Derek Cole explains how dust buildup in HVAC systems forces units to work harder, raising energy bills and shortening lifespan. Replace air filters every three months, watch for filter bypass, and get professional maintenance twice a year to catch failing parts like capacitors before they break.
Do not overlook dust buildup on your HVAC system. Do not overlook it. I know as homeowners we try to keep our homes, uh, clean, tidy, neat, but you're dusting inside, you're mopping inside, you're vacuuming inside, Don't overlook your HVAC system because it needs the same kind of treatment. Um, it can even affect your health because a dirty system, a dirty air conditioning unit, a dirty heating unit can reduce the indoor air quality, something we call IAQ, indoor air quality. Dust and other contaminants can accumulate and can mix with the air, leading to poor indoor air quality. Uh, you could have increased energy costs. Uh, dust and debris trapped in your system— heating and air is all about heat transfer, right? Whether removing heat or adding heat into space from outside. So if you have a heat pump, if you have a gas furnace, obviously the heat comes from you know, a fire or something like that causing, causing it to be warm. But when you look at HVAC and look at dust and dirt, those are the, you know, it's all about heat transfer. So the biggest problem is dust and dirt. Why is that? Because they act as insulators, making it harder to transfer the heat or the air conditioning into the space. So the harder the system works, the more energy it uses, the decreased lifespan you get because it's working harder than it should to get the same amount of energy into the home. Does that make sense? So that's going to increase your energy costs as well as decrease the life of the system, the life of the components, whatever's being affected by this dust and dirt buildup. Also, change your air filters regularly. Now, it's recommended— I recommend that you check them once a month. It's recommended that you replace them at least every 3 months. Now, I would check them once a month, make sure you're good to go. If you keep checking it and it's not getting dirty, every 3 months. Also, if you keep checking and it's not getting dirty, where is the air going? Is it bypassing the filter? Because air is like water, it's got— the unit is going to get there. It needs— you want to go through the filter. You don't want it to go from in the house, from outside, from in the attic. You don't want that air to come through the system. You want to come through the filter. That way it's conditioned, clean air coming through your system. Also, look at the duct system. The ductwork may need to be cleaned. Cleaning your ductwork is a thing. So if your ductwork needs to be cleaned, we can handle that, and it should be clean on a I wouldn't say a regular basis, but unless you're having an extreme problem, it's pretty rare that you need your duct cleanings like, you know, back to back years, uh, unless you're having a challenge or having a problem. Therefore, your duct system needs to be looked at. Say, where is this dirt coming from? How do we stop the dirt? How do we stop dust? How can we help the system run more efficiently? And byproduct bonus, you're breathing cleaner air. And maintain your home. Keeping your home clean can help prevent dust from entering your HVAC system. They're talking about dusting and vacuuming and cleaning up, uh, All this can help your system reduce the amount of dust that could get to it. And schedule regular maintenance. Um, it's very important. Twice a year, the system needs to be maintained, needs to be cleaned, needs to be checked. I mean, that is the hardest working appliance in your home. It works the most, it runs the most. Every bit of air that is in your house comes through the HVAC system at some point, correct? So you want it to be the best air you can breathe, and you want the dust and dirt, if there is any, to come through the filter to get trapped and then go to the system, because you don't want to get from the crawl space or the attic or outside. Um, just don't overlook it. Don't, don't take it— don't take it for granted that the system is always going to work. Um, there's, you know, some folks and other technicians, they're, they're not mad at you, they're mad at the situation. Uh, and the situation is it's a garage purchase. I mean, no one's you know, saving— well, I'll say no one, very, very few people are saving for HVAC breakdowns. You're not planning on your air conditioner unit breaking down. That is not something in the household budget that you're thinking about. So when it does happen, it's very inconvenient, it's a problem. Would need to come, make it as easy as possible. But also, you need to think about if you have not getting regular maintenance on your system. It's really the most important thing you can do is to have your system checked, maintained, clean, uh that way you can try to head off, try to prevent some of these problems. A lot of these problems we see are preventable problems. Uh, it could be a capacitor going out. Was it reading weak like 2 months ago, and then with the stress of the heat of, uh, the air conditioning season, maybe went out? So that's something that you could have prevented if you would have maintenance and checked that component ahead of time. Now, you can't catch everything, but all you can do is give yourself the best chance to not have a breakdown.
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