For comfortable
living all year round, your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning)
needs to be running efficiently through the seasons. While HVAC is inarguably
one of the dearest investments in home infrastructure, homeowners don’t always
give it the attention it deserves.
Keeping your HVAC
functioning properly does not require much effort, provided you take the pains
to ensure regular maintenance and service of the system. An HVAC breakdown is
not only a matter of discomfort, it can expose your family to health risks that
may potentially cost much more money and inconvenience than having the system
serviced and repaired.
Why Regular Service?
Who would want to live in a home with a broken heating system that’s
causing pipes to freeze and the plumbing system to come crashing? And how would
your family get through the day living in a house with a broken cooling system? Even HVAC breakdowns that are
only a few hours long can cause tremendous discomfort to your family,
especially during the peak of summer and winter seasons. Getting regular
inspections becomes all the more important if you have young children and/or
elderly members in the family.
Further, unserviced
systems shoot up utility bills by consuming more energy, which means you end up
paying more every month anyway in energy costs.
Instances of fires
and accidents caused by faulty, worn-out wiring, undetected fuel leakage, CO
leakage and so forth are not unheard of; however, many such incidents can be
avoided by scheduling maintenance at the turn of season each year.
How Often?
Experts say that
biannual (twice a year) service is sufficient to keep your HVAC in top
condition. Ideally you should get one service at the onset of spring and one
during fall. Also, the timing of the service and the expertise of the
technicians play a key role in the long-term health of your heating and cooling
systems. So always hire only certified professionals for the job.
Getting an annual HVAC maintenance contract from a reputed vendor can
help you save both time and money. However, before you pay up, check what all
is included in the maintenance contract. Ask if there are any special in-built
offers on parts replacement and repair. Read up the company’s website to know
more about their experience and range of services.
Prevent Or Cure?
Perhaps the
greatest disadvantage of not getting your heating and cooling systems serviced
regularly is that you end up spending way more on HVAC repair and replacing parts that could
have been saved with timely maintenance.
Remember that the
adage “Prevention is better than cure” applies not only to our own health, but
also to the health of the things we own, including our expensive home
equipment. For optimum performance of your heating and cooling units, get them
inspected and cleaned at least once a year by a trained and experienced
professional.
There is no better
time than now to stop neglecting your HVAC unit, and as you cannot care for it
the way a specialist can, entrust its repair and maintenance to technicians who
have the expertise and technical know-how to ensure your HVAC has a long,
efficient, trouble-free innings for years to come.
