If you are a home or business owner, then odds are you’ve heard of or considered installing a heat pump. Since it’s crucial to keep your family safe and comfortable in the cold months, you probably stayed up all night last night reading dozens of reviews on Google searching for the best heating unit for your business or home. Well, now that you finally chose a great heat pump, how do you maintain this new heater?
In the following article, we discuss why many people put off proper heat pump maintenance and what homeowners should know about maintaining their heat pumps each year – including steps to take before hiring a professional contractor to get work done on your more complex systems.
Why People Avoid Heat Pump Maintenance
One common reason people don’t bother with heat pump maintenance is that they assume it’s a complicated process. Another reason may be a lack of knowledge on how important it is to maintain heat pumps and the benefits of hiring a professional contractor. While there are some more complex systems that homeowners should hire professionals for, most residential units only need the attention of an expert every one or two years.
Plus, if you do your research online before calling a contractor, you can ensure they have the proper licensing and insurance – essential when trying to protect yourself from any potential problems down the road!
What Happens When You Don’t Maintain Your Heat Pump?
Now that we’ve covered why people avoid getting their heat maintained, let’s discuss what happens when you neglect this crucial maintenance for your heating unit (no matter what type of system you own).
The first thing to consider is energy efficiency. Your heat pump’s interior fan and compressor break down over time due to all the dusty air particles that fly through it – leaving your home less efficient and making it more expensive to run.
If you ignore these problems and continue using (and paying for) your broken and inefficient system, then the next issue you will face is a shortened lifespan. Due to not replacing or cleaning filters, coils, and other parts, your warranty on the whole unit could also be voided if you don’t take care of it properly!
What You Should Know About Heat Pump Maintenance
To avoid having any issues with your brand new heat pump (or keep your old one running like a champ), it’s important to know what you should do to maintain the unit each year.
To start, always use fresh air filters to prevent dirt particles from building up and blocking everything in your system – which can lead to issues with efficiency and prematurely break down the entire appliance. Of course, dirty evaporator coils are no good either, so be sure to schedule a professional coil cleaning every twelve months.
Finally, if your heat pump has a drain pan underneath it, this will eventually fill up with water, so be sure that you have someone regularly check and empty it around once a month or so!
Most Common Maintenance for Residential Heat Pumps
Now that we’ve covered what you should do to maintain your heat pump each year let’s go over the steps in-depth.
To start off, make sure your heating system has a fresh air filter – this is one of the easiest ways to improve efficiency and lengthen the lifespan of your unit. It can keep dust particles from blocking or damaging anything in your system and will reduce noise when the compressor kicks on (which could mean it needs more refrigerant).
The next step for most residential units is checking and cleaning evaporator coils. Just like every other part in your heat pump, over time, they’ll get dusty, which can lead to breakdowns or decreased cooling/heating power. Luckily, these are some of the easiest parts of your system to maintain – just have someone remove the grills on both sides of the unit and wipe down the coils!
Finally, checking on a drain pan is an important task for most heat pumps. If it fills up with too much water, then the whole unit could break down – forcing you to pay for costly repairs. To solve this problem, simply find your drainage system plugged into an outlet near the unit (most are hardwired in). Make sure it isn’t filled with debris but instead has a little bit of water coming out every few days.
When a heating technician comes to your home, you can expect:
– Inspect the air filter, evaporator coil(s), drain pan, shutoff valves, and thermostat.
– Cleaning/replacement of filters
– Schedule a furnace tune-up
– Pressure test to check for refrigerant leaks (if your system uses this type of filler)
– If necessary, replace or upgrade any major components like compressors and condensers!
Questions to Ask Your HVAC Technician
Before a heating technician comes to your house, make sure you know the answers to the following questions:
– How often should I change my air filter?
– Does my unit use refrigerant, and if so, how often do they need to be replaced?
– When does my evaporator coil or drain pan typically need maintenance?
– What can I do to keep my heat pump running smoothly as long as possible?
If you’re not sure of how much work is recommended for your system each year, then simply ask! They’ll be able to give you an idea of what future problems may occur and what type of repairs will cost.
Why Always Hire a Professional Contractor?
While many residential heating systems are easy enough for homeowners to handle by themselves, there are some more complex models that aren’t recommended for do-it-yourselfers.
If your heat pump has a leak on any part of the system, hiring a professional is vital to make sure it’s fixed right away, and no refrigerant leaks out of the unit – which could be dangerous or harmful to the environment!
Finally, once you’ve completed all your yearly maintenance on your heating system, don’t forget about signing up with a local contractor to ensure that they always have your new information on file in case anything happens down the road!
This will help get work done faster and allow them to contact you immediately if there’s an emergency with your heat pump. They’ll even remind you when it’s time for another checkup, so you never fall behind on caring for your unit!