While you can get maintenance for your HVAC system at any point throughout the year, the fall is the perfect time. Discover eight reasons you’ll want to make your heating maintenance a priority every fall moving forward.
1. Assurance You’ll Keep Your Family Warm Throughout the Winter
One of the major stressors for homeowners during the winter is the question of whether your HVAC system will break down, especially if you have an aging unit. During a maintenance appointment, your technician will perform a large series of tests designed to detect small problems before they manifest into larger issues. Once you resolve these small problems, you’ll have more assurance that your system won’t suffer a heating failure in the middle of the winter.
2. Enjoy Lower Energy Bills the Entire Season
One of the reasons homeowners appreciate HVAC maintenance is that it maintains the system’s efficiency, reducing the energy it consumes. When you get your maintenance done in the fall, you enjoy this improved efficiency throughout the entire season, reducing your seasonal heating costs.
3. Healthier Air
The air coming through the system enters through the air filter, removing airborne contaminants. However, neglected units may circulate less air, leaving more contaminants in the air for you to breathe.
Further, some contaminants make their way into the system despite a good filter, where they’ll collect on the circulating fan wheel and heat exchanger, to name a few places. The air circulating through the unit will pick up some of these contaminants and put them back in the air in your home. During maintenance, your technician will clean the system, removing any contaminants deposited beyond the filter. They’ll also address many common causes of airflow restrictions, ensuring maximum air is flowing through the filter.
4. Prevent Unnecessary Repairs
An HVAC system that’s running sub-optimally will experience additional strain. This strain, if left unchecked for long enough, will start wearing down the affected components more quickly than normal. The result is preventable repairs, which usually happen in the middle of the winter. Simply getting maintenance and protecting your unit’s efficiency reduces operational wear, preventing many strain-related repairs.
5. Better Heating Comfort
When you spend money on heating, you likely want that heat to evenly warm your house. Along with increased heating costs, the restricted airflow from neglected maintenance reduces how well the heated air circulates. This can create hot and cool spots around your house, which most people think requires an adjustment on the thermostat. Simply having your system cleaned and tuned ensures there’s enough air circulation to distribute the heat evenly around your home.
6. Extended System Service Life
The average gas furnace should serve your home for 15 to 20 years, and a heat pump can last for 10 to 15 years. However, when you neglect maintenance, the added strain slowly erodes that service life. The longer you go without maintenance, the more time you shave off your equipment.
There are two ways to determine when it’s time to replace your system. The first is when any one repair costs more than 50% of the price of a new system. The second is when the total repairs over the last two years multiplied by the age of the system is more than the cost of a new unit. You can see how the preventable repairs from neglected maintenance will quickly tip this equation.
7. Protect Your Factory Warranty
It’s easy to forget to schedule your HVAC maintenance, especially once the holidays start rolling. However, neglecting your maintenance may put your factory warranty at risk. Many HVAC manufacturers require routine maintenance given how neglect can affect a unit. Scheduling your maintenance visit in the fall ensures you don’t forget about it and inadvertently invalidate your factory warranty.
8. Easier Scheduling
Once the cold weather settles in, it can become more challenging to schedule your HVAC maintenance around your schedule. Older systems tend to fail during the colder parts of the year, causing HVAC service providers to stay busy. However, the moderate temperatures of the fall are a little slower, providing more flexibility to fit into your schedule rather than you fitting into theirs.
For more than 35 years, Coffman & Company has been the HVAC service provider of choice for property owners around Arvada. Our trusted technicians provide AC and heating maintenance, repair, and installation, along with water heater and indoor air quality services. Call to schedule your fall furnace maintenance appointment with one of our NATE-certified technicians today.
