Semi-Annual HVAC Maintenance should Include these Tasks

If you’re a diligent homeowner, you faithfully schedule twice-yearly maintenance checks on your home’s heating and cooling systems – typically AC or heat pump maintenance in the spring and furnace or heat pump maintenance in the fall. (If you use a heat pump for both heating and cooling, it still should receive professional maintenance semi-annually.) Many homeowners have only a very general idea of what’s involved with a preventive maintenance visit (aka tune-up or check-up).

Here are the four main tasks that your trusted Cincinnati HVAC provider likely will include as part of their HVAC maintenance visit:

Inspect the System

This is an inspection of the overall system. The HVAC technician should go over your entire heating (or cooling) system to ensure it’s fully operational. They’ll make sure

• the equipment turns on and off correctly,
• is in synch with the thermostat,
• and that there’s no obvious problems with parts or components.

At the outset of the maintenance visit, you should mention any issues or problems that you’ve been experiencing with your HVAC system. You can ask questions at this point, too, though sometimes it’s better to wait till the end of the maintenance visit.

Check for Safety Issues

The technician will inspect your system for any safety issues. They should do this for either type of system – heating or cooling – but it’s especially crucial to check for red flags with a combustion heating system.

If the heat exchanger is corroding or even cracking, for example, toxic or lethal carbon monoxide (CO) gas can be emitted into your indoor air, endangering you and your family.

Exhaust pipes that aren’t properly installed or are otherwise defective also can allow CO or other hazardous emissions into the air you breathe.

With your AC or heat pump, the technician will want to check for any leaks in the refrigerant line or problems with the heat-exchange coils.

Generally, a safety problem also involves an operational problem in terms of performance or efficiency.

Clean the System

Dirty heating and cooling equipment can compromise both performance and efficiency.

• For instance, dust and dirt that coats parts in the blower motor will create friction that makes the machinery work harder to heat or cool your home. (This is also one of several reasons why it’s important to routinely inspect and replace your furnace or AC filter.)
• Another example is the evaporator or condensing coils in your air conditioner or heat pump. If these coils are dirty, the crucial heat-exchange process will be slowed, forcing the equipment to work longer and harder.

Overworked equipment, whether heating or cooling, not only gets stressed and malfunctions more often; it doesn’t heat or cool your home as well, while costing more to use.

Repair What’s Not Working Right

The technician should repair whatever isn’t working properly such as a busted AC unit or malfunctioning furnace. Of course, the technician will fix or replace anything that’s broken, such as

• belts in the blower motor,
• wiring,
• various lines, pipes and conduits and
• the thermostat,
• among other components of your heating or cooling system.

Before they leave, ask your HVAC technician(s) for a list of tasks that were completed during the maintenance visit, and go ahead and schedule the next visit.

The HVAC company should remind you of that next appointment in advance. If you join your trusted HVAC contractor’s Maintenance Club, all of this will be handled automatically.