CHAMBLEE, Ga. — With frigid temperatures, heating and air conditioning companies are bracing for a surge of calls. The intense cold puts extra pressure on HVAC systems and can cause them to break down.
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims heard from an HVAC expert on Channel 2 Action News This Morning starting at 4:30 a.m. about how to keep things running smoothly.
The bottom line: cold weather forces the systems to work harder, leading to wear and tear.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Brian Davis, the general manager for Dayco Systems, says to keep your HVAC system humming along in cold weather, change filters regularly, at least once every 90 days.
“That’s the No. 1 thing that we find a lot of times is that homeowners just really, they don’t even know that they have a filter that needs to be changed or they don’t know where it is,” Davis told Mims.
The more gunk and debris the filter collects, the more air flow is restricted and the harder the system has to work. And that could lead to a breakdown.
“You’d be surprised how just changing the filter routinely can solve 80% of the problems,” Davis said.
With temperatures dropping below freezing, Davis expects calls about systems not heating homes properly, or blowing cold air.
“If you have electric heat, it may not be performing because once it gets below a certain temperature, electric heat is only capable of producing so much,” he said.
RELATED STORIES:
Davis also says make sure your home has good insulation, that cold air isn’t seeping through windows or other openings.
“Any infiltration from the outside in is making your system work harder because it’s not having to combat that,” he said.
There are other ways to better prepare your home for the cold. You can seal gaps around windows and doors with weatherstripping, like foam or rubber, to prevent heat from escaping.
HVAC companies suggest you have a professional do an inspection of your system once a year to identify any problems.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]