Fall is a great time to think about preventative maintenance for your HVAC system

Fall Is A Great Time To Think About Preventative Maintenance For Your HVAC System

When we think of Fall, we think about pumpkins, cooler weather, and the beginning of holiday season. Halloween, and Thanksgiving will be here before we can blink. We may get outdoors more if it’s been an unbearably hot summer. We start thinking about heartier foods, warm drinks, and digging out sweaters. And it’s the perfect time to put in new air filters and start thinking about getting our HVAC systems serviced. In fact, we should probably go ahead and be scheduling that now to avoid problems in the months ahead.

Save energy—and get ahead of fall allergies by making sure you change your filter

Energy.gov points out an often overlooked benefit of having your HVAC system checked in early Fall. It can spare allergies sufferers a lot of headaches—no pun intended. Until the first freeze in your areas, allergens like ragweed can continue to cause some pretty unbearable symptoms: sneezing, coughing, itchy, watery eyes and headaches. Going ahead and changing your air filter at the beginning of the season can keep all that pollen where it belongs: Locked away in your filter. Use at least a MERV 8 to make sure those particles get trapped.

Have needed repairs done proactively—before temperatures get extreme.

Address any problems while the weather is still mild. We recommend scheduling your inspections in spring and fall. That way, you can be sure your system is good to go when the days start getting into extreme temperatures. To be without air conditioning or heating in fall or spring while repairs are being made is much more tolerable than having to go without cool or warm air in summer or winter.

Make sure carbon monoxide isn’t being released into your home.

This Old House explains that furnace heating systems can let carbon monoxide into your home. This odorless gas, if left undetected, can cause serious health problems—up to and including death. It’s definitely not something you want to take chances with. A routine inspection while the furnace isn’t in use can detect these kinds of problems. Fall is a great time to have an inspection and perform routine maintenance tasks before cold weather sets in. It’s much better to discover and address these kinds of issues during mild weather than to run into an emergency of that type in the middle of a freezing winter.

When we wait until there’s a problem on the first really cold day or during the first snow or ice storm, it’s going to be harder to get timely service. That’s when everybody else who didn’t think ahead is going to be making that exact same call. So by getting ahead of the game and making sure the HVAC system is ready for the coming winter, we can avoid going several hours or even days without heat because we’re number 25 in line for service. Just like with cars, preventative maintenance makes your investment last a whole lot longer.