Another ‘frigid’ Southern California winter is upon us, but it is not too early to think about summer, and air conditioning. I hope that your furnace has served you well through the heating season, but get ready, because summer is just around the corner.
We all take our cooling systems for granted, until they stop working. Regularly scheduled maintenance on your cooling system will certainly prevent costly breakdowns and emergency service calls, on the first hot summer afternoon.
Changing the air filter is something that most homeowners can do to help their equipment and ducts from becoming plugged with dust and dirt. However, there are many other components to be cleaned and checked. This should be done on a yearly basis, whether you sign up for a yearly maintenance agreement, or just have your equipment serviced at random times.
A trained and certified HVAC technician, from a licensed heating and cooling contractor, will be able to clean, check and adjust your system, so that it will operate at its best. They may also be able to notify you of impending problems before a costly breakdown occurs, on that day that your system is needed the most.
If your heating and cooling system is more than fifteen years old, now would be a good time to start gathering information regarding replacement. Spending hard-earned money to repair an old, inefficient, system may not be the best choice. New equipment will be more efficient, come with guarantees, and should work for many years without problems.
Jim Berry is currently a Sales Consultant with Kahn Air Conditioning Co., Inc. and previously was an HVAC service technician. Kahn offers free, monthly community workshops where homeowners can learn about their heating and cooling systems.
