Have you scheduled seasonal HVAC maintenance yet for your Dayton area home? It’s hard to believe, but the calendar has rolled around to spring, and the summer cooling season will soon follow hot on its heels. All proper maintenance is based on a preventive approach to identify and avert A/C problems before they happen, which often occurs during the hottest heat wave of July or August. Now’s the time for professional seasonal HVAC maintenance to ensure uninterrupted performance and reduced operating costs all summer long.
These basic elements are standard HVAC maintenance checks, no matter what the season:
- Verify that actual room temperatures correlate with thermostat settings.
- Check all electrical connections and measure the current draw on blower motors.
- Lubricate blower motors and bearings in fan drive belt pulleys.
- Verify that the furnace or A/C condensate drain is open and drains properly.
- Make sure the system properly responds to on and off signals from the thermostat.
In addition, the following seasonal HVAC maintenance tasks are specific to getting your central air conditioner ready for summer:
- Clean the indoor evaporator coil located inside the air handler or attached to the furnace blower. Accumulated dust or dirt on the coil reduces the efficiency of heat transfer and raises operating costs. Mold and/or bacteria growth on the evaporator coil is also not unusual and requires cleaning and disinfecting by a professional.
- Measure the refrigerant charge. An air conditioner doesn’t use up refrigerant so a low charge usually means a leak somewhere. A low refrigerant level not only reduces cooling performance, it can damage the compressor, the most expensive component in the cooling system.
- Clean the squirrel-cage blower fan blades and check the drive belt for wear and tightness. Dirty fan blades or a blower running at less than optimum output reduces airflow.
- Clean the outdoor condensing unit of dust, leaves, grass clippings or other debris. Make sure the unit is clear of encroaching weeds or other vegetation that could reduce free air flow.
If you haven’t scheduled seasonal HVAC maintenance, get your system ready to handle this summer’s cooling load by calling the experts at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc.
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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