When to Winterize Your HVAC System

Even though cool temperatures don’t arrive until November and are gone by April, winterizing your HVAC system is an important step in assuring your comfort and keeping energy bills low.

Do-It-Yourself

Before you turn on the furnace, check the air filter for the HVAC system. Starting the heating season with a clean filter improves indoor air quality and lowers your heating costs. A dirty filter reduces the amount of air flowing through the air handler, making the system run longer to reach the thermostat’s settings. Excessive dust will also coat the parts inside the air handler and it can settle inside the ductwork.

Clean the outdoor condenser. If you heat with a heat pump, it will operate more efficiently when you clean the condenser and the area around it. Remove any vegetation that within a three foot boundary and make sure nothing blocks any of its sides. Hose off the condensing coil gently and look for mud and grass clippings that dried on the coil. You may need to apply a coil cleaner to loosen them, found at home improvement stores.

Call in the Pros

Both gas furnaces and heat pumps should be checked annually by an HVAC technician. When they go about winterizing your HVAC system, they complete the following:

• Cleaning all the components inside the system. Dust and dirt collect inside the air handler that increase the wear on the parts. Dust also retains heat on the heating components like the heat exchanger or evaporator coil.
• Adjusting the components. All HVAC systems create vibrations that eventually loosen the parts which decreases the system’s efficiency. Tightening them increases energy efficiency and safety.
• Testing the safety devices in gas furnaces. Ensuring the gas lines are tight and the safety switches work are important parts of what an HVAC pro does when providing seasonal maintenance.
• Evaluating the thermostat for accuracy.

This two-step approach for winterizing your HVAC system will lower your heating costs, prolong your equipment’s lifetime and prevent sudden breakdowns when you most need it. To learn more, contact CCAC, Inc., providing HVAC services for Coastal Bend homeowners.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about your HVAC system, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 361-678-2495. 

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