Winter temperatures can be extreme, making this season a crucial time for high-performing, efficient HVAC systems. If you suspect your heating unit is past its prime, you ought to do a maintenance overview before temperatures drop. Doing so will ensure your system doesn’t fail you when you need it most.
As a home or business owner, you’ll need a properly working heating system to beat the winter woes. At ACS, we offer premier HVAC repair, replacement, and maintenance to residences and businesses throughout Milledgeville, Covington, and surrounding areas. Our expert technicians work year-round to ensure your HVAC is equipped to handle any seasonal climate, especially extreme winter conditions.
In this article, our HVAC experts share their pre-winter HVAC maintenance checklist as they walk you through the following steps:
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- Replace air filters
- Add insulation
- Test the thermostat
- Clean air ducts
- Schedule Professional HVAC Maintenance
Replace Air Filters
Winter is an opportune time to clean or replace your air filters. Generally, you should diligently replace your air filters every 30-90 days, depending on your filter’s manufacturers, lifestyle habits, and local climate. Doing so will ensure your home or business receives adequate, unobstructed airflow and consistently healthy indoor air quality. When neglected, your filters can quickly become clogged from dust, dirt and other airborne pollutants. If this occurs, your system will struggle to deliver warm air, leaving you chilly for longer in your space and with higher energy bills.
Add Insulation
Insulation makes a massive difference in indoor comfort, especially in the winter. Your home or business’s insulation is a temperature barrier between your space and outdoor weather conditions. But to serve its purpose, insulation must be correctly installed. Ideally, you would insulate your home with a blown-in fibrous material like fiberglass or cellulose in your walls and attic space. That way, your insulation will trap warm air and keep cold outdoor air from entering inside.
Test Your Thermostat
You definitely don’t want your thermostat failing you when winter rolls around. After all, it serves as the messenger between you and your HVAC system, and without it, indoor temperatures would be out of your control. When your area experiences its first cold front, switch your thermostat to heat and turn up the temperature setting 5-10 degrees higher. This will signify to your furnace that it’s time to heat things up. If you don’t begin to feel warm air, your thermostat might need some troubleshooting, or there might be a more significant problem with your heating system.
Clean Air Ducts
Air ducts should be another high-priority item on your pre-winter maintenance checklist. Often, busy home and business owners only think to check their air ducts once problems ensue. Whether it be excessive dust on surfaces, moldy smell, or worsened allergies, dirty air ducts will make themselves known through various warning signs. If you notice your ductwork needs cleaning, you can try to vacuum accessible debris yourself. After that, you might need to call a professional to clean the spaces out of reach.
Schedule Professional HVAC Maintenance
Last but not least, you’ll want to conclude your pre-winter maintenance with a visit from your local air specialist. A team of seasoned HVAC professionals like those at ACS will do a thorough run-through of your heating system to ensure it’s equipped for winter weather. Not only will you reap the benefits of professional maintenance for the cold season ahead, but you will also notice long-term benefits for your system, from improved system reliability to increased energy savings. So, do your furnace a favor and pencil in its annual heating tune-up. Your future self will thank you!
HVAC Heating and Cooling with ACS
If you need professional HVAC repair, replacement, or maintenance this winter, you can count on ACS to deliver nothing but the best! With decades of valuable industry experience, our certified HVAC technicians are the best in the game! Connect with our team today for top-quality HVAC maintenance, repair, or installation in Covington, Milledgeville, and surrounding areas.
