A home's heating and cooling system is one of the most important in terms of maintaining comfort. Yet, it does much more. It helps to ensure that there's the proper amount of humidity present. It can also control the quality of the air you breathe on a regular basis. For all of those reasons, it’s always important to consider the overall condition of your HVAC system. 

How to Maintain Your HVAC System

To ensure proper function and keep it running longer, it's critical to maintain your existing HVAC system. When it works well, it does its job to keep air controlled and comfortable while also working to reduce your energy bills.

There are a number of things to consider when it comes to maintaining your existing system. Here are some things to remember:

• Keep the air filter clean. This is by far one of the most important steps for maintaining indoor air quality as well as ensuring the best function of your system. It should be cleaned, at the minimum, every 3 months, though doing so every month while in use is better.
• Have it serviced annually. The next important step is to ensure your HVAC system has a routine service call at least once a year. This allows a professional to inspect all working components to ensure they are in good repair. It also helps minimize the risk that you'll need an emergency repair later. 
• Pay attention to its function. If you notice changes in the way the HVAC system is operating, such as new sounds, higher energy bills, or different scents, that's an important time to consider having a professional come out to make repairs. Don't put off problems when they are smaller, as they are often easier to fix.

Maintaining your system is important. However, even when well maintained according to the manufacturer's recommendations, there's still more work to be done to get the most out of the system.

How and When to Upgrade Your HVAC System

One of the first steps to keeping your home's largest system operating at its best is to consider a few upgrades. You may not think you need them, especially if your current HVAC system is doing well and is newer. Yet, there are a few upgrades that can make a sizable difference in the function of the home as well as in the overall air quality.

Invest in an HRV system

One of the steps you may want to take is to invest in an HRV system. This system can be ideal for any home and most powerful for older homes with leaks present. It works to create a home that's thermally efficient. More so, it works to help provide important ventilation to the home.

Most people don't realize that indoor air quality is very poor, much worse than outside. Years ago, when poorly built homes had numerous holes and areas where air could get in and out, it allowed the home to "breathe," ensuring clean outdoor air was added in. That doesn't happen today now that homes tend to be very air tight. Yet, moisture and pollutants remain in the home, and without a way to breathe, that can lead to problems with growth. 

If there are people in your home experiencing signs like these, it may be critical to upgrade to an HRV system, which can significantly help to improve air quality:

• Allergies
• Chronic illness
• Headaches
• Low energy
• Sinus problems
• Restless sleep

An HVR system can work to better monitor the overall health of your home’s air. That’s good news for anyone that wants to ensure their environment is not causing illness.

Check the Ductwork

The ductwork connects the heating system and air conditioner to each of the vents in the home – pushing that conditioned air throughout the space. Yet, the ductwork very rarely is inspected. It can have holes which can cause a number of problems for minimizing energy loss. Other times, it can have a lot of dust and debris within it, which can lead to problems with allergies. Making a few upgrades to the ductwork, including simply having an inspection of it and considering in-duct air purifiers, may be possible to minimize these complications. That means air circulation improves significantly, too.

Update to a Programmable, Smart Thermostat

Another valuable update to make is to a smart thermostat. This type of thermostat provides you with better control over the heating and cooling throughout your home. It also allows you to have better insight into when people are present. For example, if no one is home all day, do you really need the home at a perfect temperature? Could adjusting that temperature reduces some of the energy your home uses?

Consider the Upgrade to Zoned HVAC

To further improve the quality of air in your home as well as the overall comfort present, take into consideration the benefit of HVAC zones. Zones allow you to set different temperatures and conditions from one area to the next. In a large home, you may not need to have the temperature present in the basement as you do in the bedrooms. More so, you use your home in different ways in one part of the day to the next. With a zoned system, you have more control over what's happening in each area. You can adjust the bedroom to be a bit cooler, for example, than the living room.

Take a Closer Look at Your HVAC System

If you have not done so in some time, now is the best time to upgrade your HVAC system or have a professional come to provide some insight into your options for making sure you're getting the best function out of it. With every breath you take, you want to be sure that you are taking in air that’s good for you and less likely to cause any type of health problems. Take a closer look at how these upgrades can improve your air quality. 

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