I own an HVAC company and have built up an impressive clientele over the twenty years that I’ve been in the heating and cooling business.
There is a definite cycle to this field, and naturally each stage is weather-related.
As such, I have offered Saturday morning maintenance classes at my business as a service to the community, and they are always very well attended. This month I am offering the Three Essential Spring Furnace Tips class, and the seats usually fill up in no time. The goals for this class are two-fold: 1) making sure that the furnace is in good shape for the next fall/winter season, and 2) preparing the system for the upcoming air conditioning months. Smart homeowners realize that, like any other motorized system, the more something is used, the faster it will wear out. I compare their HVAC system to a car, they both need constant tune-ups. And the two critical points in the annual cycle for the tune-up occur just before the heating season and just before the cooling season. For the air conditioner, a good power washing of the outdoor condensing unit removes all the dirt and particles that have blown in during the fall and winter months. It’s also a good time to replace the furnace filter, which should be done every three to four months for the best efficiency. And I tell the class that, since the heating and cooling system should be inspected by an HVAC professional once a year, now is the time to do it if it wasn’t done in the fall. I always end my classes with the well-known adage: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.