Avoid These Central Heating and Cooling System Mistakes at All Costs

It’s the dead of winter and you’ve revisited the thermostat 5 different times now to raise the temperature but the house is still freezing! Or, on the other side, it’s summer.

The sun is beating down and the outdoor temperature is nearing the triple digits. No matter what you do, you can’t cool the house down. Well, instead of cursing out the thermostat and resigning to unbearable heat or chill, let’s find the root of the problem

This is a guide to central heating and cooling system problems and how to avoid them.

Most Common Central Heating and Cooling System Mistakes

Don’t make these costly mistakes in your home.

Improper Insulation

Insulation is what seals hot or cool air in your house and keeps the outside climate from sneaking in. Without proper insulation, heating or cooling your house will require a lot more energy. For an energy-efficient home that will maintain the proper temperatures, you want to make sure the right areas of your home are properly insulated.

Air can flow through poorly insulated floor joist spaces, floors of crawl spaces or basements, attics, and through tears in ducts. Before calling up your contractor, make sure that all windows and doors are completely shut. If there is airflow under your door or window, this can be easily fixed by placing a towel or small blanket to block the airflow.

Identifying where air may be flowing and disrupting the temperature of your home can greatly improve your situation.

No Proper Maintenance

If you do not have maintenance done to your central cool and heating systems (or you do not maintain it yourself) you are asking for trouble. As with any other household appliance, HVAC systems need routine maintenance to run at peak efficiency.

This may include, but is not limited to:

Evaluating your thermostat, sensors, ducts, wiring, insulation, or other elements of your HVAC system
Routine cleaning or replacement of HVAC unit filter, condenser, evaporator, and coils
Tests for air quality and carbon monoxide

Schedule annual servicing to keep your HVAC system running well.

Problems With The Thermostat

The source of your problems may not be the actual heating and cooling system itself, but your thermostat. Things such as improper placement can have an impact on your home’s heating and cooling. Your thermostat should be on an interior wall, not in direct sunlight, in front of a window, or blocked by furniture.

All of this may disrupt the functioning of the thermostat and mess with the heating and cooling of your home. Many have made the move to programmable thermostats for reasons of energy efficiency and easier temperature regulation. Programmable thermostats allow you more control of the temperature of a room: you can set overrides, schedules, and some even pair with smartphones so you can operate it away from home.

Chill Out

Chill out, relax, you don’t need to worry about fixing all of these problems on your own. We here at Sewell Electric & HVAC offer comprehensive central heating and cooling system repair and maintenance services for home and commercial properties.