Are you needing some general guidance in what you can do to improve your home health and your family’s? DeHart has compiled 10 tips for homeowners to improve and maintain a healthy home that benefit you and your family, while also saving on your electric bill or needing to call a technician.
Whether its checking filters, adding new equipment to help with your electric bill, or cleaning things you might not have known needed to be clean, we’ll cover some basic tips to help you as a homeowner.
CHECK YOUR FILTERS OFTEN
You may not know, but checking and cleaning your filters on your air conditioning and heating can save you a trip from a technician. If your filters are clogged with dust, it will put more strain on your units and not give your home clean and healthy air.
CHECK OUTSIDE CONDENSER FOR BUILDUP ON COILS
If you start to notice some issues with your unit, checking your condenser to see if there is any buildup could be beneficial. Many people don’t know that your inside unit isn’t the only part of the system that should be regularly checked. If you notice any buildup, clean it off with condensed air, a soft brush, or heavy-duty cleaner if you have tough to remove buildup.
KEEP FURNITURE OFF OF SUPPLY AND RETURN GRILLS
Blocking the airflow of your ground and wall vents can reduce how much air is being pulled and putting more strain on your unit. Try and frame your furniture to being around the units instead of on top of them to keep the airflow 100% efficient.
KEEP GRILLS OPEN
Even if you have your air or heat turned off, keep your grills open to reduce dust buildup and clogs. Even switching to just having the fan on will help circulate air in your home and keep your vents dust free.
IF LIGHTS DIM WHEN YOUR UNIT STARTS, YOU MIGHT NEED A START CAPACITOR TO HELP LOWER STARTUP AMPS
If you notice your lights dim when your unit kicks on, this could be remedied by using a start capacitor. They act as rechargeable batteries to supply your AC unit with an electrical energy to jumpstart without putting pressure on your electricity.
CHECK YOUR TEMPERATURE IN BETWEEN FILTER CHANGES
One of the best tips for homeowners could be have a thermometer and checking the temperature differences between supply grill and return every time you change the filter.
For cooling, gas heat, and heat pump, the temperatures are listed below:
- Cooling should see a 17-20 degree difference
- Gas Heat should see a 30-75 degree difference, depending on your equipment
- Heat pump (in heat mode) should see a 23-30 degree difference
Check your specifications on your unit to see specific ranges if you are unsure.
MONITOR YOUR ELECTRIC BILL WHEN HAVING A HEAT PUMP
If you as a homeowner have a heat pump unit in your house, monitor your electric bill for any changes. If you notice a higher than normal usage, your electric elements might be heating your house and not your heat pump. Malfunctioning heat pumps could increase your electric bill and you wouldn’t even know. If this is happening, call DeHart so we can send out a technician to remedy this.
ADD LOW AND HIGH PRESSURE SWITCHES
If you notice your system does not have low and high pressure switches, adding them can prevent major damage to your system components. High-pressure controls can sense compressor discharge pressure and can stop the compressor if it notices extremely high pressures, saving your unit and your home.
MAKE SURE YOUR SYSTEM HAS AN AUXILIARY CONDENSATE SHUTOFF SWITCH
Making sure your system has this switch helps prevent the pan from overflowing if the AC drain happens to stop working. The switch will activate is the water level reaches over a certain point, keeping your unit from flooding. To drain this water out, a shop vacuum is great to suck up the water so you can turn your unit back on.