10 ways to extend the life of your HVAC system. And I think some of these might surprise you, let's dive into it. Number one: I Think that this one is probably more important than any of them. although I think some of these are very important.

but this one thing can change the life of a heating and air system right from the get-go And that is the installation. The birth of that system. If you will, On day one, when it's installed, making sure that it's installed correctly, make sure it's installed by a good company. Sometimes that's out of your control, but it is very important.

It's also something to note because if you ever have someone in the future. so let's say you bought the home, system was already there and you have a pro that comes in and says Hey Listen, you know I see some issues with the way it was installed. Here's a list of things that I would probably take care of. To get more life out of that system might be something to note.

It is something that I see dramatically affect the life of a heating and air system, the problems that it has and so on. I Think it would probably be safe to say that the majority of issues that systems have are due to the way they were installed or even if it's not necessarily directly connected to that. A lot of folks will think that it's a problem with the brand or the manufacturer not realizing that it's the installation the person that installed it that caused a lot of the headaches that they're having. So just something to note.

Number one is the installation number two maintenance to that system And this is probably you would think common sense, but there are so many folks that don't realize the effect that they're having on the life of their system, but also the efficiency of their system, how it's affecting their utility bills. Because of how they're maintaining that system, poorly maintained systems just simply or won't last as long. they're not cleaned up, they're not made new again on a regular basis, and because of that, the system itself has to work harder. And in addition to the maintenance I would say replacing the air filters, which is something in the control of most homeowners.

So many folks will say yeah, I know it's important, but it's just not something that's high on my priority list. I I Don't change it like I should and they don't understand that they are affecting their pocketbook at the end of the day because the life of that system could be dramatically reduced just simply because they're not replacing the air filter as often as they should. Number Three plays right into that same thinking of the system not having to work so hard or putting more age on the system if you will. and that is one of the biggest energy wasters in your home is leaky duct work.

And I believe one of the best ways to seal that duct work is a company called Aeros Seal who sponsored this video. Big thank you to Aeros Seal. What's cool about their product is they don't just seal the duct work. A technician will come in your home, test the duct work, then install the product from the inside out.

It can get to all of the duct work including the duct work running in the walls and things that aren't necessarily seen and then they'll test afterward and make sure that it does the job. Sealing those duck will extend the life of that heating and air system. Because it's not having to work so hard to heat and cool the home, you're not having all this loss through the duct. I'll put a link to Aeros Seal in the description of this video.

Check them out and now let's move to number four: Upgrading your home. Now you might say, upgrading my home. Why would that have anything to do with my heating and air system? If we're still using that thought process of the age of that system and the how hard it has to work and just trying to reduce that stress? If if you will, on your system, upgrading your home may play a big role in that. Doing things like upgrading the envelope of your home, how well it keeps the hot or cold temperatures out, upgrading the insulation in your home, Having someone simply take a thermal camera and go around the house and see if there's any Hot or Cold spots.

Just keep in mind when you start upgrading your home, that could affect the actual heat load that your home has and you could affect whether or not that heating and air system is Siz Correctly, For that space, that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just something you need to be aware of. If you go upgrading your home, you might have to look at things like humidity you might have to add humidifier or dehumidifier because of what you've now upgraded in your home, and you also might want to add ventilation. So that way the air you're breathing is cleaner. It's one of the things I see often in our area where folks will have a house that's already built.

They'll then encapsulate the crawl space, not understanding that they're affecting the ventilation, the fresh air that's brought into their home. It's not a bad thing that they're upgrading their home, it's just that now they could end up having headaches and all the other things that you get when you're breathing. Voc's I've heard some horror stories. just keep that in mind.

You might need to add ventilation or humidity control. Number five. Think about running a schedule on that thermostat, especially if you're not there for extended amounts of time. if you're not there when you go to work and the house is empty.

one of the things we hear guys talk about in our trade is whether it makes makes more sense to run a schedule or to just kind of set it and forget it type attitude. And they'll talk about utility bills all day long. They'll say, well, it makes more sense to do it this way versus that way. if you do run a schedule, you may not necessarily be saving what you think you're saving and so on.

But one thing that can't be argued is you are putting less mileage on that system. You're putting less stress on that system. You're adding more life to that system if you will because it's not having to work as much. Adding a schedule into that thermostat and having that system not run as much may extend the life of your heating and air system.

Number Six I See this rule broken all the time Your heating and air system I Would think of it almost as lungs that it needs to breathe. It needs to have good air flow. I See folks all the time that they'll do things that affect the airf flow. They'll close certain vents, they'll say.

well. I Don't use this room as much. so I'll close this vent. They'll do things like not replace their air filters as often as they should and they'll do other things like not have their Ducks cleaned as often as they should.

All these things can affect the breathing ability of that heating and air system. Anything that will affect that system to be able to pull air in or push air out, you're putting more strain on that system, adding mileage to that system in some cases, and you could have breakdowns simply because of an air flow issue. Number seven: When you are having repairs done to your heating and air system, I would challenge you to maybe make long-term decisions. I would say if you have a technician that comes to you and says hey, you've got this issue, this is the remedy for it.

but we've got a couple options here. I would say go with the long-term options I've heard people make short-term decisions and later regret it. One example I can think of off the top of my head is if that system is low on refrigerant, We don't see it as much now because refrigerant has gotten so expensive. But instead of doing what we used to call a charge and go, we used to see that a whole lot more.

When refrigerant wasn't so expensive, having that system just charged up, have the refrigerant added or doing that, but then adding a products such as leak seal and just making a quick short-term decision to. Save A Buck Later on could develop into a large issue instead of having a 20year fix mentality. what's my 20-year fix? What should I do to find that leak and get it repaired for a permanent fix for a long time to come? Obviously 20 years is really ambitious, but I think if you go into it with that mentality when you're making those decisions, that it might play a big role. And another thing I'll throw in there is when folks do have failures of electrical components such as a control board or even a motor.

I would say not just having that part replaced, but maybe look at again something for a long-term decision. Maybe some surge protection or phase monitoring, something that will extend the life of that system. Protect it and so on. Number eight I See this one done all the time as well, and that is procrastination on the homeowner's part.

If you know something ain't right, if you hear a noise, or you see that system doing something that it doesn't normally do, maybe it's icing up, maybe it's struggling to keep up like it's never done before. little things like that. I Have heard homeowners tell me it's been doing this thing for the last couple months and now here I am it's a breakdown and I have seen instances where if the homeowner would have resolved that from the Geto It's sort of like when you hear folks talk about their health, they'll say I'm starting to have chest pains but I just let it go for two months and then all of a sudden they have a stroke or they have heart attack or whatever point is if you procrastinate things, it could grow into something way bigger that if you were to have gotten in front of it and take care of it when it was first starting to show some signs of irregularity, then maybe you would have saved yourself some money from a large repair. But you would also maybe extend the life of that heating and air system.

I see procrastination all the time. That then leads to Major failure or breakdown of that heating and air system number nine. This one's a little different and that is I would get a second opinion. There's times when a lot of professionals will come in and I say professionals lightly.

Someone in our trade comes in your home and tries to sell you a new system. They'll say hey, you've reached the end of life for this system and it's now time to replace. I would challenge you to get a second opinion on that. Even if you love your heating and air guy, he may not even be doing it out of malice.

he may just think that it is time to replace and you might get a second opinion on that. They may save you the money of replacing that system, but also give you some options on extending that life. Someone that is good and not insecure in this trade at what they do, a good technician is going to be okay with you getting a second opinion anyway. I mean I don't know everything I think I'm pretty good at this, but I don't know everything two heads are better than one and they may think of something I didn't.

Ultimately, if you have someone that has said hey, something's wrong here, it's now time to replace the system you're at the end of your life might not hurt to get a second opinion. Some companies will give you a second opinion for free. And finally, number 10. This is a big one.

It's something that I think if more folks would do, they might extend the life of their heating and air system and be surprised. and that is I See people all the time that don't treat their heating and air system well. and I the the analogy I use I always tell them treat that system especially that outdoor unit like you would your car okay and if you thought of it that way, if you start thinking of it that way, you might do things differently. You might not let that dog pee on your system, which by the way, if you don't know, is horrible for a system.

the acidity and urine. we've seen it actually put holes through coils before, so don't let your dog pee on it. If it was your car, you wouldn't let him do that. Other things like letting the water from the gutters drip on that system and on a cold winter day and it starts freezing over and you've got this block of ice on your heating and air system in a lot of cases.

I've seen how folks take care of their cars. You wouldn't let that happen to your car. In fact, if you did, it'd probably be so iced over you wouldn't even be able to open the door. Treat that System system like you would your car.

I'll see this brand spanking new, beautiful car in the driveway. It looks immaculate, but then they'll let certain things in their home Go including their heating and air. I've seen that beautiful car, but walk around the corner and see the dirtiest heating and air system you've ever seen. So treat that HVAC system like you would your car.

You might be surprised on the life you get out of that system. so that's my 10 did I miss one I'd love to hear about that down in the comments. If you like this video I Think you'll like this one even more. It's where I Talk about the top five products you should stop buying in.

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