How can you make your HVAC system feel the love this Valentine’s Day?
Easy! You make sure it receives the right attention and some tender loving and care. Since it is February anyway, your HVAC is already due for a basic maintenance checkup. The winter season is just about to end and your unit is probably feeling a little worse for wear. Instead of waiting for it to break down, why not give it the attention that it needs?
Just in case you decide to stay at home for Valentine’s, your HVAC system will play a huge role in setting the right mood for your date. So let’s make sure it feels the love so it can help you get some of your own.
Basic maintenance tips in time for Valentine’s Day
Check out your filters
This is one of the most basic things that you can work on. Simply give your unit a new set of filters and you will immediately notice an improvement in its performance. The air filters help increase the quality of the air circulating in your home. Your HVAC system sucks air in and sends it throughout your house. While the air is in your HVAC unit, it passes through the air filter for cleaning. Over time, the dust accumulates and piles up. As long as you use the unit, air will pass through this filter. If you do not change it, the air will pass through all this filth and bring some of it to be inhaled by everyone in your family.
Not only that, making the air pass through a dirty filter will make the unit work harder than it has to. Maintaining a clean filter would mean a longer lifespan for your HVAC system too. This is why you need to regularly change this.
Use a smart thermostat
In case you do not have it yet, this is a good time to install a smart thermostat. Valentine’s Day seems to be a good enough time to do this. This will allow you more flexibility when it comes to controlling the temperature in your house. Whenever you have to leave the house, you can change the temperature to save on energy. You can set it to automatically change to a more comfortable temp before you arrive. This will come in handy when the hot summer months come in as well.
Turn the heat down
Another thing that you can do is to give your HVAC system a break this Valentine’s Day. After being used aggressively during the cold winter months, you might want to turn it down for a while. Spend some time cuddling with loved ones under a thick blanket and turn the heater down by a couple of degrees. Not only will this help your unit rest, but it will also lower your energy consumption – thus saving you some money.
Inspect your ductwork
To be specific, you need to check your ductwork for any leaks. If there are leaks, air will go where it is not supposed to and that can be costly for you. In case you fail to fix this immediately, it will compromise the efficiency of your HVAC unit. It will only get worse and can threaten the whole unit because it will be working harder than it has to. This will not just make your energy bill go up unnecessarily, it will also shorten the lifespan of your unit. Usually, these leaks develop around the seams and joints. If your ductwork is old, it may be a good idea to check it out. Some signs to look out for includes rattling noise, some rooms having a different temperature than the rest of the house (even with centralized heating/cooling), etc.
Things you can do around the house to help your HVAC
Apart from the maintenance check-ups, you can conduct on your HVAC system, you can also do something around the house.
Do some dusting
When your house is full of dust, it can affect the air that will be sucked into the HVAC system. If the air coming in is dirty, that will pass through the filter of the unit and add to all the dirt. But if you keep your house clean all the time, that will lower the chances of having a dirty filter. This should also benefit your Valentine’s Day celebration. Having a clean house is always a good thing.
Seal the drafts around the house
This can compromise the coolness or warmth in your home. If there are drafts, it will make your HVAC system work harder too – leading to a higher energy bill. Check the windows and doors to ensure that there are no drafts. This is something that you can do on your own by caulking or weatherstripping some parts of your house.
Consider all of these so your HVAC system will also feel your love in time for Valentine’s Day.
