Regular HVAC Maintenance Will Save You Money on Repairs and Energy
Many homeowners fail to purchase a preventive maintenance agreement on their heating and cooling system because of cost issues. The truth is, not purchasing an annual maintenance agreement can end up costing you even more in the long run.
A system that is well maintained on a timely basis ensures that your unit is running at peak performance – which means energy savings, and a lower utility bill for the homeowner. Breakdowns and even small repairs can add up to a substantial amount of money. Because you never know when something unexpected may happen, these things can disrupt your life as well. Imagine a major breakdown in the middle of winter on Long Island. Through annual maintenance, the chances of something like this occurring are greatly reduced.
What should you look for in a preventive maintenance agreement?
- Check to make sure that the various elements of your system get a “tune-upâ€. This may include adjusting bypass dampers, operating pressures and thermostat calibration.
- Flues, heat exchangers, evaporator coils, fan blades, start and run capacitors and delays and combustion air should be checked on each inspection.
- Other components need regular cleaning, such as the combustion chamber, burners, condenser coils, evaporator drains and filters.
- Amperage draw, gas input, voltage variances and temperature differences should be measured to ensure that all are working properly.
The benefits of an annual maintenance agreement are many. A heat and air system is a big investment, one that you want to last for many years. Having a preventive maintenance agreement to keep your unit in good working order means that you will save money, improve the efficiency of your system, save on repairs that are needed, and be able to depend on having heat and air when you need it most.
T.F. O’Brien services the Long Island, New York area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about preventive maintenance and other HVAC topics, please download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.