Taking on Unpredictable Texas Weather With Smart HVAC Practices
As the seasons begin to change in Houston, the one thing you can be sure of over the next several months is constantly changing weather. To ensure your home stays comfortable at all times in any weather condition, it’s vital to make sure your HVAC system is always ready to go. Rather than reacting to changing weather conditions and risking a system failure, it’s best to care for your system every day and ensure that all of its settings are up to date. Instead of guessing what you should do to make all this happen, the pros at Custom Comfort Air offer these suggestions for smooth system operation during changing weather conditions.
Optimize Your Thermostat
If you want to save energy and protect your HVAC system throughout the year, it’s important to optimize your thermostat. Since you might need the air conditioner during the day and the furnace at night, try using a thermostat that can automatically engage either system so you aren’t left feeling too hot or too cold. Programmable and smart thermostats tend to be the best choices for homeowners looking to get the most out of their HVAC systems. That’s because these thermostats let you select specific temperatures for different times throughout the day, ensuring that your system only operates when it needs to. This will reduce wear and tear on your machine and save you money on your energy bill.
Schedule a Maintenance Visit
Scheduling a maintenance visit is another great way to make sure your HVAC system is always ready to take on ever-changing weather conditions. When Custom Comfort Air comes to your home for a maintenance visit, we will check the important components on your air conditioner and furnace to ensure they will both operate as expected. The most important part of any maintenance visit is looking over the shared components of these systems, such as the blower fan, to make sure they are operating correctly and don’t have any unusual wear and tear. Twice-a-year maintenance visits can go a long way to help you achieve your goal of constant indoor comfort.
Check Your Air Filter
A dirty air filter will prevent your system from operating efficiently when the weather changes and becomes uncomfortable. Plus, a clogged air filter can reduce airflow to the system and cause it to malfunction, meaning you’ll have to endure some extended discomfort while you wait for a visit from Custom Comfort Air. Fortunately, changing your air filter is easy. All you have to do is pull it out of the filter enclosure and examine it to see if it is full of dust and debris. If it is, you can replace the filter with a filter of the same size. Performing this check once every 30 days will help prevent a lot of heartache and discomfort during changing weather conditions in Texas.
Scan Outdoor Unit for Debris
The transition from summer to fall brings with it a lot of extra debris falling from trees. Since you’ll still need to run your air conditioner occasionally during the fall months, you’ll want to make sure that your HVAC system’s outdoor unit isn’t covered with fallen leaves, sticks, or other debris. If the vents become clogged, it could prevent the system from properly expelling hot air, which will lead to inefficient system performance. You can use a broom, air compressor, or hose to clean the outdoor unit, making sure to be careful around the somewhat-fragile fins arranged around the exterior of the unit. At Custom Comfort Air, we are equipped to remove any debris that may have accumulated on your outdoor unit.
Make Use of Fans
Since temperature extremes in either direction are always a possibility in Texas, it’s important to rest your HVAC system whenever possible. Reducing your system usage will lower your utility bills and prevent unnecessary wear and tear. If it’s not quite warm enough for the air conditioner but not quite cool enough to depend solely on outside air, you can make use of ceiling fans to help circulate the air in your home. Ceiling fans use substantially less energy than HVAC systems and help remove stale air from your home. A word of advice when using ceiling fans: only run them when you’re present in the room, as they don’t actually reduce the temperature of the air.
Take Care of Your Ducts
With your HVAC system working hard to condition the air in your home, you want to be sure that the delivery system is as efficient as possible. That’s why Custom Comfort Air recommends inspecting your home’s ducts every few years to ensure they are clean and undamaged. Dirty ducts can restrict airflow, making it harder for your system to deliver air where it’s needed. Plus, mold and mildew can grow in the dust, leading to serious health problems for you and your family. Ducts with holes in them allow air to leak into unconditioned spaces in your home and waste a lot of energy in the process. Having clean and properly sealed ducts is an important way to protect your health and your home year-round.
Consider a Backup Generator
Among the many risks of Texas’s changing weather are sudden severe storms, which can bring down trees and power lines and leave your home without power. On an exceptionally hot or cold day, your home could quickly become unlivable without the aid of your HVAC system. Fortunately, there’s a way to maintain constant comfort in your home even when you lose power. With a whole-home backup generator, you can get power back instantly any time the power grid fails. Many generators offer backup power for up to three days, meaning you won’t miss out on anything during extended outages.
Invest in a Dehumidifier
One problem with constantly shifting weather is that you can have cool temperatures and high humidity at the same time. Since your thermostat can only sense the temperature, you may find yourself uncomfortable in your home even when the system is holding at the correct temperature. Days like these call for a dehumidifier, which will remove excess moisture from the air around you and make it feel less sticky on your skin. What’s more, dehumidifiers can run in your home non-stop, even when the temperature is too cold to justify using an air conditioner. You can either use a portable dehumidifier or have Custom Comfort Air install a whole-home dehumidifier alongside your HVAC system.
Call Us for Assistance
At Custom Comfort Air, we take great pride in helping our customers maintain their home’s comfort no matter what the weather brings. That’s why we offer maintenance, repair, and replacement services for air conditioners and furnaces. We also offer precision tune-ups, air purification, and smart thermostat installation. For over 50 years, Houston homeowners have trusted us to provide great service and competitive prices. Our consistent quality of service is one reason why we are rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and continue to receive five-star customer reviews. To learn more about keeping your home comfortable during every season, contact our pros at Custom Comfort Air today.