Winter getaways to visit family or simply going on vacation is a staple for many Birmingham, AL area homeowners. Before leaving, you’ll run through many steps to keep your home safe while you’re away – is your heating and air system on the list?
Your heating and air equipment, when set properly, will help keep your home safe even when its unoccupied. Douglas Cooling & Heating tells you how to use your systems to protect your home so you can enjoy your winter vacation care-free.
Heating and Air Care for Winter Vacation
Before you leave for winter vacation, follow our heating and air system to-do list to ensure the safety of your home and HVAC equipment while you’re gone.
Schedule preventative maintenance for your heating and air equipment
Even after you’ve started using your heating system for the year, it’s not too late for preventative maintenance!
A preventative maintenance tune-up will work to ensure the system is operating properly, while you’re home and while you’re away. This protects against unexpected breakdowns when no one is home to discover them.
Schedule heating and air repair
If your heating system struggles to keep up with demand, makes unusual noises, or experiences other performance issues, call Douglas Cooling & Heating. Have our NATE-certified heating and air technicians take care of these problems before you leave town.
This helps prevent the issue from snowballing while you’re gone, leading to a costlier repair and extensive damage.
Check and change your furnace filter before you go
Before you leave town, inspect your air filter to see if it’s ready for a change. Change the filter if caked in gray dirt and debris.
Why change your air filter before vacation? If your furnace or heat pump operates with a dirty air filter, it could overheat.
When this problem goes undetected while you’re gone, the issue persists and could cause serious damage to your heating and air system.
Set your thermostat to about 50 degrees while you’re away
Do not completely shut off your heating and air system while you’re gone in the winter! If you have a programmable or smart thermostat, use the hold or vacation feature. This temporarily interrupts programmed or learned schedules over the course of your vacation.
This temperature set point prevents frozen pipes while you are gone. It also keeps any animals staying home comfortable and safe.
Setting your thermostat back to about 50 degrees decreases your energy bills for the period and prevents heating your home while it’s unoccupied.
According to the Department of Energy, turning back your thermostat seven to 10 degrees for periods of 8 hours a day from their normal settings can generate an energy savings of up to 10 percent each year.
When you return, be sure to increase the temperature gradually. Flipping the thermostat from 50 to 72 is not good for your equipment.
At Home or Away, Douglas Cooling & Heating is Your HVAC Contractor
Using your heating and air system properly while you’re away will keep your home safe from damaging low temperatures. If your heating or cooling system requires repair or replacement this winter, contact Douglas Cooling & Heating right away!
Our NATE-certified technicians perform reliable installation and repairs to keep your home comfortable throughout the winter months.
