How To Maintain Your Bay Area HVAC System

Professional Heating and Air Conditioning Tips

HVAC maintenance may sound complicated and time consuming. But you want to keep your heating and air conditioning systems functional to avoid worst case scenarios.

To that end, go over this checklist twice a year (in the fall and spring), and amend and add to it, as needed, to make it more and more functional over time:

• Inspect air filters (ideally every month); and clean and/or change them to prevent HVAC failure and to lower your bills.
• Examine your condensate drain. If it’s plugged up, it can cause water to back up and create mold problems and other damage.
• Check electrical connections and tighten ones that are too loose. If connections aren’t secure, the system can create fire hazards, among other issues.
• Examine your thermostat settings. Optimize your use of energy, so that you stay comfortable without burning more fuel than you need to.
• Examine the level of refrigerant in your A/C. If this fluid level is off – either too high or too low – your HVAC system will be less efficient.
• Examine gas and oil connections to make sure they’re not dirty, cracked, loose, or otherwise dysfunctional. Unsafe gas pressure connections, heat exchangers, and burner combustors can cause fire hazards as well as inefficiencies.
• Inspect the coils in your air conditioning. Dirty or warned coils can limit your A/C’s ability to cool. Plus it will need to work longer and harder to deliver the same level of cool, so energy costs will spike.

Making This List More Functional And Customized

HVAC maintenance is not a simple task. Although experienced do-it-yourselfers who have a technical background (and time on their hands) may be able to do everything on this list and more, most homeowners can benefit from speaking with an experienced HVAC professional. Please connect with the team here at B.A Morrison for help with your heating and air conditioning maintenance by calling 510-538-9817. Stay safe and comfy, and reduce how much money you spend!