Preventative Measures For Prolonging The Life Of Your HVAC System

7 May 2016
 Categories: , Blog


Being proactive is a great way to keep your HVAC system running smoothly. By knowing a few areas to inspect and maintain, you will have a better chance at accomplishing your goal.

Drainage Clean Out

During the summer months your HVAC system creates a lot of condensation when it cools the air going into your home. Unfortunately, a clog can form, which prevents your system from working properly, because the excess moisture can harm the electrical components of your system if it does not drain away.

Luckily, you can prevent it from getting worse if you know the early signs of a clog. For example, your furnace has a pan that collects the condensation and releases it into the drainage pipe. If there is standing water in this pan, you know that there is a clog in the pipe.

Another sign to look for is if the end of the drainage line, which is outside of your home near the compressor, has no water around it when the unit is on. The lack of water means that the condensation is not leaving your furnace.

To fix this issue, an HVAC technician can clean out the drainage line with compressed air. The pressure of the air pushes the clog out of the line and prevents the excess moisture from harming your furnace.

Pipe Insulation Maintenance

Another portion of your HVAC system that can influence its performance is the coolant pipe. This pipe allows the coolant to circulate from the compressor to the furnace, which helps cool down the air flowing into your home. However, some people fail to inspect and repair the insulation that goes around the pipe.

The portion of the coolant pipe that goes from the compressor and into your home should have a piece of insulation wrapped around it. This insulation helps keep the pipe cool, especially during the hotter months of the year when the sun heats up the metal.

A problem occurs when the metal gets too hot. When this happens, the coolant inside the line cools down the metal pipe first, which means the coolant is not being used inside your home. This problem can also allow some of the coolant to evaporate out of the line and your system will not have enough of the chemical to cool down your home.

For this reason, you need to inspect and replace the insulation if you see signs of cracking or peeling. By doing so, your HVAC system will have the correct amount of coolant throughout the summer months.

Keeping your HVAC system running smoothly and effectively is easy to do with some proactive maintenance. By taking some time to look into these areas, you have the ability to keep your system running and prevent other issues from developing. Contact a service company, like Soco Air Conditioning, for more help.


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