Preparing for Winter: Think Maintenance Before Replacement

As Colorado just got hit by an intense cold snap, we’ve been jolted into thinking about preparing for winter sooner than many of us anticipated. To avoid costly repair bills to your HVAC system or having to replace your system entirely during this winter season, now is a critical time to focus on maintenance. 

Here are a few DIY maintenance tips to both prepare your system for winter and ensure that it’s working properly. 

1. Inspect Your Home for Drafty Spots

While this isn’t directly related to the functionality of your heating system, it still impacts the effectiveness of your home heating. If doors and windows let in drafts, your furnace will have to work much harder to heat the home. If you can locate drafty areas as soon as possible, you can seal them up and prevent your system from having to work double-time to keep you from being affected by the leaky cold spots. 

2. Check Out the Vents & Replace Air Filters

When is the last time you changed your HVAC air filter? When is the last time you looked into your vents? Are they dirty? If so, you’re at risk of spreading dust or mold in your home. It’s wise to replace your air filters every month or two, particularly at the start of a new season. Be sure to also clean dirty vents in the midst of these other HVAC maintenance tasks. Iif you’re looking for additional air cleaning solutions, check out the benefits of using an air cleaner. 

3. Check the Registers

If you have too many registers closed, you can create an imbalance of air pressure in the HVAC system which can lead to more issues. Avoid this issue along with needlessly wasting heat produced by your system by opening the registers in the parts of your home you want to heat. 

4. Reprogram the Thermostat

Especially with such an extreme shift in the climate in Colorado, it’s important to reprogram your thermostat now. It’s wise to lower the temperature during times when no one is home in order to save on energy and money. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, here’s why you should be using one. 

5. Have a Professional Inspect Your System

Now is a good time to schedule an inspection of your system by an HVAC professional. Having a tech come into your home from Day & Night Mechanical can help you prevent the need to replace your system entirely by finding issues to repair before they get any worse. 

Winter is Coming

Don’t get caught out in the cold with an HVAC system that isn’t working during a cold snap and a long winter. Take these preventative maintenance steps to ensure your system will make it through the season without needing to be replaced. Looking for more furnace prep tips? Check this out. 

If you’ve completed all of these maintenance tips but are still experiencing issues with your system, contact Day & Night Mechanical today: 303-936-2696