Home Heating and AC Blog with Helpful Tips on Home Maintenence

Just as doctors encourage yearly physical exams, many heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) manufacturers and companies like Quick Comfort Heating & Cooling here in Chicagoland suggest periodic HVAC checkups to ensure your system is running properly. Preventive maintenance will extend the life of your unit and save you money. It also helps insure the safe operation of your system.

We offer a preventative maintenance agreement  (PMA) for a small yearly fee. With this arrangement, one of our superhero pros will come to your home to test and inspect your heating & cooling system before any minor issues turn into major problems. Among other things, the technician will check system functions and safety controls; inspect electrical components and connections; ensure proper airflow and change dirty air filters; and inspect pumps, lubricate and check flow rates, where appropriate.

Twice-A-Year Visits

Although different options are available, our technicians usually visit a home twice a year (once before the cooling season and once before the heating season) to ensure everything is working properly. 

It is important to remember that warranties are different than PMAs. A warranty will only last for a certain amount of time and, sometimes, only apply to specific parts of the unit. If a part is not working and it’s still under warranty, the manufacturer will provide a free replacement part. However, since warranties do not cover labor, you will still be responsible for the installation costs.
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Self Check & Maintenance Tips

Just like with our physical body, we need to do routine checks of our blood pressure, breathing etc. and of course maintain a healthy lifestyle.  However, even if we are doing this, we still need regular visits to the doctor. He is the real professional. 

While it is important to have a professional service technician carefully inspect your unit to uncover any hidden problems that could need immediate attention, there are some signs of problems that you can check yourself and maintenance you can easily perform.  Here are a few tips on things to check or deal with before they become a problem. 

• Look for soot around your vents.
• Is your system looking rusted on the outside?
• Are any of the electrical contacts looking frayed or corroded?
• Have you seen an unexplained spike in your energy bills.
• Is your thermostat functioning properly?
• Clear debris away from intake and exhaust vents to ensure unobstructed airflow.
• Check the thermostat wire entry point and, if necessary, apply caulk, so a draft won’t influence the thermostat reading.
• Remove several supply and return registers to see if your ducts need to be cleaned.

No one wants to deal with the results of a scam, especially when it comes to expensive scams that relate to your home's air conditioning or furnace.  Heating & cooling your home is expensive enough already, you don't want to make a mistake in choosing a great heating & cooling company.  While there are many reputable HVAC companies, unfortunately, there are some who are just out ot make a fast buck or bundle of fast bucks at your expense.  They will tell you that you need a replacement when you don't or that you have to pay an upfront fee for estimates and the list could go on.

At Quick Comfort Heating & Cooling, our team has been servicing air conditioners and furnaces, water heaters and sump pumps for many years and have a great reputation. We only hire the best with great references.  We have put together a downloadable guide to help you not only avoid HVAC scams, but choose only the best service providers to solve your heating or cooling problems.  Following are some of the tips from our Quick Comfort Heating & Cooling Guide to Choosing the Right Company.
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1. Is the company certified in your city, county, or state? The need for certification varies from state to state. 
2. Check their website for reviews, services and special offers they provide. 
3. Ask friends and neighbors for advice and recommendations. 
4. Are the professionals who will do the work for you licensed, bonded and insured in case an accident happens on your property? 
5. Will they visit your property to look at your system?  Stay away from a company who wants to give you an estimate based on a phone conversation alone. 
6. Do they only work on one or two brands of air conditioners or furnaces?  Many HVAC companies only deal with one or two brands and therefore may have limited knowledge or your system or be biased in their recommendations.