Have you ever woken up to find that your house feels like an ice box, or returned home from work only to find that your living room is like a sauna? If so, you know the importance of knowing where to turn during HVAC emergencies. The article below is intended to provide useful advice to homeowners everywhere who may find themselves in similar straits.


Make sure you check the filters in your air conditioning unit. This is important because checking your filters could make the difference between inexpensive repairs and more expensive ones down the line. Try to put it into your monthly schedule so that you don't forget to check the filters regularly.

If your HVAC system is acting up, take a tour of the house prior to calling a professional. Make a list of the rooms which are comfortable and which just aren't. If you do this, it will be a great help to the future contractor, who will now be able to quickly locate the problem issue.

Avoid showering your outdoor unit with grass clippings when you mow the lawn. Direct the clippings away from the equipment. This also applies to blowing leaves or moving debris. Just be careful with that exterior HVAC unit.

When choosing the area for placing an outdoor compressor device, place it in a shady area. If you have a unit taking in air that's cooler, it won't have to work so hard to cool air that it sends to your home.

Keep energy costs from rising by having your system serviced annually. During a maintenance visit, professionals can help by inspecting the system's motor, oil the different moving parts as well as check the system's freon levels. Small problems can occur in any of these areas and lead to serious issues if ignored for too long.

When you have an outdoor unit, be sure to keep all plants, flowers, shrubs and trees at least two feet from it. Anything that grows inside it, either above the ground or even roots beneath the soil, can block it up and cause it to break. Give it some breathing room.

In order to avoid having any problems with your air conditioning unit, keep all vegetation at least two feet away from the outdoor unit. The unit should be clear of any vegetation on all sides and above. When you mow the lawn, aim the grass clippings away from the a/c unit. This will prevent grass getting inside the a/c and making it malfunction.

Manage the heat flow into your home with window coverings to help out your HVAC system. In the warmer months, use drapes, curtains and blinds to block out sunward facing windows to keep heat from building up through the greenhouse effect. Alternatively, make sure that sunlit windows are letting light and warmth in during the colder months.

If you have a window air conditioner without a timer, use a regular outlet timer to control when it is on or off. These are the same ones you use for holiday lights, so all you have to do is plug your air conditioner into the timer and set it to cool you during the day.

The energy efficiency of a unit should be taken into consideration when purchasing a new heating and cooling system. Although you should be concerned about the price of a unit, the efficiency of the unit will save you thousands over the lifetime of the heating and cooling system and should weigh heavily on your buying decision.

Do you want to make sure your HVAC unit works for you like it should? It is important to have your unit maintained on a regular basis. Any reputable technician will know exactly what you mean if you call them and ask for a maintenance service on your system.

You can usually have free duct testing performed if you are concerned about your HVAC system not running properly. Your utility company will usually test the unit for free or for a small fee. Once you fix the leaks, the savings will be more than worth the hassle.

There is a lot to think about when you install an air conditioner unit. For example, a big unit won't remove humidity while a small read more unit won't cool enough. Placing it in the wrong place can make it less efficient, and not insulating your home adequately could render it almost useless.

When looking for an HVAC company, find one that is available when you need them. Reliable companies can be reached easily at any time. This includes both day and night. A prospective company should also values your resources and time. They should be able to schedule service calls at your earliest convenience.

It's easy to see that HVAC isn't hard to get into if you just take your time with it. In the end, you won't have too much trouble if you put what you've learned here to good use. Don't take our word for it and give it a try yourself before you do anything else!