Boost Your HVAC System’s Lifespan With Air Duct Cleaning
HVAC is a complex system, which makes your house a comfortable place to live. But unfortunately, this system, like any other, cannot work forever. But there are a few steps you can take to make your HVAC shut down much later. You will learn about what should be done to make the HVAC system serve you longer and see the signs that it’s going to break down soon.
The signs that your home and HVAC system needs to be checked and repaired
Usually, depending on the HVAC unit, climate, and quality of maintenance, the system will serve you for approximately 10-25 years. But it’s just statistics, and your HVAC may live longer, or everything may break down tomorrow.
The lifespan of your HVAC is connected to your personal preferences (or to your wallet). For example, system setup (whether you have a furnace), if you have an adequate amount of thermal insulation and your home is professionally air-sealed, what kind of temperature you like, and so on.
There will be signs when you’ll know that your HVAC system needs a replacement or maintenance session:
- unexpectedly high energy bills – if they are growing each month no matter the season it’s time to look closer at your hvac ventilation performance;
- air quality – noticed how the dust is shining in the morning sunlight? It may be beautiful: like a mini-universe in your room, so why should you be bothered? But think about all this getting into your lungs too. Sooner or later you or your household members will probably experience allergies, respiratory or even cardiovascular illnesses. It may mean that the central air system can’t do its job properly anymore. If your heater runs on oil or natural gas, it can also produce harmful chemicals (like sulfur) into the atmosphere. Your lungs and the rest of the body don’t need sulfur to breathe. In fact, by using old-way fossil-fueled heating and cooling systems, you basically become a 19th-century factory worker. You are exposed to chemicals, dust, and dirt for the biggest part of your life, the result can cause some serious illnesses, including death. We highly recommend thinking about HVAC replacement, because HVAC vent cleaning might be a partial solution. You can buy something more modern and electrical, it’s a cheaper and safer alternative;
- do you freeze in the winter and die from heat in the summer? Again, this might be an HVAC issue, combined with poor air-sealing it can make your house not the most comfortable place to live in. Think about heating duct cleaning first and see whether your house has any cracks or holes in the walls.
If you have all of these signs already, it is time to check your entire house to determine whether you have some air leaks, and the HVAC system malfunctioning.
What can you do to prolong the HVAC lifespan
We talked about the signs of a breakdown, now let’s figure out what you can do to reduce HVAC deterioration.
- HVAC system quality. This is a kind of “step 0”. The first thing you should do is make sure that you are installing a new system from a trustworthy manufacturer. Choose a company and contact an HVAC contractor to install it. Because it will be hard to install the system on your own by reading a couple of tutorials on the Internet. We don’t recommend you to do that, it’s possible for you to break something or not be able to install it right, which will lead to further waste of money.
- Regular maintenance. This is the first and one of the main points. Since HVAC is constantly working, this system is always contaminated. It attracts dirt, dust, mold, insects, and rodents. These contaminants can lead to system malfunctioning and put your health at great risk. If you spend a lot of time at home or you have any pets, you together breathe in dust and mold spores in great numbers every day. Elderly people, children, and pets are especially at risk. It is necessary to clean not only the system itself but also its working units. The easiest solution is to hire professionals. Since you most likely do not have the necessary knowledge, experience, and expensive equipment.
- Air filters. They also need to be changed regularly. It doesn’t make much sense to clean them, since it’s much easier to change them.
- Improve the insulation of your home. The less the system works, the longer it will last. If your home is not properly insulated, you will be forced to use HVAC more often to heat or cool the air in your home. That is why insulation will help you. In addition, it will save you quite a lot of money.
- Repair. We already talked about regular inspection and HVAC cleaning, but working units also sometimes need repairs. This is especially related to older systems. Regular inspection and regular repair in this case are extremely important. Also, don’t forget to think about HVAC system change, if you have an old, fossil fuel-based system. It will break down less, be beneficial for your health and also reduce your energy bills.
If you checked your HVAC and found some issues, don’t rush to fix them by yourself. You should better call the HVAC professional services. By following the steps of how you can prolong the lifespan of your HVAC system you may let it live another 5-10 or even 20 years.
