When we refer to “home performance,” we’re talking about how your home performs overall when it comes to efficiency. Yes, your HVAC systems contribute to energy efficiency–in fact, your HVAC systems can make up half of your home’s entire energy use–and we’re going to talk about that a bit today, but home efficiency and performance rely on a couple of other factors too, like your windows and doors, and what indoor air quality solutions you have in place.
For the purpose of today’s post, we’re going to talk about air conditioning maintenance. Maintaining your HVAC systems is actually key to improving efficiency, and therefore your home performance, meaning that you’ll pay less for your energy usage from month to month. Read on as we talk a bit more about this as well as the numerous other benefits of timely air conditioner maintenance from a professional!
Maintaining Energy Efficiency in Your Home
During air conditioning maintenance, our professionals comprehensively clean, inspect, and adjust the components that need it. We look for signs of wear and tear, and make recommendations for further services that will keep your air conditioning in good shape.
All of this helps the system work as efficiently as possible. Efficiency refers to the output of a system compared to the energy it draws from in order to produce.
For every year professional maintenance is skipped, your air conditioner can actually lose 5% of its original efficiency rating, or its SEER–Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. But with maintenance, your air conditioning can instead retain up to 95% of that original rating.
This is perhaps the biggest benefit of having timely maintenance done–keeping your system working efficiently so it costs you less to operate from month to month.
Other benefits of routine (annual) professional air conditioning maintenance include:
Reduced Repair Needs: Maintenance allows our technicians to thoroughly inspect your system and catch small wear-and-tear issues before they even have the chance to turn into big repair needs.
For instance, one of the most common things we find during maintenance is worn-down motor bearings for the fan and blower motors. If they wear down too much, then friction is created, and the motor can overheat, causing the whole system to shut down.
This is just one example of a repair need you can avoid–there are plenty of others! When you invest in routine maintenance, you’re likely to avoid up to 85% of the repairs your system may ever otherwise need in its lifetime.
Extended Lifespan: Speaking of that lifetime, the average, well-maintained air conditioner should have a useful service life of 10-15 years. When we talk about “useful service life” we’re talking about how long it’s able to work efficiently, with few repair needs.
Your air conditioner may still run in old age, but that doesn’t mean it’s operating to the best of its ability. It could also start having frequent, costly repair needs by this time.
Lastly, routine air conditioning maintenance from a qualified professional will help keep your warranty valid!
To schedule your next professional AC maintenance appointment, contact Sunset Air today!
