Heating and cooling are necessities for an office building and for the modern home. Keeping a constant temperature or indoor environment is a comfort and convenience. Although Florida has a sub-tropical climate, there are buildings that have complete HVAC facilities and equipment. HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems make use of the same air ducts even if one or more sub-system is absent. The only difference in for the state is that heating systems are seldom installed and even more rarely used.
Studies have shown that over 40% of all breakdowns in air conditioning systems is due to a lack of maintenance. If you want to save money on your air conditioning and HVAC systems costs, regular maintenance is a requisite. Besides regular checkups by professional HVAC contractor in Miami, FL, the following are some other things you need to know about maintenance.
* You can save up to 50 percent of costs with preventive maintenance of your equipment. If you have a regular maintenance cycle, parts which need to be replaced can be identified before they do any damage.
* Changing the air filters does not require a technician. The air filters are easily replaced and you only need to follow the instructions on the user’s manual. You need to change the filters anywhere from 60 to 90 days, depending on the dirt and soot. This can result in up to 5 to 15 percent energy savings.
* Read the user’s manual regarding other maintenance checks that you can do by yourself. These include clearing the drain and cleaning the external radiators.
* To save energy, set the thermostat as high as comfort allows.
* If you hear any unnecessary or unexpected noise from the AC during its operation, you should check that there are no twigs impeding the radiator fan. Otherwise, if the noise persists, you should call air conditioning contractors in Miami to take a look at the problem.
HVAC maintenance is necessary to proper operation. Dirt accumulates on HVAC equipment and can impede operations. In addition, dirt can also cause your inefficient operation of the equipment and result in higher energy costs.
Remember that HVAC equipment is much like any other mechanical equipment. Cars need a regular oil change, tires need their pressure checked, and this is also the case for air conditioning. HVAC equipment has many moving parts. Ventilation systems depend on fans and vents to keep the air flowing. AC equipment has fans for the radiators to cool these down. AC also has a pump to force coolant through cooling coils. The smooth operation of all these parts can be easily impeded by a twig, a bird’s nest or any other large accumulation of dirt and debris.
Consider maintenance costs as part of the cost of ownership. Or you can consider them as part of the operational cost like the energy HVAC systems use. The important part is that maintenance is not something that you leave off the table. Keeping a good maintenance schedule helps to make sure that the system runs properly.
