It shouldn’t take emergency AC or furnace repairs for homeowners to understand how much they rely on their heating and cooling equipment to keep the home comfortable and healthy.
Almost all heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment represents a significant investment. Looking after it, protecting it, and helping it last as long as possible should be a priority. But some other benefits of HVAC maintenance are often overlooked.
Here, we look at the importance of regular AC and furnace tune-ups—and why homeowners should inspect their HVAC units and book at least annual maintenance.
What are the Benefits of HVAC Maintenance?
The main benefits of HVAC maintenance performed regularly are improved home comfort, reduced hazard risk in the home, reduced risk of high repair bills, early detection of issues, enhanced indoor air quality, extended lifespan of HVAC equipment, improved energy efficiency, lower bills, warranty protection, and greater temperature/humidity control in the home.
Let’s look at each of these benefits in more detail…
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10 Benefits of Regular HVAC Tune-Ups
1. Improved Home Comfort
The most obvious benefit of HVAC maintenance is that it helps to keep the home comfortably warm in the cooler months and comfortably cool in the warmer months.
Servicing the AC unit, heat pump or furnace maintains system performance so that each component can operate at peak and do its job properly. That’s best for you and your family, who can sit back and enjoy perfect indoor climate control.
Nobody wants their furnace failing in the middle of winter or the AC packing up on a hot Alberta summer day. Keep things cozy with regular tine-ups.
2. Reduced Risk of Hazards in the Home
Poorly-maintained HVAC equipment that is not thoroughly inspected at least once a year by a professional can create hazards for your family. Forced-air gas furnaces that are not venting properly can lead to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in the home, which can cause serious health problems. Learn how to check your furnace vent pipe here.
Air conditioners and heat pumps also use refrigerant, which should only be handled by licensed HVAC professionals.
Other potential risks are electrical issues that could create fire hazards and water damage in the home from a leaking furnace humidifier or air conditioner.
3. Fewer Repair Bills
Furnace, AC or heat pump repairs sure add up. If your units are aging, some repairs should be expected from time to time but regular HVAC maintenance can help keep these to a minimum.
HVAC professionals will methodically go through a checklist of key items to check during inspections and tune-ups. They ensure that everything is in working order and reduce the risk of system failure.
Think of regular HVAC maintenance as a health checkup for your heating and cooling system.
4. Early Detection of Issues
Just like with a health checkup, where a minor health issue is found and treatment is undertaken early to prevent a more serious issue, HVAC maintenance can flag issues early on. They can then be addressed before they lead to a complete system failure—and the expense and inconvenience that goes with that.
Routine checkups often uncover minor issues, such as obstructed airflow from a blocked furnace filter, a dirty AC coil, loose electrical connections or low refrigerant levels, before they cause components to work too hard and require emergency repairs or replacement.
5. Enhanced Indoor Air Quality
Your HVAC system is responsible for more than the temperature in your home—it also goes a long way to determining the indoor air quality.
HVAC filters remove airborne particles such as dust, allergens, and pet dander. When they become clogged, they can impact the quality of the air and the overall performance of the furnace or air conditioner, due to restricted airflow. This can lead to health issues as well as discomfort.
HVAC filters should be replaced regularly to ensure clean and unimpeded airflow in the home—every two months standardly but more often in homes with pets and people with breathing difficulties. Such households may also want to consider duct cleaning to prevent the buildup of mold, mildew, and bacteria.
6. Extend the Lifespan of HVAC Equipment
Preventative maintenance helps extend the life of your HVAC equipment—partly because it keeps the system performing optimally, avoiding excessive strain, and also because it catches problems early before they cause damage to components.
For instance, a gas furnace that is regularly maintained can easily last 20 years or more, while a neglected furnace will likely last at least 3-5 years less.
7. Improved Energy Efficiency
A well-maintained HVAC system is more energy-efficient, requiring 15 percent less energy on average to run.
Unobstructed airflow in a clean, well-maintained system means that less energy is required to produce the heat, cooling, ventilation or humidity control needed in the home.
Clogged filters, dirty ductwork, dirty fan blowers, unlubricated parts, and other problems fixed by regular maintenance help reduce system inefficiencies—which is better for you and better for the planet.
8. Savings on Monthly Energy Bills
An obvious benefit of HVAC maintenance—if it increases the efficiency of the HVAC system—is lower monthly energy bills. Over the course of the lifetime of the HVAC equipment, this can easily amount to thousands of dollars saved.
9. Greater Temperature & Humidity Control
A well-maintained HVAC system helps you control temperatures in the home, as you’d expect—but it does a lot more besides for indoor comfort levels.
In summer, the AC or heat pump removes moisture from the air naturally, helping to reduce humidity. HVAC systems with humidifiers installed can also help raise moisture levels in the dry air of a Calgary winter, reducing the discomfort and health issues associated with excessively dry air.
10. Maintain the warranty
One of the first things you should do after purchasing new HVAC equipment is check the warranty. Many manufacturers require routine servicing to maintain warranty coverage. So, failure to maintain your AC, furnace or heat pump can lead to a high repair bill that the manufacturer won’t cover—even if the unit is still under warranty.
FAQs
Book HVAC Maintenance with Calgary’s Pros…
Just like with a car, how you look after your HVAC equipment goes a long way to determining how it will perform day in and day out. Regularly maintaining AC units, heat pumps, and furnaces saves money and energy, extending the life of the system and resulting in many home comfort benefits.
Don’t wait for something to go wrong—contact us online today to book HVAC maintenance. All HVAC professionals at Alberta Mountain Air are SAIT-certified. We’ve been helping Calgary homeowners protect their heating and cooling systems for two decades.
