With spring here and the transition from heating season to cooling season, heat pump maintenance should not be neglected. If your heat pump is not properly maintained, it will waste energy and under-perform. This requires a mixture of homeowner maintenance steps and professional heat pump maintenance. Here’s what you can do.
Change the Air Filter
Your heat pump probably put in heavy service this past winter, especially during frigid late January through March. That means the air filter also had a grueling workload. A clogged filter will restrict airflow through the forced-air system, making the heat pump work harder to heat or cool your home. This means wasted electricity, more stress on parts and likely some rooms that are under-heated. A dirty filter also allows more dirt and debris to get into sensitive heat pump components.
Don’t Block Airflow
Objects such as rugs, drapes, furniture and toys can obstruct airflow. The same applies to the outside compressor unit that can get blocked by various yard debris and clutter. Unimpeded airflow is vital throughout the system, whether flowing through the ductwork or passing across indoor and outdoor heat-exchange coils.
Schedule Professional Maintenance
You can’t do everything. You’ll want a trained technician to perform a comprehensive tune-up on your heat pump. Among a long list of tasks, he should:
- Inspect main components—ducts, filter, blowers—for dust and debris and any obstructions. Clean and/or lubricate moving parts where necessary.
- Make sure airflow meets manufacturer specs.
- Measure refrigerant and recharge if necessary.
- Clean and tighten dirty or loose electrical connections.
- Check the thermostat for proper operation, and test all system controls.
- Clean inside and outside coils. When they’re coated in gunk, the vital heat-exchange process that’s necessary for heat pump operation will be restricted. Your system will have to work harder to heat and cool your home, and eventually may break down.
For more advice on heat pump maintenance, or to schedule a spring tune-up for your heat pump system, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc. We provide quality HVAC service in Dayton.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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