With summer bearing down on us, the heat is probably trickling into your home whenever an outside door opens. It’s more important now than ever that you pay attention to your HVAC.
HVAC units don’t require a whole lot of maintenance, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t think about them. One thing to check for is how well the unit is running—something you definitely want to do this month, before the humidity drives us permanently indoors.
Lifespan Fulfillment
Every product has a lifespan. For appliances, it’s usually quite a few years. With HVAC units, the magic number is 15. Fifteen years after installation and most HVAC units will quit on their own or start acting up. If you know how old your unit is and the answer is above 15, you might want to start doing your HVAC research. Even if the age is under 15—say 10—you could save 20%-40% on your monthly energy bill by replacing the unit. According to Energy.gov, new HVAC units use 30%-50% less energy than models produced in the 1970s. Even models from 10 years ago aren’t as efficient as a brand-new unit.
Do you know how old your unit is? A simple way to resolve this is to find the brand, model and serial numbers located on the back of the unit outside your home. You can also check for a manufacturer date on this sticker. If there’s no date, you can call a Nashville HVAC company. This site even shows you an example of the unit sticker.
Requires Frequent Repairs
This one is probably a no-brainer—if you have to keep calling an air conditioning service in Nashville to come look at your unit, it’s obviously not functioning properly. This is possible even if your unit hasn’t reached its lifespan. If this is the case with your HVAC, you’re probably pouring money into it and wondering if it’s worth keeping.
Wait until your next repair and have your heating and air company do an evaluation of the parts that don’t need repair yet. If the prognosis isn’t good, you may want to consider replacing the unit before the humidity gets out of hand. The poorer the condition of your AC unit, the less able it is to keep up with hot air removal from your home.
Runs Inefficiently
Lastly, if your unit isn’t too old and it’s not requiring a lot of repair, it may still be about to go if it’s not running efficiently. But what’s the measure of an HVAC unit? Check three things to see the efficiency of your unit:
- High energy bills over time. If you’re not using your unit more than usual, but the bills are still too high, you’ve got a problem.
- It takes longer to cool your home. If the unit doesn’t click off after a few minutes like it usually does, it’s a sign that it can’t keep up with the heat.
- If you’re starting to feel a little sweaty in the house in spite of a thermostat set to 60 degrees, that’s not normal.
An inefficient HVAC unit is about as helpful as setting up box fans in your windows. Stop wasting money and get a contractor of heating and cooling out to see if the unit’s efficiency can be improved. And check out this website for more efficiency checks.
Is your HVAC past its prime?
Even if your HVAC unit is less than 15 years old, it can be functioning at less than its designed capacity. If that’s the case, it’s probably costing you money. So if your unit is old, you’re pouring money into it, or you’re sweating at 60 degrees, it’s time to get someone to give you some estimates. Don’t just take our word for it—this article will help you make the right decision about “putting down” your unit.
Have you ever replaced an HVAC unit? Had to go outside and look on the sticker to see how old the unit was? Had an HVAC repairman tell you that the unit was falling apart? We want to know your HVAC retirement story! Leave us a comment below and we bet you’ll start a conversation with other readers (and us!).
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