Is an HVAC inspection worth the pocket-size cost now? Absolutely, peculiarly when y'all catch you’re avoiding a big, unexpected repair nib later. During an annual HVAC maintenance visit, a licensed AC technician tin flaming topographic point issues together with forestall the demand for costly repairs.
An annual HVAC maintenance see tin flaming salve y'all on repair together with unloose energy costs. Image: Serenethos/Shutterstock
Is an HVAC inspection worth the money?
An HVAC arrangement costs thousands of dollars together with features lots of moving parts that article of apparel downward over time. H5N1 neglected arrangement doesn’t function its best.
According to the contractor-consumer matching website Thumbtack.com, the average HVAC technician charges $50 to $80 for an AC service tune-up. Compare that to a repair, which tin flaming run y'all betwixt $150 together with $1,000 on average, together with it’s a no-brainer. It pays to forestall HVAC problems earlier they happen.
You’re likewise probable to salve coin on your unloose energy bills after a throttle HVAC maintenance visit. The Department of Energy says that routinely replacing or cleaning your AC’s air filters (one of the jobs an HVAC technician performs during the tune-up) tin flaming trim back your home’s unloose energy consumption yesteryear five to fifteen percent.
An HVAC inspection should hold out performed at to the lowest degree 1 time per year. Image: I AM NIKOM/Shutterstock
When should I schedule an HVAC maintenance visit?
Spring is an ideal fourth dimension for HVAC maintenance. You’ll hold out running your air conditioner presently enough, then larn your preventative maintenance inwards early. The final affair y'all desire is your AC to intermission downward together with exit y'all inwards the lurch on the hottest solar daytime of summer. And scheduling an HVAC inspection earlier the summertime busy flavor could salve y'all coin on the visit.
If your arrangement likewise includes heating, the technician tin flaming inspect the heating elements during the same visit. Or if y'all role your heating every bit much every bit your air conditioning, y'all may desire to schedule ii inspections separately: a throttle inspection to review your AC arrangement together with a autumn inspection to review your heating system.
During an HVAC maintenance visit, the technician reviews together with inspects all components. Image: Joyseulay/Shutterstock
What should I aspect during an HVAC tune-up?
An HVAC technician volition ready a fourth dimension to see your home. The HVAC maintenance see takes almost an hour. If the refrigerant needs a refill, it may add together some other thirty minutes to the service visit. During your appointment, a technician volition inspect all the components of your system. This includes checking:
- The thermostat
- Electrical connections
- Refrigerant levels
- Controls
And adjusting, replacing or cleaning the coils, plus:
- Adjusting together with lubricating moving parts
- Straightening the fins
- Cleaning the condensation drain
- Changing the air filter
- Adjusting the blower motor together with all belts
A licensed HVAC technician is familiar alongside all aspects of an annual HVAC maintenance schedule. Image: Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock
How to select an HVAC technician close you
Most states require HVAC technicians to hold out licensed (or certified) together with insured. There’s skillful argue for this requirement: field licensing programs are designed to protect consumers yesteryear requiring that HVAC technicians receive got sense working alongside heating together with cooling systems together with are adequately insured to encompass anything that could go incorrect spell working inwards your home.
Once y'all detect an HVAC technician close you, y'all tin flaming depository fiscal establishment check to encounter that their license together with insurance is upwards to date, yesteryear state, at contractorquotes.com.
One of the HVAC maintenance jobs y'all tin flaming DIY is to decease on your unit(s) clear of shrubbery together with debris. Image: Christian Delbert/Shutterstock
Can I produce my ain annual HVAC service or should I hire an HVAC technician close me?
There are a few things y'all tin flaming produce to hold your HVAC arrangement yourself. Most maintenance together with service, however, should hold out left to a licensed professional, or y'all could void your warranty. Some of tjhe tasks y'all tin flaming produce yourself to extend the life together with component subdivision of your heating together with cooling systems include:
- Change your filters at to the lowest degree 1 time a year
- Trim all grass together with shrubs only about the AC unit of measurement exterior together with build clean away whatever debris similar cobwebs or leaves
- Check the insulation only about the exterior unit of measurement for damage
- Clean the air vents within your home
Your HVAC unit of measurement is an essential component subdivision of your home. Just because it quietly runs behind the scenes doesn’t hateful y'all tin flaming forget almost it. An threescore minutes of your fourth dimension 1 time a twelvemonth together with an affordable see yesteryear a licensed HVAC technician tin flaming extend the life of your unit of measurement — together with your family’s comfort level.