Just like your vehicle needs an oil change, your HVAC equipment needs to be maintained. Otherwise, it won’t perform efficiently, it will be more likely to need major repairs, and you may even need to replace it early. Regular HVAC maintenance is key to avoid the need to call your HVAC technician for emergency service and other issues. Often, poorly maintained equipment will stop working on the hottest or coldest days of the year when they become overwhelmed.
Plus, that’s when everyone else’s major breakdowns are most likely to occur too. To avoid waiting to get your home back to a safe and comfortable temperature, it is essential to complete maintenance for every piece of HVAC equipment you have.
However, each has a different maintenance schedule and different maintenance needs. How do you keep it all straight and make sure you’re maintaining your equipment just as well as you’d maintain your vehicle? Here’s a complete HVAC maintenance checklist that will tell you exactly what you need to know.
What HVAC Equipment Needs Maintenance?
While all of your HVAC equipment needs maintenance, some need it more often than others. Here is what you should expect from your various equipment. Find what you own in the checklist below to learn about what it needs.
Furnace Maintenance
In our climate, a furnace is one of the most critical components of your HVAC system. It keeps your home warm all winter and may need to work very hard in the coldest months to do so. A furnace can cost you a lot if it stops running efficiently. And clogged filters can significantly lower the efficiency of your furnace, driving up your utility costs and leading to early replacement. While you can change the filters yourself, other aspects of furnace maintenance, like checking out the heating elements, are best left to the professionals.
At Advantage Airtech ClimateCare, we offer a 26-point furnace maintenance plan. We suggest that you get your furnace maintained once per year at a minimum, preferably in the fall before you turn it on.
Geothermal Heating and Cooling
If you’ve made the wise decision to invest in geothermal heating, the good news is that it needs less maintenance than other kinds of heating systems. The actual pipes that run below the ground should run perfectly well without maintenance for many years. They should only need attention if you have a problem. The pump or fan system in the unit somewhere in your home or just outside does need to be maintained. The filter needs to be cleaned or replaced, dust needs to be cleaned off, and other maintenance items may be important depending on what kind of system you have.
Interested in ensuring you have home comfort all year round? At Advantage Airtech ClimateCare, we are here to help! To learn more about our HVAC maintenance plans, give our team a call today!
Fireplace Maintenance
Fireplaces are an elegant and beautiful feature of any home. All need maintenance, but if you are using your fireplace to heat your home or heat part of it then the maintenance is even more critical. Fireplaces develop soot and creosote that need to be removed in order for the fireplace to operate safely. If you have a gas fireplace, it’s also nice to get the logs cleaned so that it keeps looking nice.
We offer 22-point fireplace maintenance plans where we inspect every element of the fireplace including the vents, blowers, thermopiles and more. We suggest you get your fireplace maintained once per year, even if you don’t use it every day.
Boilers
Boilers are essential components in many heating systems. They may also supply your hot water, so keeping them maintained is essential to providing the modern amenities we all take for granted in our homes. Boilers have cleaning elements and may need to be flushed to prevent hard water build-up and other issues. We offer a 26-point boiler maintenance program and we suggest that you get it done once per year.
HRV/ERV Repairs and Maintenance
You rely on HRVs and ERVs to save you money while keeping your indoor air quality high. If they stop working, your air will slowly become less clean, or you may notice a rise in utility bills. Either way, getting professional maintenance is key to avoiding this issue.
We offer a 13-point HRV/ERV maintenance plan. Not only can we clean out the filters on these units, but we can also verify they have proper airflow, are lubricated, clean, and working to top efficiency. If you’ve invested in an HRV or ERV, air quality is an issue for you, so don’t let it get worse just due to poor maintenance. We suggest you get your ventilation systems inspected once per year, potentially before your allergy season or whenever poor air quality bothers you most.
Air Conditioner Maintenance
In the summer, nothing is quite as critical for your home’s safety and comfort as keeping the air conditioner maintained. Unfortunately, some people, such as elders and infants, can become quite ill if their air conditioning breaks down suddenly over the summer. This can quickly turn into an emergency situation. However, regular maintenance of the system will help you avoid these dangerous breakdowns. Our technicians can even alert you if they think your air conditioner is almost ready to be replaced. We offer 22-point air conditioner maintenance plans that you need once per year.
Humidifiers
Humidity levels can really affect your breathing, skin issues, and overall comfort in your home. We offer a 9-point humidifier maintenance program that will help ensure your home stays at the exact right humidity for you.
Other Equipment
Other HVAC equipment that needs yearly maintenance includes:
- Ductless air conditioners
- Radiant heating
- Hydronic heating
- Heat pumps
How Often Do You Need HVAC Maintenance?
Typically, each piece of HVAC equipment needs maintenance once per year, ideally before its season begins. That means your furnace needs maintenance in the fall and your air conditioner needs maintenance in spring. Your HVAC technician can maintain multiple pieces of equipment during the appointment, so you typically end up with only two maintenance appointments per year. When you think about how often you need to maintain your pool or lawn, your HVAC equipment is actually not too much of a hassle, and we do our best to keep your appointments simple and stress-free, so you don’t have to worry about them.
How do you stay on top of when your equipment needs maintenance? Most people write it into their calendars or set reminders on their phones to schedule their maintenance plans. Smart thermostats can also alert you if your HVAC equipment is late for its maintenance.
HVAC Maintenance Plans
One of the most convenient and cost-effective ways to get proper and regular HVAC maintenance is to sign up for an HVAC company’s maintenance plan. Instead of paying for each maintenance bill after the appointment, you’ll pay a monthly fee that covers everything. Instead of worrying about when and what maintenance you need, the HVAC company will keep records for you and let you know what maintenance schedule your equipment needs. These programs often come with additional benefits, like discounts on other services and priority scheduling.
At Advantage AirTech, we offer maintenance plans for these equipment:
- Furnaces
- Air conditioners
- Heat pumps
- Boilers
- Fireplaces
While we do not offer WeCare maintenance for these units, we do offer other plans:
- Water Heaters
- HRVs & ERVs
- Humidifiers
First, you should learn about our WeCare program. If you want to enroll your current furnace, air conditioner, or other HVAC equipment in this program we charge a one-time initial precision tune-up fee of $59.99. It takes a bit of effort to get an unmaintained piece of equipment back up to scruff. After that, we offer our WeCare Maintenance Program for only $9.99 per month. The WeCare program continues for the duration of the warranty period on your equipment. If you want coverage past that, you would sign up for the WeCare Protection Program.
The WeCare Maintenance program includes free precision tune-ups every year, along with many other benefits such as priority emergency service if you have an issue with your equipment. We reduce our diagnostic fee to $75, even if you call on evenings or weekends. You’ll also receive a 20% discount on repairs if you need them, and 5% on replacement equipment if worse comes to worst.
Upgrading to the WeCare Protection Program provides substantially more benefits. We will provide free precision tune-ups from fully qualified and license professional technicians even after the warranty period on your equipment is up. You’ll also get completely free parts and labour up to $850, with only two parts excluded, heat exchangers and condensers. We also will not charge you any diagnostic fee. We’ll give you priority emergency service over customers who are not in the WeCare Protection Program, too.
From either of these programs, you will receive consistent care and better-performing HVAC equipment. You won’t have to worry about its maintenance and will be much less likely to need major repairs or to replace your equipment early.
Are you curious about maintenance plans for your HVAC systems? Contact our team at Advantage Airtech ClimateCare today to learn more.
