Furnace and AC maintenance plans and tune ups

According to the Department of Energy, heating and cooling systems make up 40% to 50% of US household‘s monthly energy bill costs while older and neglected systems can make up well over that in the extreme temperatures of summer and winter. Preventative maintenance can easily make up that lost amount to power bills by simply keeping heating and cooling systems clean. The DOE and EPA have also released studies that state that a buildup of 0.042 inches of dirt or any particulate not designed to be in an HVAC system causes a parallel 21% decrease in system efficiency. 

If heating and cooling systems had an odometer on them, it would show what we would consider a lot of miles on a car in just one year. Heating and cooling systems can turn on and off over 50 times a day and the most important fact about this is that they utilize some of the same types of small motors and systems that our vehicles do. Without proper care and preventative repairs on heating and cooling systems, small batteries and wire issues can turn into large motor and coil breaks. 

Every HVAC manufacturer recommends that their heating and cooling system be maintained twice a year: one maintenance for summer and winter. You can find your manufacture’s instructions on this in your systems literature or by searching your unit’s model number on the internet. Most every HVAC system packet will have guidelines for technician’s on how to maintain the specific piece of equipment to keep its warranty valid and its efficiency and lifespan within its designed parameters. 

Every molecule of air inside of a household will pass through its heating and cooling system’s components. If maintenance is low or has never been performed, its a sure fact that that air is coming into contact with dust, bacteria, fungal growth, and other pollutants that naturally accumulate inside of HVAC systems. Think about it. HVAC systems are typically located in attics or crawlspaces which are dark, water laden, and bug friendly. As air from our bathrooms, kitchens, garages, bedrooms, etc is used and exhaled by us, it still goes into the heating and air system to come into contact with the undesired conditions that are created when no maintenance is performed. 

One of the fundamental laws of physics that HVAC technicians have to learn states that as temperature increase so does pressure and as temperature decreases pressure decreases. Heating and cooling systems are all designed to output a certain temperature and work within certain pressures utilizing air, flames, and freon. This is why it is so important to keep heating and cooling systems clean: as dirt, dust, and other particulates coat HVAC systems, this causes an increase in temperatures because they act as insulators and air blocks that keep the system running hot which in turn keeps the pressures high. If heating and cooling systems work out of their specified temperature and pressure ranges, it won’t be long before its weakest link fails.