Home Improvement Guide: Tips from an HVAC expert

With summer now in full swing, heating and cooling expert Chris Koehner, owner at Halo Heating & Cooling, shares tips on how to keep heating and cooling units running at peak performance.

1. Get a tune-up twice a year

“There are a lot of moving parts on these units. Before the summertime, we will do a cooling tune-up, but also in the fall we do a heating tune-up, and that heating tune-up is not just for efficiency,” Koehner said. “There are components in these furnaces that need to be checked to make sure they’re clean, to make sure they’re operating properly and to make sure everything’s safe too. So, the cooling tune-up is primarily for efficiency, but the heating is for efficiency and safety.”

2. Find a comfort number

To help keep HVAC units working efficiently, especially in winter and summer, while preventing energy waste, Koehner recommends picking a “comfort number” and staying as close to that temperature as possible, rather than setting a dramatically different level to change the temperature quicker.

“As a general rule, find your comfort number and stay within two degrees, one way or the other,” he said. “You don’t want the unit to strain in these super-hot days because it’s designed to maintain.”

3. Change filters

Homeowners should change air filters regularly to help keep dust and other debris out of HVAC units or ducts.

“A filter change is one of the easiest things that homeowners can do to make sure the unit is working at 100% capacity and efficiency,” Koehner said.

4. Check carbon monoxide detectors

Koehner said while many homeowners likely already have a carbon monoxide detector, they may not know where to place them or when to check them.

Detectors, which measure levels of harmful carbon monoxide that can be deadly, should be placed near a vent, if possible. Homeowners should also check expiration dates on their units.

“One thing that people don’t realize is carbon monoxide detectors have a little sensor in there, and after a certain period of time, it goes bad,” he said. “For the sensors in these carbon monoxide detectors, you’ll look on the back of a carbon monoxide detector and you’ll see an expiration date on there. Most people don’t know that; they’ll think it’s only a few years old and they find out it’s like eight years old.”

5. Keep air conditioning on when out of town

•Koehner said because air conditioning units also regulate the amount of humidity in a home, homeowners should leave air conditioning on when leaving on a vacation to avoid letting too much moisture in the house. Units can be set a few degrees above normal to help keep costs down.

Halo Heating & Cooling

615-551-9894

www.haloheatingandcooling.com

Serves: Franklin, Brentwood, Nashville