With the summer heat already baking the countryside, you’re probably using your heat pump on a fairly regular basis to keep cool. All that added demand over the next few months is going to increase the amount of wear and tear on your heat pump significantly. If you want to keep the system healthy, and lower the chances of it developing problems by a pretty significant amount, there is one major step you can take to prepare for summer: preventive maintenance. Just scheduling maintenance consistently every year can cut your repair costs significantly, and extend the effective lifespan of the system.
Why Maintenance is so Important
While a lot of people like to wait to call for repairs until they notice signs of a problem, that’s really not a good idea if you want to keep your system in good shape. Most of the issues that can affect your heat pump are not going to announce themselves with obvious symptoms, at least not until they’ve been allowed to develop for a while. That means that by the time you notice that your heat pump is having issues, they may be threatening the health of the system. You need to catch problems early if you want to keep your system as healthy as possible, which means you need to have them repaired before they even start showing symptoms. Preventive maintenance is the single best way to do that.
A preventive maintenance appointment involves close examination of the various parts of your system, allowing your technician to find and fix any issues before they have the chance to threaten the system. A heat pump that receives regular maintenance can operate up to 40% more efficiently than a system that doesn’t receive it, and is up to 95% less likely to develop problems in the future.
Bi-Annual Maintenance
Most climate control systems are recommended to receive maintenance once a year. This is not the case for heat pumps, though. The reason that heaters and air conditioners only need annual maintenance is because they only have one time of year when they’re under an increased amount of stress. Heat pumps are used all year-round, though, which means they have two seasons where they are under increased stress. Heat pumps accumulate more wear and tear than other climate control systems, which means that they need maintenance twice as often to cope.
You should be scheduling preventive maintenance during spring and fall, so that your system can be in top condition for the summer and winter. Even if you miss those maintenance windows, though, it’s a good idea to call for maintenance whenever you can, rather than wait for the next season. Better to schedule maintenance late than never.
Douglas Cooling & Heating offers a full range of heat pump maintenance services throughout Birmingham, AL. If you need to schedule maintenance to prepare your heat pump for the summer, we’re here for you. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our technicians. We’ll make sure that your home stays cool and comfortable this summer.
