First-Time Homeowners’ Guide To HVAC And Air Conditioning Repair | Fort Worth, TX
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There’s a lot of work that goes into owning a home, from making sure your yard and the exterior of your home look nice to taking care of the HVAC system on the inside. If you want to be able to keep your Fort Worth, TX, home at a comfortable temperature all year long, you need to know a little bit about how your HVAC system works and what you need to do to maintain it. The good news is, our first-time homeowners’ guide to HVAC makes it easy to avoid expensive heating and air conditioning repairs.
Air Filters
Perhaps the most important thing to understand when it comes to preventing the need for heating and air conditioning repairs is the role your air filter plays. Whether you’re dealing with an air conditioner or a furnace, every heating and cooling system has an air filter that’s designed to keep the air clean. However, a dirty air filter can do more than just leave you with poor air quality.
Normally, the air filter in your HVAC system traps small particles that are in the air before they reach your home. However, those particles don’t get trapped as well as the filter begins to get clogged up. You can prevent this by having your air filter replaced when you’re having seasonal maintenance done.
One of the most common reasons people call AC repair companies is because their AC simply isn’t putting out any cool air. If your AC is blowing out warm air, there’s a good chance that problem is stemming from a lack of airflow caused by a dirty air filter.
Air filters should be replaced once every six months at the very least. However, it depends on how many people you have in your household and whether or not you live with pets. For large, messy households, it may be best to change the air filter monthly.
Make sure you look at MERV rating when you’re purchasing an air filter. The higher the MERV rating, the better filtration that air filter will offer. If you’re not sure what MERV rating is best for you, you can have an air conditioning repair expert in Fort Worth, TX help you decide.
Seasonal Maintenance
If you want to keep your heating and air conditioning working efficiently and for as long as possible, you need to have somebody take a look at it every once in a while. The problem is, it’s not always ideal to have somebody come to your home and take a look at your HVAC system when you need to heat or cool your home. This means most people don’t invest in heating and air conditioning repair and maintenance during the summer and winter.
Instead of taking care of maintenance during peak seasons, it’s best to have seasonal maintenance done twice a year just before these seasons arrive. Not only does this give you an opportunity to take care of heating and AC maintenance when you don’t need to use your HVAC system, but it also allows you to prepare your furnace and AC for the upcoming demanding seasons.
Seasonal maintenance gives a technician a chance to look closely at your HVAC system and take care of any maintenance it may need. If you’re in need of heating and air conditioning repairs as well as maintenance, you can have a technician take care of that during seasonal maintenance, too.
Leaks
From time to time, you might notice a little bit of water near your air conditioner. The thing about air conditioner leaks is that there are two distinct sources of leaks—water and refrigerant—which are very different from each other in terms of severity and repair cost.
If you notice liquid near your air conditioner that isn’t quite clear like water is, that probably means you’ve got refrigerant leaking from the unit. The first big problem with refrigerant leaks is that a lack of refrigerant means your AC won’t be able to create cool air for your home. However, a refrigerant leak is also one of the more dangerous air conditioning repairs, so you never want to deal with these types of leaks on your own unless you’re a professional.
If the liquid that’s pooling up around your AC has no odor or color, it’s probably just water. Water can leak as a result of a clogged condensate drain pan or drain line, both of which are fairly simple in terms of air conditioning repair. Whatever the case may be, it’s important to call a professional if you notice the presence of liquid around your AC unit.
Thermostat Problems
When most people have a problem with their heating or cooling in Fort Worth, TX, they go straight to the AC or furnace to try to figure out what’s wrong. While there are a lot of things that can go wrong with your AC or furnace, there are also numerous other problems that can affect the way these units work. When nothing else seems to be working in terms of AC repair, it could be that you’ve got a problem with your thermostat.
Your thermostat is designed to measure the ambient temperature of your home so your furnace and AC know when to turn on. If your home starts to get too warm or cold, the thermostat should cycle your heating or cooling on to correct that mistake. However, your thermostat can’t do that if it isn’t accurate. In some cases, your heating or cooling may be cycling on too often or not cycling on often enough. You can have an air conditioning repair expert test your thermostat to make sure it’s accurate and interacting with the other components of your HVAC system the way it’s supposed to.
If you need a new thermostat, you’re in luck. An air conditioning repair company can help you choose the best thermostat for your home without charging you an arm and a leg, largely thanks to the wide selection of thermostats on the market today. Whether you’re looking for a simple programmable thermostat or a smart thermostat you can control from anywhere, there are plenty of affordable options on the market today.
Duct Problems
When you turn on your furnace or central air conditioning, that warm or cool air needs to be delivered to your home somehow. The best way to deliver air from one space to another without changing its temperature too much is to run it through ducts. This is why you have ducts running all throughout your home to each room with access to heating and cooling.
As a Fort Worth, TX, homeowner, you should be having an air conditioning repair company clean your ducts out on a somewhat regular basis. Ducts don’t need to be cleaned as often as you need to replace your air filter or have seasonal maintenance done, but it’s still an important part of the job. The dirtier your ducts are, the more dust and debris you’re breathing in from your HVAC system.
You may also end up having to pay for expensive air conditioning repairs as a result of not keeping your ducts clean enough. Airflow is essential to the efficiency of your HVAC system, which means it has to work harder when there’s a lack of airflow. The dirtier your ducts are, the harder time air is going to have flowing through them. While this doesn’t tend to affect your HVAC system nearly as much as a bad air filter, neglecting duct cleaning is a good way to end up having to pay for air conditioning repairs.
At One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth, we recommend having your ducts cleaned at least once every 3 years.
Using Your Heating & Cooling Right
You might think extending the life of your HVAC system and getting the most out of it is all about keeping up with repairs and maintenance. While routine heating and air conditioning repairs and maintenance are important parts of the equation, you also need to make sure you’re using your heating and cooling right if you want it to last. How often and how you use your heating and cooling can go a long way toward shortening or extending the life of the unit.
As a general rule, you never want to put too much stress on your heating or cooling systems. The problem is, most homeowners don’t understand when they’re putting stress on their HVAC system. Essentially, the more often your heating and cooling have to run or cycle on, the more stress you’re putting on them. If you have a tendency to crank the temperature way up or blast your AC, your HVAC system isn’t going to last as long because of all the time it spent running.
If you want to get the most out of your HVAC system, most air conditioning repair experts recommend taking advantage of programmable thermostats to set the temperature of your home based on a schedule. You can invest in a smart thermostat that you can control anywhere as long as you have your smartphone. The more modest you can be about heating and cooling use, the less you’re running your HVAC system and the longer you can expect it to last.
HVAC Emergencies
One of the most important things you can know as a homeowner is when you’re dealing with an HVAC emergency rather than a simple heating or air conditioning repair. An emergency technician can arrive at your home quickly with the right tools to take care of your emergency, so it’s important to understand when it’s time to call for emergency service and when you can wait.
First off, any HVAC problem that has to do with the fuel portion of your furnace should be investigated immediately. Whether you’ve got a gas leak, your pilot light is acting funny or there’s any other fuel-related problem, it’s always best to leave it up to the experts.
A refrigerant leak is also an emergency because of the hazards of handling refrigerant. Even if you’ve got a newer HVAC system, make sure you call an air conditioning repair company if you think you have a refrigerant leak.
Upgrading Your Heating or Cooling
As much as you may love your HVAC system, there comes a time when every homeowner has to make an upgrade. Whether your old furnace or AC stopped working or you simply want to upgrade to something more convenient and efficient, it’s important to talk with a heating and air conditioning repair expert so you understand your options.
Traditionally, most homeowners combine a central air conditioner with a forced-air furnace. This is a good option if you’re looking for heating and cooling that’s affordable to install and efficient, but it does require ductwork that you may not already have in your home. If you’ve got the ducts, this is a good choice.
Many heating and air conditioning repair companies recommend going for ductless heating and cooling if you’re going to upgrade. Ductless heating and cooling can be installed throughout your home without the need for ducts. Plus, installing an air handler in different areas of your home allows you to achieve a zoned heating and cooling effect. If some people like it a little bit cooler in their room, you can knock the temperature down a few degrees in one zone without affecting the temperature of the others.
Happy to Help
The truth of the matter is, there’s way more to your HVAC system than you could ever read in a short, simple guide like this. As a homeowner, it’s your job to take the time to educate yourself about how you can take better care of your home.
When it comes to heating and air conditioning repair, One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth has you covered. We can even take care of HVAC installation and maintenance. If you need assistance making sure your heating and air conditioning keep running, call One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth today.