April 22 is Earth Day, and celebrating the planet is as easy as tending to your HVAC system. It uses about half the energy your entire home consumes. Taking steps to make it and your home more energy efficient is one of the best things you can do to protect the environment.
Air Filters and Outdoor Maintenance
Commit to paying attention to your air filter throughout the cooling and heating seasons. It’s the most important maintenance task you can do to keep your energy costs low and your system running at its best. A clean filter prevents unnecessary breakdowns and premature wear by allowing air to flow freely through the air handler. It also traps more airborne particulates, which keeps the air handler and the ductwork cleaner.
It’s also important to keep the condenser outside clean in the summer and year-round if you have a heat pump. If you want to observe Earth Day at home, think about raking away the plant debris from the condenser and hosing off the coils.
Professional Maintenance
Besides the maintenance you do, you’ll need to have the HVAC system serviced by a pro annually to keep it as close to new as possible. Over time, parts get loose, collect dirt and some, like the electrical components, can corrode. HVAC technicians deep clean and adjust the system, as well as testing the refrigerant level. Signing up for a maintenance contract with your HVAC pro is the easiest way to keep your system running at its best.
The technician may suggest, at some point, that you consider a new HVAC system when your equipment starts to fail, use more energy, or not cool or heat as effectively. Replacing it instead of limping it along makes financial sense since aging systems use much more energy than new equipment. Anything you can do to cut your energy use is good for the planet.
Although Earth Day comes just once a year, every day it’s important to do what you can to keep your energy use low. To learn more about saving energy and money, contact Air Assurance, providing HVAC services for Broken Arrow homeowners.