Maintaining your home heating system is crucial

Maintaining your heating system is quite similar to maintaining your vehicle. If you let either go without maintenance for too long, it’s likely that problems will ensue. The best thing you can do for your heating system is ensure that it is prepared for the coldest months of the year long before they actually arrive. These are simple tips for making sure your heating system is winter-ready!

1. Bundle up! You can keep the house a few degrees cooler by wearing warmer clothes inside. We suggest cozy blankets, slippers, and a sweatshirt.
2. Many doors and windows go unused during the winter (patio and basement doors, spare room windows, etc), so consider covering them in plastic to prevent drafts. Window kits are sold at your local hardware/home supply stores for about $5 a window. Can't get to the store? Grab some old blankets and insulate.
3. Turn the heat down when no one is home. Turning it down to 60-65 while you're away saves money and means you don't heat an empty house.
4. After using the oven, leave the door open a crack to let heat warm your kitchen and the surrounding rooms.
5. Use a space heater in the room you are using. This will take the nip out of the air without heating the rest of your home.
6. Pick up some caulk or silicone from the hardware store and fill any cracks in doors and windows, and basement floors and walls. Heat escapes quickly through cracks and the small ones you see can add up!
7. Close vents and doors to rooms not used regularly (spare guest rooms, patios, etc). Doing so can easily cut 100-200 square feet off your energy footprint and bill.
8. Put weather stripping around windows and doors. You'd be surprised how the seals around your doors and windows can deteriorate over time.
9. Cover the attic entry with old blankets, weather stripping, plastic, etc. Anything will help slow down the warm air from floating away through your roof.

Imagine going to work every day in an office without any proper ventilation. There is no air circulation throughout the building, which means it’s swelteringly hot and stuffy in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. Such a simple thing can create working environments that are unpleasant or just downright uninhabitable, and often prevent new companies from leasing office space. The key to avoiding this situation lies in regular and on going maintenance of the buildings HVAC systems.

What Is HVAC Maintenance?

The systems that keep a building running are the key to maintaining a healthy and comfortable environment inside, and in this case that is the HVAC systems. HVAC (which stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning) is an essential part of creating comfortable and legal living and working environments. Each unit varies, with some being simple and easy to maintain and others proving incredibly complex and intricate. Their size can also vary from very small units for individual offices to large central equipment designed to heat, cool, treat and condition entire factories, office buildings or schools. This equipment requires periodic maintenance to ensure it remains working at maximum efficiency and won’t break down. With some units you can conduct visual checks yourself, but we always recommend bringing in a professional to run more comprehensive checks and perform any tweaks or repairs the machines may need.

Why Is It Important?

Like any Mechanical and Electrical system, regular maintenance includes cleaning, topping up any fluids or other components and carrying out safety checks to ensure none of the elements are faulty.  This can prevent potential failures down the line. A well maintained HVAC system keeps your air clean, improves the life of the system itself and keeps it running efficiently. You can find more tips on why maintaining your HVAC systems is essential here.

Why Should I Invest In Preventive HVAC Maintenance?

When it comes to preventive HVAC maintenance, you should think of it in the same way as doing maintenance on your car. If you don’t change the oil, replace the belts and filters before they start to wear and damage and keep it running effectively then the car won’t run. But instead of waiting for the parts to fail and ending up without a car while you wait to replace them, taking steps to repair and replace them before that stage saves you time, money and stress.

The good news is that on going HVAC maintenance isn’t an expensive outlay, unlike the cost of replacing a full unit. While the cost of replacing a complete system can run into the tens of thousands, maintenance of that system will cost a fraction of that and keep your buildings in working order for longer. Not only that, but there is some evidence to suggest that well run HVAC systems could actually save you money in terms of energy and electricity used by your building.  By investing in regular maintenance for your HVAC systems you are ensuring lower payouts for repairs, reducing your emergency call outs (and their charges) and providing a cleaner, more comfortable environment for your tenants. For advice or help with your long term HVAC maintenance plan, call us at     678-909-6377