelling, HVAC units are complex systems. They have many electric and fmechanical components that can clothing down, lose efficiency, or break if you don't correctly service them.

Compare HVAC service to maintenance y'all demand for your car– you'll need oil changes, brake service, new belts, and other services over the lifetime of your vehicle. Although services for your air conditioner, furnace, and rut pump are different, you lot need to keep upwardly with their maintenance too. Otherwise, your HVAC organisation can fail and cost you lots of money.

To acquire exactly how frequently, when, and why yous should service your HVAC, continue reading our extensive guide!

a HVAC technician checking the HVAC system

How Often Should You Service Your HVAC Unit?

Homeowners should service their HVAC unit at to the lowest degree in one case per year. If yous have both a furnace and an air conditioner, that means you will have service for each of them (but at different times of the year).

If you accept a heat pump, we recommend servicing it twice a year. Since it runs all yr long through the scorching heat and frigid winters, it's best to do more than frequent maintenance to extend your AC's expected life and prevent issues and break-downs.

The All-time Fourth dimension to Schedule HVAC Maintenance

The all-time fourth dimension to schedule service for your HVAC system depends on the type of organisation(south) in your home.

Air Conditioners

Virtually all HVAC professionals recommend servicing a central air conditioning unit of measurement in the spring.

Spring is recommended because the temperatures are nevertheless mild but warm enough for you really to run the AC system and test information technology out. Ideally, you shouldn't wait until the middle of summer and chance having no AC during the hottest days of the season.

Furnaces

Like air conditioners, you shouldn't wait to complete furnace maintenance until you need heating the most. In this example, you'll desire to service your furnace before wintertime, during the fall.

During the fall, outdoor temperatures volition exist mild but non nonetheless catastrophically cold. Yet, some days and nights will be common cold enough where you lot'll demand your furnace and will exist able to monitor its performance.

Estrus Pumps

Estrus pumps work similarly to air conditioners – they use liquid refrigerant to move estrus from i location to another. Notwithstanding, Air conditioning units tin can just remove heat from your home. Rut pumps tin can do that likewise, simply they tin can also operate in opposite to remove rut from the outdoors and warm your dwelling house.

Equally such, they commonly run all year – in cooling way during the summer and heating mode during the cold months. Since they experience article of clothing and tear all twelvemonth round, we recommend servicing them most every vi months.

The best fourth dimension for heat pump maintenance is in the spring and autumn, but like AC units and furnaces, respectively.

Why Y'all Shouldn't Avoid Routine HVAC Maintenance

You shouldn't skip the routine maintenance for your HVAC system. Certain, you'll be saving a petty scrap of greenbacks now, but later on on, you might become hit with a hefty repair cost that you could have side-step altogether with maintenance.

If you never perform maintenance on your HVAC arrangement, it could atomic number 82 to equipment failure, which means you may not have heating or cooling until you repair it.

Obviously, repairs price coin, and trust us- repairs will almost ever price more than routine maintenance, sometimes thousands more than.

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How Much Does HVAC Maintenance Cost?

On boilerplate, routine HVAC maintenance costs betwixt $80 to $250 per visit. Then if you have your AC unit and furnace serviced at separate times, you will pay for both service calls.

Still, many HVAC companies provide discounted bundles that will relieve yous money and forestall you from missing a service visit by scheduling it in advance.

What Does HVAC Maintenance Involve?

Professional HVAC repairman inspecting the HVAC unit

HVAC maintenance has many steps, which an experienced HVAC can knock out in 1 to 2 hours. They'll follow a checklist of maintenance tasks, only they will generally clean filters, coils, and other components and ensure every major slice is working correctly.

The type of HVAC maintenance differs depending on the equipment being serviced.

Air Conditioners and Rut Pumps

Most air conditioner and estrus pump maintenance tasks are the same, likewise a few more checkers for a heat pump. The most mutual fourth dimension for Air-conditioning unit of measurement and heat pump maintenance occurs during April and May, with heat pumps having some other service visit in September or October.

During a service visit, the HVAC technician will exam the following:

Proper temperature differential between supply and render vents
Check refrigerant levels (and for leaks if it is low)
Verify blower and compressor functioning
Check for acceptable airflow
Clean evaporator and condenser coils
Bank check belts
Oil moving parts
Examination thermal expansion valve
Ensure reversing valve responds correctly (heat pumps only)

While the HVAC technician inspects your air conditioner or oestrus pump, they volition annotation anything that requires a repair at present or shortly in the future.

Furnaces

Combustion furnaces are the most common type of residential furnaces. The chief focus of furnace maintenance is on the heating elements themselves. Hither are the primary areas an HVAC technician will focus on when performing service on your furnace:

Verify adequate airflow
Verify proper supply temperature
Ensure accurate thermostat command
Inspect flame sensor (clean if needed)
Audit burner and pilot light
Clean filter and check for right orientation
Check flue
Test pressure level switches and solenoids
Bank check blower motor and lubricate
Inspect humidifier (if applicable)

The HVAC technician that services your furnace volition spend some time inspecting the flue and testing for carbon monoxide (CO) and gas leaks too.

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What HVAC Maintenance Should a Homeowner Do?

a homeowner replacing an HVAC's dirty filter

Between service visits, homeowners should do some light routine maintenance themselves too.

The main affair y'all should stay on summit of is ensuring your filter is clean. Between service visits, homeowners should practice some light routine maintenance themselves too. As a general rule of pollex, you should switch out your HVAC filter every half dozen months.

Note: Depending on your blazon of filter, you might change information technology more or less oft. Y'all can check it monthly to see if it'due south muddied or chock-full. Go along up with vacuuming your home if you have pets since backlog hair will quickly lead to a clogged filter.

Too changing the filter, homeowners should routinely inspect their HVAC equipment. You can do simple checks – make certain it reaches your thermostat's setpoint, await for leaks, heed for new troublesome sounds, and keep an heart on the cleanliness of the outdoor unit of measurement.

Salvage Time and Money with HVAC Maintenance

Heating and cooling systems are complex electrical and mechanical devices. Unless y'all're an experienced HVAC technician or an adept repair person, we don't recommend servicing your HVAC system on your own.

HVAC technicians have experience and training that tells them when/what/where, and how oftentimes to audit, repair, or supplant specific components. Plus, they know every major brand's equipment. Every bit such, testing and servicing of their complex components are best left to the pros.

If you service your HVAC system yourself and you don't know what you lot're doing, at that place is a loftier hazard yous'll do something wrong or overlook something critical. In that case, your good and frugal intentions can lead to equipment failures which will cost you more than coin in the cease.

Then, if you demand service for your air conditioner, estrus pump, or furnace, we recommend y'all get in touch with our knowledgeable and experienced HVAC partners. Make full out our form to make it touch with an HVAC professional today!

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