5 Tips to Extend the Life of Your Home HVAC System
5 Tips to Extend the Life of Your Home HVAC System
5 Tips to Extend the Life of Your Home HVAC System
While every winter may be getting legitimately worse, the odds are more likely to be getting older and less able to tolerate frigid winter conditions. Regardless, never before has spring been so welcome in many lives.
Most people are thrilled to replace the buzz of their home gas furnace with the hum of their home air conditioner, which means it’s time to get outside and explore what nature has to offer. Even though the grass may only just now be starting to turn green and, flowers have barely begun to bloom, it is a great time to check out your cooling unit. Being stored away and turned off for the whole winter isn’t always great for your central or split air-conditioner. Now is an excellent time to see if you should replace or repair your unit.
Decide If a Supplemental Air Conditioning Unit Is Best
Before it gets too hot, and before you repair or replace your air conditioner, it may be a good idea to get a supplemental one to help shoulder the burden of your main unit. You’ll be amazed at what a centrally placed window unit can do for your whole home. They may even reach your back bedroom. On the other hand, sometimes it’s cheaper only to put a window unit in the rooms you use most. There are many ways to save by adding a supplemental air conditioner. First, your supplemental unit will use a lot less electricity than your main one. Plus, you will save on the wear and tear of your giant, expensive air conditioning unit. Many homeowners find that adding a supplemental window unit extends the life of their main central air conditioning unit by five years.
Old Age
One of the biggest signs that it may be time to replace your air conditioner has nothing to do with performance; it is age. While air conditioners will vary on how long they last, the average for a good device is about ten years. If you are careful, you may be able to get fifteen years out of it. Other people aren’t fortunate and have their device only for a year. When air conditioning gets past five years old, it’s only a matter of time before you have to start considering replacing it all. While there are many repairs to extend the life of an air conditioning system, you have to keep in mind that at some point it will be less expensive to replace it than to repair it again.
Consider Your Finances
In general terms, it’s not always the greatest or most environmentally sound decision to replace an entire HVAC system before it has died. But, on the other hand, running an inefficient system before it has given up isn’t always the greatest environmental choice either. If you had a big family that always needed the air conditioner on growing up, but now find an empty house, it may be time to downgrade. If most of the people in your family are gone all day, consider getting a thermostat that can be programmed to turn on and off based on your family’s schedule. Upgrades may be necessary if you have a growing family or many guests over at any time. They air-conditioner you had as a single person may not hold up for a household of eight people… but that is a great way to make sure no guests overstay their welcome!
Does Your AC Break Often or Runs Loudly?
The two biggest signs of an air conditioner on its way out are breaking down all the time and suddenly running loudly. If you find that your air-conditioner breaks down all the time, it may be a more financially sound decision to replace the entire thing as opposed to making twenty service calls to extend its life. Loud air-conditioners could have many problems. Drive motors, fan motors, compressors, or fans in general as well as other components may be failing. While you can replace all of these parts, at some point you have to wonder if you are simply wasting money with constant repairs.
Talk to a HVAC Professional
Are you still undecided about what it’s time to do? Now may be the time to get a professional consultation to find out whether you should replace your air-conditioning and HVAC system. A professional can come to your house and take a look at everything – the events, the ducts, and even the compressor. Sometimes the fix can be as simple as pointing out drafts that are being allowed into your house. For example, you may have gaps in your windows and doors that are letting all the cool air out. You end up cooling the outside instead of your house. Even though you may have to pay for this, it never hurts to get a professional’s opinion before sinking more money into a total replacement job. Keep in mind that even if you get your AC unit evaluated and find out that it’s perfectly fine, you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to learn to use it wisely, even when it’s hot outside. Wasting energy is simply a terrible thing for both the environment and your pocketbook. Take into account other ways that you can beat the heat. One great thing to keep in mind is that many public buildings like the library, stores, and restaurants will have their air-conditioning going at full blast and most hot days. Some places you have to pay for, but places like the library will let you do your work and hobbies for free.
