What’s an HVAC Maintenance Plan and why am I losing money if I don’t have one?
Minimize Costly Repairs & Shrink Energy Bills
“Spring forward, fall back” is an easy way to remember how to adjust to Daylight Saving Time. It’s also useful as a twice-yearly prompt to perform a critical but often overlooked household task: HVAC maintenance.
A technician visit between March and June can ensure your HVAC system will keep you cool through the dog days of summer. Another visit between September and December can keep you warm through the dead of winter.
These visits will help hold heating and cooling costs down and prevent system malfunction. In fact, systems receiving regular maintenance can be 10% to 25% more efficient than those that do not. And the older your HVAC system gets, the more important that regular maintenance becomes.
Fitch Services offers custom maintenance plans and packages designed to keep your air conditioning and heating system running at peak performance.
Leave Maintenance to the Charlottesville HVAC Experts
You may think you can tend to your HVAC system’s basic needs—but in reality, our routine maintenance To Do list is long and requires technical expertise:
- adjust all operating pressures
- test and adjust thermostat calibration
- clean and adjust blower components
- clean and adjust burner assembly (furnaces/boilers)
- clean and treat condensate drains
- clean the indoor and outdoor coils
- clean or replace standard filters
- check and inspect heat exchanger (furnaces)
- lubricate all moving parts
- measure for correct air flow/temperature differential/volts and amps
- replace thermocouple (gas equipment) or oil filter and nozzle (oil equipment)
- test start-up
- test all safety controls
- check and tighten all electrical connections
Between HVAC Maintenance Visits
Still want to do your part?
Between HVAC technician visits, get to know your heating and cooling system. That way, you’ll be more likely to notice unusual sounds and smells that could indicate wear and tear or other malfunction.
Keep an eye on your utility bills, so you’re aware when usage spikes.
These little clues can mean big savings if they alert you before a problem escalates.
If you like, replace your filters yourself in between maintenance visits if recommended. Or consider arranging extra Fitch Services maintenance visits, so this simple but critical chore gets done on schedule.
Don’t Wait for Your HVAC to Break!
If your system has seemed just fine without semi-annual maintenance, you may be on borrowed time.
Skipping HVAC maintenance tasks can do more than just reduce system efficiency. Consider these HVAC horror stories:
- A floor or ceiling ruined because clogged condensate drains led to water damage
- Poor airflow and frozen coils—aka no A/C—on the hottest night of the summer due to dirty coils no one has checked and cleaned
- A compressor that ran too long on low refrigerant due to an unchecked leak requiring a $2,000 compressor replacement or early death of the entire system.
A brief maintenance visit from Fitch Services could have prevented these costly system failures.
Be a VIP with Our HVAC Maintenance Packages
Fitch Services offers maintenance packages on all residential and commercial systems, whether we installed them or not. Prices depend on what type of equipment you have (heat pump only, A/C with a gas furnace, gas/oil boilers, humidifiers, etc.).
Some systems—those in commercial buildings, for example—may require more visits than twice per year. Fitch Services can assess your system’s needs and incorporate your preferences into a custom maintenance package that’s right for you.
You’ll get more than just maintenance. Get ready to feel like an HVAC VIP: In addition to the covered check-ups, cleanings, and adjustments, you receive a 15% discount on all HVAC repairs and pay no overtime rates for evening/weekend emergency service calls.
We Have an HVAC Maintenance Plan that Fits Your Budget
Call us at 434-296-9980 to discuss your HVAC system’s maintenance needs and determine which HVAC maintenance package best suits your budget and your needs.