5 EASY CHECKS TO ELIMINATE EXPENSE AND EMBARASSMENT
Let’s face it—heater and air conditioner repair calls are always unwelcome—especially since our furnace or air conditioning tends to fail on the hottest or coldest day along with everyone else’s, so repairmen are scarce. In addition, it can be downright embarrassing–not only for you, but for us too when we hand you our bill–if the “fix” is ridiculously simple. So, to avoid this unpleasant outcome, let me recommend several easy questions to answer BEFORE you contact us….
- Is my air filter plugged?
Dirty air filters are probably the most common source of unnecessary calls, causing air within your furnace or air conditioning to reach unsafe extremes in temperature and dramatically reducing the airflow to where it is needed. Most sizes of air filters are inexpensive and readily available at hardware stores. Call us if you need help finding out the correct size. - Is my furnace turned on?
Double check the wall plug or switch that serves your furnace. In addition, if cover panels on the furnace are not installed properly, it may be that the door safety switch is not engaged—but be careful to turn off main power to the furnace if you are going to remove or reinstall the panels. Then, of course, remember to turn things back on when you are done. - Have I shut down too many registers in unused rooms?
Residential units in particular are not designed to have major restrictions to their airflow, so be careful not to close down too many registers. - What about my thermostat?
Almost all digital thermostats are battery operated and require new batteries about once a year. Schedule them to be changed regularly. If you can’t find them—give us a call for hints. Also be sure the switches on your thermostat are set properly: “heat” or “cool”, and not “off”—fan switch generally in the “auto” position. Do you have the proper temperature setpoint? - Is anything blocking my condenser outside?
It is easy to accumulate things around or on top of a condenser during the winter. It is critical that there is nothing blocking the airflow—including weeds growing up around the unit’s coil.
