Heating and AC Maintenance New Year’s Resolutions | Fort Worth, TX
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A new year comes with new resolutions. In fact, over 40 percent of Texans have identified key areas that they would like to improve. While many focus on good dieting, budget cuts, exercising, and so on, heating and AC maintenance has been an area neglected by many. These units may seem trivial but wait until the AC breaks down during hot weather or the heating units fail on a freezing winter. More importantly, failure to take care of the HVAC system will cost you more on repairs and in extreme cases, you may be forced to replace the whole system, which is expensive. In this regard, let’s explore things that should be on top of your new year’s resolution when it comes to HVAC maintenance.
1. Schedule for Duct Cleaning
Did you know that the quality of indoor air has a direct correlation with the cleanliness of ducts? Air ducts affect the performance of your heating and AC system. It determines the amount of energy that these units will consume. Dirty ducts lead to an increase in energy required for heating and cooling, thereby, increasing your overall energy bills.
More importantly, mildew, airborne allergens, viruses, bacteria, dust, and other indoor pollutants tend to collect inside the air ducts. This scenario increases the likelihood of infections in your organization or homes. That’s why at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth, TX, we implore you to have your duct regularly cleaned by a professional to increase air sanitation, and improve indoor airflow. If not convinced here are the benefits of duct cleaning in your heating and AC system.
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Reduces Indoor Air Pollutants and facilitates Better Health
Getting a professional in Fort Worth, TX, to regularly clean your air ducts helps you to breathe fresher air with fewer contaminants. It is imperative to realize indoor air has many pollutants. Ranging from dust particles, tobacco smoke, viruses, and spores, you need to be proactive if you want to stand a chance to improve your indoor air quality. Mold and mildew are potential health hazards. To make it worse, it is very daunting to get rid of them by employing a DIY approach. Good news to residents of Fort Worth, TX, is that One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating has all the supplies and disinfectants to sanitize your air ducts and help you achieve mold-free air.
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Improves Indoor Air Quality
Since the air that moves through ventilations as many contaminants, heating, and AC systems integrate filters. But did you know that not all contaminants are trapped by the filters in the ductwork? In this case, most of the pollutants settle in the ducts. Regularly cleaning of the duct helps to get rid of them and improves your overall indoor air quality. Remember, that the rate of air duct cleaning will vary with the traffic in your living spaces and the environment in question. It is always a wise move to contact a professional to advise you on how frequently you should have your air ducts cleaned.
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Helps to Achieve Comfortable Temperature
Clogged ducts have a negative correlation on the actual performance of heating and AC mechanisms. Cleaning air ducts lead to the elimination of debris that blocks airflow in and out of your living spaces. Through this process, you get rid of pollutants and your HVAC system works better to bring the desired temperatures in your home or office.
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Reduces HVAC Running Costs
Blocked and clogged air duct makes the heating and AC unit to consume more electricity in its performance. This leads to increased bills from your power company. By regularly hiring a professional to clear and clean your air ducts, you will realize a significant reduction in your energy bills as the HVAC system will be functioning optimally.
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Reduces Repair Costs and Increases HVAC Lifespan
Clogged and dirty air ducts make the heating and AC unit in your home to work harder as opposed to the manufacturer’s specifications. This scenario leads to frequent breakdowns, which costs you in terms of repairs. Importantly, the stress-induced on your HVAC unit will lead to more wear and tear reducing significantly its lifespan. The system may fail to reach the desired indoor temperatures and its functionality is greatly limited. Why don’t you avoid paying more on repairs and increase your HVAC lifespan by having One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth clean your air ducts on a regular basis?
2. Change Your Air Filters
Professionally, ventilation and air ducts filters should be changed every three months if you have pets or you smoke in your house. It can be very daunting to get the precise timeframe that you should be undertaking this process. That’s why getting professional insights is always a step in the right direction. You may have them regularly inspect them to determine if they are viable or not. Here’s why you should change your filters regularly.
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Extends Your HVAC Unit Lifespan
Dirty air filters are a core reason for heating and AC breakdown in your home. Filters with accumulated dirt don’t allow air to pass making the HVAC motor to overwork. This stress causes frequent breakdowns of the motor, which may be repaired or in extreme cases, it has to be replaced.
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Reduced Energy Costs
As the motor works harder in heating and AC systems that have clogged air filters, it consumes more electricity. This is because the HVAC unit has to balance the temperature and quality of indoor air as per the manufacturer’s specifications. According to the Department of Energy, an average household in the US spends approximately $2, 200 on energy bills. But by regularly changing your air filter you may save between 5-15 percent of this amount.
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Improved and Healthy Indoor Air Quality
Dirty filters worsen the quality of air in your house. Even worse, it may cause detrimental effects to family members who suffer from asthma and allergies, with extreme cases occurring to households with pets. If you are in Fort Worth, TX, why don’t you let One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating help with undertaking and you can mitigate all these problems?
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Peace of Mind
Always remember replacing your air filter helps to increase your heating and AC system life’s span, improves the quality of indoor air, reduces breakdowns, promotes better health, and you achieve comfortable indoor temperature. This means you will have peace of mind both at home and in your office.
3. Schedule for Overall Annual maintenance
HVAC are electromechanical units and just like every other such system they require periodic maintenance. Even though your system may be old, scheduling for annual maintenance helps to keep it running optimally. New systems should also be maintained as it increases their lifespan and reduces repair rates. If you have heating and AC systems more than ten years old, you should consider replacing them. This is because they are energy inefficient, impact the environment negatively, and keep on breaking down. You can always determine the age of your HVAC system by looking at their serial number. The first two numbers indicate the year the unit was manufactured. With that in mind, annual maintenance is crucial as it:
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Helps to Fix Potential Faults Before They Happen
Some faults in heating and AC systems are like time bombs just waiting to happen. It may be expensive to correct the fault once it has happened than before it does. For instance, clogged filters and air ducts may lead to damage of the motor. However, if corrected on time you will just have to cater for duct cleaning and filter replacement, which is significantly cheaper. This will help you save in the long-run.
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Saves on Repairs and Extends Lifespan
As we mentioned earlier, proper maintenance of the heating and ventilation systems increases their overall lifespan and reduces breakdowns.
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Increases Your Property’s Value
After listing your property, potential buyers examine every part of the house—HVAC unit included. Poorly maintained heating and AC systems can greatly jeopardize the value of the property in question. However, by scheduling for annual maintenance, you can keep your HVAC units in tip-top conditions that will help fetch good returns for your property.
4. Go for a Programmable Thermostat
With the evolution of smart technology, it is about time to shift from manual to programmable thermostats. It helps you to utilize heating and AC units when you are in the living spaces and eliminates wastage of energy when you’re out. If not convinced, here are reasons to switch to programmable thermostats.
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Precision
In the era of the manual thermostat, you had slide or dial on the temperature controls. However, with today’s touchscreens, you get the precision that could not be achieved by the latter systems. The thermostat automatically adjusts themselves giving you the perfect indoor temperatures you have always wanted. If you are in Fort Worth, TX, One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating are more than ready to install these panels for you.
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Reduced Energy Bills
Did you know that setting higher temperature helps you cut on heating and AC unit’s energy bills? According to recent research, increasing your thermostat temperature by 1 degree helps you to cut on the electricity bill by 6-8 percent. That’s why with a programmable thermostat, you can program it to high temperatures during summer, when no one is at the house, and have it adjusted to cool temperature when people return. More importantly, there are programmable thermostats that you can control via the internet on your PC, smartphone, or tablet.
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Improved Maintenance
Believe it or not, some programmable thermostats provide information about your heating and AC unit. They will indicate when it is time to change the filters and other components that might need attention. These alerts help to schedule maintenance and point to specific areas of concern, which helps to save on the long-run and increases the HVAC unit longevity.
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Increased Indoor Comfort
Smart programmable thermostats apply a room’s historical information to adjust temperature thanks to the PID-controllers. This improves indoor comfort by not over-shooting during the heating process. It also facilitates optimal start time for cooling and heating by a specific hour, which increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the heating and AC unit.
5. Address Problems Quickly
This year don’t address the problems in your heating and AC unit when the damage is too big. Watch out for indicators that might point to a failing HVAC unit. Some of them include
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Unusual Noises
When you start to hear clunking, grinding, hissing, or rattling sound from the inside of your heating and AC unit, some parts may be loose or fallen apart altogether. This means you have to call a HVAC professional to address the problem before greater damage occurs.
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Fluctuating Power
If your HVAC unit keeps on randomly turning on and off, it indicates that there is a serious problem with the power. If it is not addressed on time it might lead to detrimental damage to your building’s power supply or breakers.
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Bad Odor from the Air Vents
If bad smells start emanating from the air vents it means something is wrong with the HVAC unit. Incoming air should always be fresh and crisp. If you experience the aforementioned scenario always call a professional.
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Elevated Energy Bills
Faulty HVAC systems are ineffective and energy inefficient. If you realize a spike in your power bill it is prudent to call an HVAC technician.
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Uneven Distribution of Air in the House
If you start experiencing hot and cold spots in the house, then your HVAC system is not functioning as it should. Consider calling a HVAC technician to correct the problem.
One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating; One-Stop Shop for HVAC Systems
Never attempt to DIY HVAC problems in Fort Worth, TX. You may cause more damages and incur extra repair costs. That’s why at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating we have made it our life’s mission to help you with the undertaking. We specialize in HVAC repair, maintenance, and installation. We also offer 24/7 emergency services. Our highly qualified technicians possess excellent craftsmanship to help you with all HVAC-related undertakings. At our company, we believe no job is too big or too small for us. More importantly, we are a fully licensed, certified, and insured company.
Contact us today, for a free estimate.