How Often to Service Your HVAC: Fall Maintenance Guide

Getting preventative HVAC maintenance each fall and spring will save you money, lower the risk of fires and burst pipes, and lengthen the life of your system.

There’s nothing worse than hitting the first cold-spell of the year, going to turn on your heater, and finding that it’s not working, or is barely working. The heater is a crucial part of getting through winter, so it’s important to make sure it’s working properly, efficiently, and safely — before it breaks in the middle of a freeze and you have to schedule an expensive emergency fix. If you care for your HVAC system regularly, you’ll nip any issues in the bud before they have a chance to become a real problem.

If you are wondering how often to service your HVAC, we recommend twice a year maintenance on your heating and cooling systems, in spring and fall, to ensure that your system is working properly.

Why Preventative HVAC Maintenance is Important

1. Save money: When your system is working properly, it saves you money. You’ll save in the short-term on your utility bills from the increased efficiency of the system, and you’ll save money in the long-term by increasing the longevity of your HVAC system.

1. Effectiveness: Simply put, a “cleaner” heater will provide better heat to the home than a dirty unit. Clean burning elements, a clean blower wheel, and lubricating necessary pumps and/or motors allow you to get the most heat out of your unit.
2. Safety: One of our many steps in our fall heating maintenance process is to ensure the heating equipment is operating safely. We ensure the exhaust (from gas/oil combustion) is exiting the home properly, the gas or oil lines feeding the system are intact, and make sure that the burning elements inside the system are not compromised.
3. Prolonged life of equipment: One of the most important steps in our preventative HVAC maintenance process is to ensure the heating equipment is operating safely. We check that the exhaust (from gas/oil combustion) is exiting the home properly, the gas or oil lines feeding the system are intact, and make sure that the burning elements inside the system are not compromised.
4. Peace of Mind: Oftentimes HVAC equipment is “out of sight, out of mind.” Getting preventative HVAC maintenance gives you a status update on your heating equipment. Doing fall HVAC maintenance before freezing temperatures arrive will ensure any possible fix can be done before you desperately need to heat your home.

With regular fall HVAC maintenance, the heater will run more efficiently, leading to less stress on the system. Stress is a key component to system and part failure.

What’s Included in Seasonal HVAC Maintenance

1. Calibrate the thermostat: We’ll ensure that your thermostat is correct and displaying the proper temperature, which will increase the effectiveness of your system.
2. Check electrical connections and motors: We will tighten electrical connections and measure the voltage and current on the motors. This is for safety reasons and will maintain the effectiveness of your unit.
3. Lubricate moving parts: We’ll lubricate any moving parts to reduce friction in your unit. This results in lower energy usage, saving you money on your utility bills.
4. Inspect condensate drain: We will remove sludge or blockages, as well as check that the drain pan isn’t overflowing. This is crucial to preventing water damage in your home, in addition to making the system more efficient.
5. Check system controls: We’ll make sure that your system is starting up, shutting off, and operating properly, saving you a ton of money on your utility bills.
6. Clean and adjust blower: The blower needs to be cleaned regularly, as blower issues can decrease efficiency by up to 15%. This results in lower airflow and a less comfortable environment. We will make sure the blower is clean and functioning at peak performance.
7. Inspect ductwork: We will inspect all of your ductwork to make sure there are no leaks, holes, or weak connections, or dirty ducts, any of which can reduce the velocity of airflow through your house. Leaking ductwork is one of the most common causes of reduced efficiency and airflow, and can cost you a lot of money in the long run, so you want to make sure that your ductwork is in tip-top shape.