Common Home Heating And AC Repair Mistakes | Fort Worth, TX
Photo By Stock Depot at istock
As the sudden Arctic freeze demonstrated, it is hard to predict what the weather is going to be like anymore regardless of where you live. Cold climates are experiencing heat waves and warmer climates are experiencing cold freezes. Therefore, you need to make sure that your Fort Worth, TX HVAC system is prepared for anything. Knowing the best way to efficiently heat your home is one great way to save some stress on your furnace and hopefully reduce the amount you need to call for heating and AC repair. For a lot of Texans, heating is not something they are used to worrying about, but it is a clear concern.
Even without sudden Arctic freezes, Fort Worth has still been known to drop down low enough during the winter nights that you wouldn’t want to be caught without your furnace running. Do you know the best way to keep the temperatures enjoyable inside without wasting heat. Here are a few great ways to be smart about your energy consumption so that you can extend the life of your HVAC system and stretch out your heating and AC repair phone calls. Of course, keep in mind that proper repair and maintenance is the key to a long HVAC lifespan, so when in doubt, always make the call for heating and AC repair.
Heating an Empty House
A lot of people set their thermostat and then forget about it, but this means that you may be overheating your home when you aren’t even around to enjoy it. At the most, you just need to keep the temperature in your home above freezing to keep your pipes from freezing which in Fort Worth, TX means that you don’t need to keep your heat high too often. On many days you can even fathom leaving it off while you are out of the home unless you have pets in the home. The less you use your HVAC system the less wear and tear which means you will not need to call for heating and AC repair as much.
Along the same train of thought, if you are going to be aware for a weekend or a day then you should also turn the heat down in your home. Just a few degrees can save you a noticeable amount of money when your energy bills come, but if you can drop the temp down ten degrees or so while you are not at home (depending on your usual comfort level) you can really start to see the changes. Your HVAC system will thank you, your heating and AC repair bills will disappear, and you can still rest comfortably while home.
Simply invest in a programmable thermostat and you can set the house to change temperatures while you are away without even thinking about it. If you are out of the home during the days working you can set your house to instantly cool around the time you leave for work and then set it to warm back up half an hour before you come home so that you never have to compromise your own comfort. There are a lot of ways you can use a programmable thermostat and with so many smart home devices, using one has never been easier. Next time you have a heating and AC repair technician to your home talk about your options if the idea is appealing to you.
Turning Up the Thermostat To Quick Heat Your Home
Do you sometimes feel chilled when you are at home? First of all, you should make sure that your Fort Worth, TX HAC system is working and that you do not need to call a heating and AC repair company. Once you know that it’s just you and not your HVAC system, resist the urge to crank up your thermostat. A lot of people think that you can quickly heat your home by just turning up the thermostat temporarily. While the idea seems nice, in reality turning up the thermostat does not change how long it takes your home to heat up.
Think about it this way, your home is warmed by a release of hot air that travels through your ductwork and into rooms around your home. The thermostat does not change the temperature of the warm air that travels through your vents. It simply sends warm air through the vents until the home is heated, and if it is set higher then this will mean that the system has to run longer and cycle more frequently. It will do absolutely nothing to change the quality of air that is delivered which means it won’t help.
It’s like trying to get more water to flow through a pipe. If you dump cold water down a funnel it will only be delivered at the rate determined by the funnel size. You can dump hot water down the funnel, but the same amount will be delivered at the rate determined by the funnel size. Changing the temperature of the water will not change the delivery. In the end, if you constantly do this all you will be doing is creating uneven wear and tear on your heating system and actually running your system more and for longer periods of time. Therefore, you won’t feel any warming and you will increase your heating bills and likely your heating and AC repair bills for nothing. Instead, just learn to be patient waiting for your home to heat up to a temperature that agrees with you.
Skipping the Locks on Your Windows
A lot of people don’t bother locking their windows, especially on the second floor of their home because they don’t consider them a safety risk and don’t want to mess with unlocking them. It may seem like you are making life easier by doing this, but it is not enough to just close the windows if you want to keep your HVAC system running efficiently. Believe it or not, if you don’t lock your windows you won’t be creating a perfect seal which means that air will seep out from the seams of your windows and warm air will seep in during the winters.
Therefore, you need to get in the habit of locking your windows after you use them on every floor of your home. From top to bottom you need to make sure you lock up your windows and create the seal that will stop your air from escaping. This is not only a great way to save money on your energy bills, but it is a great way to insulate your home period and keep burglars out. It is simply a good habit to get into and if you lock your windows immediately after putting them up it probably won’t feel like an extra bother.
Walking Away With Exhaust Fans On
A lot of people don’t give a second thought to their exhaust fans. They go to the bathroom and then walk out without flipping the fan off with the idea that they are letting the room continue to air out. However, if you don’t return to the room or leave the floor the bathroom is on, there is a good chance your exhaust fan will run for quite a bit of extra time.
The same is true for the kitchen. A lot of people will cook food and then leave the exhaust fan on for a while after they are done to help the smell dissipate. However, they get involved with dinner or something else and never return to the room to turn off the fan. The problem with this is that smell and moisture is not the only thing that your fans are sucking out of your home. They are also pulling warm air out of your home which means that your furnace is likely going to kick on and cycle more than it would if you simply remembered to turn the fans off directly after use. The same is true of cool air, which an exhaust fan will pull out just as well during the summer months in Fort Worth, TX.
With this in mind, it is a good idea to make a practice of always turning off your exhaust fan after a shower or trip to the restroom and your kitchen exhaust fan as soon as you are done cooking. While certain smells or odors may linger in the air for a few extra minutes, if you are out of the room it really doesn’t matter anyway. After all, once you leave the bathroom it doesn’t matter if it takes a few extra minutes for a smell to go away, because no one is in there. So leaving the exhaust fan on is really not worth it.
Plus, exhaust fans will wear out just like anything else so the more you use a fan the more likely it is to die on you and most exhaust fans are not that simple to reinstall. Therefore, it makes sense to take it easy on your exhaust fan and your heating system by simply flipping the switch when you leave the room. The same way you don’t want to get slapped with an unexpected heating and AC repair bill, you don’t want to find yourself needing to hire someone to replace your exhaust fan.
Avoiding Heating And AC Repair
A lot of homeowners have a good idea that something is wrong with their heating system, but they don’t want to pay the heating and AC repair bill so they avoid calling a heating and AC repair company for help. They start to write off certain things as the “normal” for their HVAC systems such as banging noises on occasion or the lights flickering every time the system cycles.
In truth, most of the time these things should not be anyone’s normal. Banging noises are always a reason you should call for heating and AC repair because they indicate that something is wrong with a component of your system. Ignore this for too long and instead of having one damaged component you will have multiple damaged components. Eventually, the system will just quit altogether, and replacing an HVAC system is much more expensive than simple heating and AC repair.
Lights flickering when your HVAC system cycles is usually a sign that something is wrong with your home wiring. It is possible that you need a new dedicated circuit for your HVAC system if it is not already on one or if it is possible that your system is surging and drawing too much power. The first thing you should do is call an electrician to look at the electrical side of things. However, if they cannot find anything wrong you will need to call for heating and AC repair because there is a good chance that something is malfunctioning with your unit to cause the surges.
These are just examples of two common signs that you need heating and AC repair. There are dozens more, but the bottom line is that if something is happening to your HVAC system it should never be treated as normal just because you don’t want to spend the money on heating and AC repair. It will catch up to you, and given the HVAC system is usually the most expensive appliance in the home you really don’t want to be stuck with a sudden, large, and unanticipated replacement bill. In Fort Worth, TX life without AC is not possible, so save yourself from an emergency situation and call for heating and AC repair when it is indicated.
If you are new to the Fort Worth, TX area or new to HVAC repair, give One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth a call. We have been helping customers deal with their heating repairs for years and would be glad to help you. We can handle regular maintenance and heating and AC repair so feel free to contact us for all of your HVAC needs.