HVAC Home Maintenance You Really Can DIY
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Last week, we shared some tips for HVAC home maintenance to keep your system running efficiently this summer. It turns out there are more than one column’s worth of tips that you can do yourself – that’s right, we are actually recommending you DIY! Twice! If you missed last week’s Upon Closer Inspection, our golden rule for HVAC home maintenance is quite simple: keep it clean.
We do, of course, recommend that you have your system serviced by the pros once a year. This is proven to both extend the life of your very expensive HVAC system and keep your energy costs down, so it’s worth it. But in between servicing, here are some things you can do yourself:
AC Maintenance Tip #4: Clean Your Compressor
A group of snails is known as an escargatorie, a rout, or a walk of snails. We might call this one an escar-ditioner, but that would be a truly terrible joke. Seriously though, you should take a look at your outdoor compressor, and give it a good cleaning before summer. This is just a really weird photo of snails on the compressor, but snails aside, you will find all kinds of debris that gets caught in the fins of the compressor and inside the machine.
Spray the fins with a hose (NOT your power washer), and remove the outer casing. If the evaporator coils look dirty, the best option is to have your AC serviced by a professional. But if you want to do it yourself, you can follow the directions here.
(I feel the need to say that if you do find snails on your compressor, you should get them off, in case they decide to walk, or rout, or whatever, their way into the fins and get stuck there. That would be bad for the snails and the AC. No snails were harmed in the performing of any inspections, or writing of any articles about inspections.)
AC Maintenance Tip #5 Seal Your Vents
First an interesting note: we’re not allowed to say the word “mold” when we’re inspecting a home. In the case of this photo, we’d have to say there appears to be a “black foreign substance” on the vent. “Mold” is not super specific, and also tends to scare people, possibly unnecessarily. So when you see something that might be mold, it’s best to have an expert test it to find out what exactly it is, and how to get rid of it.
Vents get “foreign substances” growing on them when they get wet. If you have vents that tend to form condensation and drip, it’s usually because the vent cover is getting too cold. Why? Probably because the vent isn’t properly sealed, and cold air is escaping around the sides of the vents. When the warmer, humid air in your house hits that cold vent cover, condensation forms. This is something you can fix yourself. You can use a spray foam sealant like Great Stuff, and weather stripping to seal all the supply vents in your house. Here’s a simple video that shows you how.
If your vents are already properly sealed, and you still have condensation, your house may be way too humid. This could be because your doors and windows aren’t properly sealed, and too much outside air is getting in. You can invest in a dehumidifier, and/or start working on resealing/replacing your doors and windows. You can test this by having a home energy assessment.
AC Maintenance Tip #6: Replace the AC Filter
Do we really have to keep telling you to change your filters? Your AC literally cannot breathe. Go change it right now.
The bottom line is, a clean AC is a happy AC, and this summer in North Texas, you want a happy AC. If you have questions about AC repair and have a new home, check your home warranty plan first, then call your AC repair person.
