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Most people think more about their furnace than their AC during the winter, but shortly after winter is actually the best time to handle all of your AC maintenance and repairs. As a matter of fact, most air conditioning service experts recommend having your AC serviced during the offseason so you don’t have to worry about your AC being out of commission when you need it most. If you want to make sure the AC in your home is ready for the upcoming summer, here’s what you should be doing in the near future.

Seasonal Maintenance

The most important thing you can do if you want to keep your heating and cooling systems in good shape is have seasonal maintenance done. Most homeowners don’t take the time to clean up their furnace or AC or replace any important parts, so all that needs to be taken care of when you have a technician come to your home.

Seasonal maintenance involves cleaning the area around your AC, making sure you have a fresh air filter, inspecting belts, bearings and other parts for problems and more. Having an air conditioning service expert check on your AC and clean it up a bit helps prevent wear and tear and stop would-be problems in their tracks.

As far as when you should schedule an AC service, it’s best to have seasonal maintenance done twice a year. You should have somebody take a look at your HVAC system during the spring and fall, since these are the least busy seasons when it comes to heating and cooling. Plus, this gives you a chance to make sure your heating and cooling systems are ready for the seasons when you’re going to need them most.

Changing the Air Filter

When you hire an air conditioning service expert to handle seasonal maintenance, they’re going to change your air filter for you. What most homeowners don’t know, though, is that your air filter needs to be changed more than once every six months in most cases.

How often you need to change your air filter depends on the conditions inside your home. For example, you can get away with changing your air filter once every six months if you live alone with no pets. However, people with pets or a family should change their air filter at least once every three months. If you have pets and a large family, you should change your air filter every month or so.

Changing your air filter is a big deal when it comes to improving air quality, but that’s not the only thing it does. Homeowners make air conditioning service calls every day because their AC isn’t blowing out any cold air, which is one of the telltale signs of a dirty air filter. Plus, a dirty air filter makes your AC work harder which leads to excess wear and tear and premature problems.

Setting Up Fans

The less stress you put on your AC, the longer it’s going to last. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for an AC to negate the hot summer temperatures in Garland, TX, so it’s important to give them a little bit of help. Fans are a great way to spread the cool air from your AC around your home.

If you’ve got a couple extra fans lying around, take the time to set them up to distribute air throughout your home. You don’t have to place fans directly in front of registers; simply having a fan or two in a room will help spread the cool air around quite a bit.

Switch Your Ceiling Fan

One of the most important things you can do when you’re making the switch from your furnace to your AC is take the time to switch the direction of your ceiling fan. Ceiling fans have two different settings: one for creating a cool breeze in your home and one for drawing warm air upward and distributing it throughout the room. During the summer, you want to create a cool breeze in your home.

The good news about switching the direction of your ceiling fan is that it’s incredibly easy. There’s a small switch somewhere on your ceiling fan that will change the direction in which it spins. If you can’t find this switch, an air conditioning service expert can find it and make sure it’s set right. The fan should be set to counterclockwise during summer and clockwise during winter.

Insulation

If you’ve tried everything and you can’t seem to get your home cool enough, it could be that your home has a lack of insulation that’s causing the problem. Whether you’ve got bad insulation in your walls or your home is equipped with old single-pane windows, air conditioning service won’t help keep your home cool if it’s not insulated.

The best thing to do if you suspect your home is poorly insulated is have an air conditioning service company take a look at your home. If you have old doors, single-pane windows and other features that are known to cause insulation problems, we can help you figure out the next steps to take so you can keep your home a little bit cooler this summer.

Get Some Help

If you want to keep your home cool this summer, you need to schedule air conditioning service before summer arrives. Having somebody check on your refrigerant, replace your air filter and clean your AC unit up a bit goes a long way toward improving performance and extending the lifespan of your AC.

The good news is, getting the best air conditioning service in Garland, TX, is easy thanks to K&S Heating & Air. With years of experience, there’s no HVAC problem we can’t help you solve. If you need help getting your AC ready for the summer, give K&S Heating & Air a call at (972) 942-8078 today.