Helpful HVAC Holiday Tips for Homeowners
As the holiday season fast approaches, many of us are thinking about buying gifts and scheduling get-togethers. However, if you’re going to be having family over for this holiday season, then you’ll want to pay extra attention to your home’s HVAC system. Read on for tips that you’ll want to implement to keep everyone safe and happy.
Change Your HVAC Filter
When it comes to keeping everyone comfortable and healthy, your HVAC filter is a necessity. It works to filter out harmful airborne debris that could otherwise lead to adverse health symptoms. It’s highly recommended that you put in a replacement filter every two to three months to ensure that your family and guests are breathing in healthy air while inside your home. If you’re going to be having a lot of people over for a long period of time, you may want to consider upgrading to a better filter that is able to filter out more airborne particles.
Put New Batteries in Your Detectors and Alarms
If you have a furnace that relies on the combustion process to create heat for your home in the wintertime, it can also create harmful toxins. While these toxins should be vented outside, sometimes a defect occurs and your furnace allows these harmful toxins to seep inside. It’s important that you have working smoke alarms and battery detectors to alert you when there’s an issue. The beginning of the season is a good time to go ahead and change those old batteries for fresh ones and test each detector and alarm to make sure that they’re working properly.
Clean Your Vents
If you have a forced-air heating system, then you have a series of ducts that runs throughout the walls and floors of your home. The ducts themselves should be cleaned by a professional, but before you have guests over for the holiday season, it’s a good idea to clean out each one of these vents. Over time, it’s highly likely that they will collect dust and other debris. If it’s possible, you’ll want to pop all of your vents out of the wall and give them a good washing in the sink.
Program Your Thermostat Correctly
It is highly recommended that you invest in a programmable or smart thermostat. Both of these devices allow you to program in specific temperatures for different times of the day. This not only helps to optimize energy usage but also helps to ensure that your home has a comfortable temperature for everyone. On days when you plan on having multiple people over, you should consider turning down your thermostat a couple of degrees. This will help to ensure that everyone stays comfortable instead of becoming overheated while spending time in your home.
Get Your Ducting Cleaned
As air is sucked in and out of your ductwork, it can bring with it unwanted dust and other debris. Unfortunately, this dust can drop out of the air and become attached to the inside of your ducting. Over time, this not only decreases the quality of the air inside of your home, but it also can restrict the free flow of air throughout your ducting. Just before the holidays is a great time to have a professional come in and clean out your ducting. They have the appropriate equipment to reach all the various components of your ducting that you would be unable to.
Make Sure Vents are Clear
All the supply and return vents throughout your home need to be able to move air freely. When they become extracted with things like furniture and plants, they work less efficiently. In some cases, a complete blockage can mess with the whole system. It’s a good idea to walk around to each vent in your home and make sure that it has a good three feet of open space in every direction. Make sure that you keep your decorations away from the vents so that they can work efficiently.
Get Your Ductwork Sealed Up
Over time, the natural expansion and contraction of the metal ducting can allow it to develop unwanted air leaks. Each one of these air leaks not only allows the warm air created by your heating system to escape into the wall cavities, but it also pulls in nasty dirt and other debris that is inside of those wall cavities. One of the best things you can do to help save money on your energy bills and keep your ducting clean is to get it sealed up by a professional. They will go through all your ducting and ensure that any gaps at the joints and pinhole leaks are properly sealed.
Put Your Ceiling Fans to Work
Your ceiling fans are a great way to help boost the comfort inside your home while reducing energy costs. As warm air enters the rooms in your home through your air vents, the heat will naturally rise toward the ceiling. Using a ceiling fan in reverse can force the warm air at the top of the room outward and back down to the floor. This helps to essentially recycle the warm air at the top of your rooms back down to the floor so that you and your family can enjoy the warmth without turning up your heating system.
Get Professional Maintenance Service
As we approach the winter season, it’s time to get your heating system serviced by a licensed HVAC professional. They will work to lubricate moving parts, clean internal components, check electrical connections, and make sure that your system is working as efficiently as possible. This not only helps to ensure that your energy bill stays to a minimum, but it will ensure that your warranty will remain active on your HVAC system. Additionally, any potential problems that your system may have can be caught early on by an HVAC professional so that you can fix them before they get bigger and costlier to do so.
Seal Up Air Leaks
Air leaks are one of the worst enemies of your home’s heating system. When cold air can seep in around doors and windows, it makes your heating system have to work overtime to try to keep your home comfortable for your entire family. You should take some time to walk around your home and note any areas where you feel cold air coming in. You want to seal all of these areas off with caulking, weather stripping, or something similar to keep the cold air from coming in.
Check Your Fuel Levels
Another must-do before your guests come over for the holiday season is to check the fuel level of your heating system. If your heating system runs on heating oil or propane, you want to make sure that your storage tank is topped off. This will ensure that you won’t run out of fuel while your family’s over celebrating the joyous season.
Expert HVAC Services
Black Lion Heating & Air Conditioning offers expert HVAC services for the entire Kirkland, WA area. We can also assist with all of your water heater, duct cleaning, indoor air quality, fireplace, and electrical needs. Simply contact us today to get the expert assistance that you need.