People often refer to the environmental system of the home as an HVAC system, but it’s not one single unit, so much as a cooperative effort between different, separate systems. Much like a car isn’t just an engine or wheels, your Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning system is many components all working in concert.
This can mean that HVAC systems can experience malfunctions or breakdowns in more than one place, requiring more than one solution. In some instances, you may need to repair your furnace, but in others, you might need to replace your air conditioning system. How do you know when it’s time to repair something or replace it?
Your Furnace
The most common type of HVAC system has a gas burning furnace at its heart. This is the unit that heats air and keeps a building warm during the winter. But even in the summer, it’s not inert. The same fan that pumps warm air throughout the home still works in the same capacity during the summer, with chilled air from the AC. So in one sense, a furnace is at work all year round.
Because of this, furnaces are built to last. Taking care of your furnace can often mean relying on it for 20-30 years, perhaps even more! But there can be occasional breakdowns. If you find your furnace turning on more frequently, or making new noises you haven’t heard before, get an HVAC expert to take a look, you definitely need a repair. But if your furnace is spewing out dust/dirt, or it’s heating the building unevenly, it may be time to replace the furnace, not fix it. The repairs will only get more frequent from now own.
Your Air Conditioner
Your air conditioner really comes into its own during the summer, and it can even protect you and keep you healthy when heat waves arrive that can increase medical risks substantially. That’s why it’s important to make sure this unit is working when you really need it.
In some cases, if something goes wrong, all it takes is an HVAC expert to repair it, such as when you get a leak in the coolant. If the rest of the unit is fine, it makes more sense to simply fix this problem. In other cases, however, especially with older models, things will start to break down regularly. If you find yourself getting more and more repairs, especially if it’s the same problem repeating, or you see your electric bills go up even though you’re not using the HVAC more than normal, replace your air conditioner.
Your Thermostat
A thermostat is unique in that it almost always makes more sense to replace the thermostat than repair it. This is especially true if you’ve got an old-fashioned, mechanical, 20th-century thermostat that doesn’t even use digital technology. Newer thermostats give you more control and precision than old ones. And usually, even if a new thermostat breaks, it’s cheaper to simply buy a replacement!
There are a lot of different HVAC components that all have to work together to ensure your comfort in Laurel, MD. When something goes wrong, always have an expert take a look you might only need a repair, but it may also be time to get a replacement.
