Disclosure: This post was in partnership with FilterEasy, however all opinions and references to potentially having to run around in your undies because your A/C unit went out are 100% mine. Affiliate links included in this post.
**Don’t miss out on the free air filters! Be sure to see #2!
If you read my post about reducing your electric bill, then you know we are trying our best to keep our ancient, ok not really, but it looks like they are ancient, HVAC units going strong. We know they need replacing, but we are trying to get new windows installed before we have to switch out the units.
So that means we are treating them like special little newborn babies.
We are getting them check-ups, giving lots of positive reinforcement, and immunizations as needed.
Well, HVAC unit versions of immunizations and check-ups. No, I’m not quite sure how I came up with a connection between immunizations and HVAC units, but I’ll just go with it.
These are eight things we have done, are doing or planning to do in the near future to extend the life of our HVAC units. It’s not pretty and it’s no fun spending money on non-pretty stuff, but it’s well worth it.
8 Ways to Extend the Life of Your HVAC Unit
1. Give your units an annual tune-up.
Once a year, call a heating and air professional to have them come out and give your unit a once-over. They will hook it up to their fancy little reader, which of course has a more technical term that I’m not familiar with, which will give a reading of how well the unit is performing and if anything needs to be fixed or replaced on it. They can also check on the level of coolant and add more if needed at this time. At our old house, when we had this done, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that our unit wasn’t as old as I thought it was.
2. Change your air filters.
Every time we’ve had the pros out to look at our units for a tune-up or fix, they always say the number one way to prolong the life of your units is to change those air filters regularly.
Grunt Labor and I have always failed tremendously at this.
I mean, yes, you see those air returns most everyday which should be a reminder, but really they just become part of the landscape and the next thing you know, six months have went by and as you are trying to drift off to sleep one night, it hits you that you can’t remember the last time you replaced those filters and soon you’re in a full-on panic attack that your units are going to die right then and there.
Oh, that’s just me? C’mon, you know you’ve done it too before.
That is changing at the LaFevor household though.
We signed up with FilterEasy to get air filters shipped to us every three months.
You just select your filter sizes, what grade of filter you want and like clockwork, they appear on your doorstep according to the delivery schedule you set.
We have four different returns in our house and of course, they are all different sizes. Before FilterEasy, we had to go around to every return, make note of the size and then go buy the filters. It is so much easier now not having to keep up with all that. As soon as the box arrives, we switch out the filters.
In terms of filter grades, we went with the middle of road there – the micro allergen. Grunt and I both have allergy issues, but they aren’t horrendous, so we thought a filter in the middle would be the best way to go. You can also get lite allergen or super allergen filters.
**The folks at FilterEasy are actually offering all of y’all a free trial at FilterEasy. Just click this link and you can get set up! Shipping is free with this offer as well! I hope you love it as much as we do! It’s so nice to have at least one little piece of life simplified.**
3. Clean those air ducts.
This is something we are planning to do soon. If you’ve never had your air ducts cleaned before and you live in an older home, I would highly suggest having them looked at to see if they need a cleaning. If you’ve also done a recent renovation, you’re most definitely likely to need a good duct cleaning. I held my head in shame as the HVAC guys were inspecting our ducts. Needless to say, a seven month renovation doesn’t exactly play nice with your ductwork.
4. Be realistic when it comes to temperatures.
So if it’s 100 degrees outside, setting your unit at 65 degrees isn’t really the best idea unless your home is super insulated and you have an amazing unit. Realistically, your home probably won’t ever get to 65 when it’s that hot and your unit will just be running non-stop. Getting a programmable thermostat is a good way to keep temperatures steady.
5. Don’t block your floor registers.
Trust me, I know that sometimes those floor registers can be in the exact spot where you wanted to sit that console table. #beenthere And while it’s tempting, putting that piece of furniture over that register isn’t a great idea. Of course, it’s going to keep the air from circulating correctly in the room and therefore not heating or cooling like it should, but forcing that air back into the ducts could also create mold issues in the ductwork.
6. Keep the area around your outdoor unit clean.
Don’t let weeds grow around your unit or any other shrubbery. Keep anything else away from it that would block the unit and keep it from working incorrectly.
7. Use blinds.
I said this about reducing your energy costs, but it also goes for extending the life of your HVAC unit – use blinds in your windows! Blinds were a total game changer in blocking out the sun in some areas of our home and keeping it from being a sauna. We bought these blinds for most of our rooms and couldn’t be happier with them. The more heat and cold that you keep out, the less your unit has to work.
8. Give your unit a break when you can.
On those spring and fall days when the temperature outside is perfect and there isn’t a drop of rain in sight, open those windows and give your unit a rest!
And last but not least,
Pray.
Pray that those bad boys don’t go out on the hottest summer day and you’re left having to walk around in your undies because it is that hot in your house and you’re just praying no neighbors stop by or look in your windows too long.
I mean, that’s never happened to me or anything though.
Don’t forget to grab your free trial of FilterEasy by clicking here!
Disclosure: This post was in partnership with FilterEasy, however all opinions and references to potentially having to run around in your undies because your A/C unit went out are 100% mine.
*Affiliate links may be contained in this post. That just means if you click on one of those links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, but you won’t pay a dime more.
Jenna at Wife in Progress says
Jenna this was so helpful! Our new-to-us house (that we’ve been in for over a year) has central air (only cold we still have baseboard heating) that we use all summer long. We have NO clue how to take care of the unit and we’ve never cleaned the air ducts or changed the filters. YIKES…better get on that lol
Jenna says
I’m so glad it was helpful, Jenna! Yep, definitely put changing the filters and cleaning the ducts at the top of your list!
Pam S says
Excellent advice. I’m sending good vibes to your units!
Jenna says
Thanks, Pam! We’ll take all the good vibes we can get!
linda Smith says
This was so helpful and such great tips!!!
Jenna says
Awesome to hear, Linda!
Lori Leeper says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing at DIDI:)
Jenna says
Thanks, Lori!
Vanessa says
Great advice and I love this product. Thank you for sharing at Dishing it and Digging it link party.
Jenna says
Awesome, Vanessa!
Rachel Hinderliter says
Thanks for the tips! It’s not something I’ve thought much about, but it makes such a difference!
Jenna says
It does make a difference! Glad they were helpful!
Ashley@Simply Designing says
Great tips, Jenna! I need to do a few of these 🙂
xo Ashley
Jenna says
Glad they were helpful!
Amy Anderson says
I can’t wait to check this out – our filter is a weird size. We can NEVER find it in stores!
Jenna says
I know right?! We have one of those weird ones too!
Kimm at Reinvented says
Thanks for the great tips. I totally agree…furnace filters are so easy to forget about.
Thanks for sharing at Funtastic Friday!
Jenna says
You’re welcome, Kimm! Glad it was helpful!