Before contacting a repair service, do a short tour of the entire home. Note which rooms are hot and which are cold. This can help contractors quickly figure out the issue and how to fix it easily and quickly.
Get any agreement with an HVAC contractor in writing. Some contractors try to skip over this step and charge customers a fortune. If you have a certain price and warranty in writing, they cannot go back and change this information. If they do, they could have a lawsuit on their hands.
If you are having issues with your HVAC, do a tour of your house before you call in help. Know what part of the house is cold and which is hot. Give this information to your contractor when they arrive.
Clean your permanent air filters or replace disposable ones every single month. If you have the choice, an electrostatic is the best option on the market today. Be sure to turn off your unit before you change the filter as it should never be run without a filter in place.
If the house is yours or you're permitted to, replace the windows that are single pane with windows that are double pane. Double-pane windows keep inside air cooler, allowing you to reduce AC usage in the summertime. This same effect also keeps warm air in during the winter months.
Consider window air conditioners for your home if you are thinking about installing a central unit. Do you really need to cool your kitchen overnight? Do you have multiple floors with only one housing bedrooms? To efficiently and cheaply cool only where people are actually staying, window units are a great choice.
If you have a window air conditioner without a timer, use a regular outlet timer to control when it is on or off. These are the same ones you use for holiday lights, so all you have to do is plug your air conditioner into the timer and set it to cool you during the day.
An investment in a smart thermostat is truly going to save you money. You can program it to turn on and off at certain temperatures or times, allowing you to ensure that your air conditioner or heater isn't running when it doesn't need to be, saving you a ton.
When you buy a new air conditioning unit, don't let the salesperson talk you into too large of a unit. This will be a waste of money and won't efficiently cool your home. The longer a system runs, the more efficient it will be when it's running, so look for one which runs 15 to 30 minutes.
To reduce the air conditioning's energy cost, close drapes, blinds and shades that cover windows which face the sun. Also, white shades will reflect the heat away from the house, keeping it cooler and saving you money. It is also recommended that you close the vents in rooms that are not used often. This will ensure that you are not spending money cooling less-used rooms.
Sometimes, air conditioners collect ice. There are sometimes also freezes that happen in a drain line, and this can be confused for a plumbing leak. If this happens, disable the compressor by switching the thermostat to run the fan only. You should leave the repair to a professional, but switching to the fan setting should start to melt the ice.
Use your HVAC system to heat your water for free! In the summer, residual heat pulled out of your house is used to heat water through a geothermal system. This will cool your home while allowing you to save a ton on hot water costs, plus it's environmentally friendly to boot!
If you need help locating someone to help take of your HVAC system, a great place to seek advice is online at a review site. There are a number of great sites out there that let customers talk about how they were treated by services. This method provides you with all the information you need to make the best hiring decisions.
It is important that any contractor you hire is familiar with your make and model of HVAC unit. Ask them what brands they work with most frequently and compare it to what you have. If you can't find a contractor that knows your brand well, instead consider who has the best reputation.
Installing a whole-house fan can either cool your home without the use of air conditioning or make your air conditioner more efficient. It blows out all of the hot air which collects in your attic, and this air flow draws in cool air from your basement and up into your home.
Nobody wants their HVAC system to break down in the dead of winter here or during the dog days of summer. However, if the homeowner has usable knowledge, a complete catastrophe can be avoided. The tips from this article can help the homeowner make the best decisions about HVAC and steer clear of the worse case scenario.
