As a homeowner, you rely on your HVAC system to maintain a comfortable indoor environment. Over time, it’s easy to pick up bad HVAC habits that adversely affect your comfort, energy bills and the equipment’s life expectancy. To get the greatest benefit from your HVAC system, here are some habits you need to avoid:
Neglecting the Air Filter
Your HVAC filter serves the crucially-important purpose of trapping airborne debris to keep it from collecting on and harming sensitive components. To protect against equipment wear and a decline in the system’s energy efficiency, the filter should be checked monthly, and replaced when there’s any visible dirt buildup. If your system is equipped with a specialized filtration unit to improve your indoor air quality, follow your HVAC technician’s advice about the ideal timing of filter checks/replacements.
Making Frequent Thermostat Adjustments
If you’re in the habit of heading to the thermostat and making manual setting adjustments because your home often feels too hot or cold, you’re putting unnecessary stress on your HVAC equipment, and wasting energy too. A better solution is setting a programmable thermostat schedule that matches your daily routine, or upgrading to an intelligent thermostat that makes temperature control truly effortless.
Ignoring Regular HVAC Care
Relegating preventive maintenance on the bottom of your to-do list is one habit that can have serious consequences in terms of the reliability, longevity, and operating costs of your home’s heating and cooling equipment. To keep all the components in optimal working condition, your HVAC system should be inspected, cleaned and tuned up twice a year by an experienced technician.
Inhibiting System Airflow
A well-designed HVAC system requires a matching amount of supply and return airflow to keep pressure in balance within the system and inside your home. If you routinely close interior doors or HVAC vents in some rooms, or allow debris and vegetation to choke airflow through the outdoor unit, you’ll pay higher energy bills and be at greater risk of equipment breakdowns and premature failures.
For expert help establishing good HVAC habits in your Eastern North Carolina home, contact us at Jackson & Sons.
Jackson & Sons, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Eastern North Carolina (including Wayne, Johnston, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt and Duplin Counties) about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
