How To Prepare Your HVAC System For A Hot Florida Summer

How To Prepare Your HVAC System For A Hot Florida Summer

Your home’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is responsible for keeping your family comfortable all year long, and with the hottest season of the year just around the corner, it’s a perfect time to show your HVAC system some love. In Florida, especially — with its famously hot and humid summer seasons — it’s important to ensure that your HVAC system is in top condition before the worst of the heat arrives. Otherwise, you could be looking at higher energy bills, uncomfortably warm indoor air, or even a complete air conditioner breakdown.

Don’t let an inefficient HVAC system ruin your summer! Use these simple maintenance tips from LIBERTYAIR Air Conditioning & Heating to prepare your home’s air conditioning system for Florida’s sweltering summer heat.

LIBERTYAIR Air Conditioning & Heating is a local HVAC company offering high-quality services and products in Gainesville, FL. Call us today to schedule summer AC maintenance!

Check & Replace Your Air Filters

First, inspect your HVAC system’s air filters and replace them with new ones if they seem dirty. Air filters are responsible for capturing dust, pollen, pet dander, and other contaminants before they can circulate through your home. By capturing these contaminants, air filters improve your indoor air quality and help to maintain your system’s energy efficiency. However, if left unchanged for too long, air filters can become clogged, ultimately restricting airflow. Because of this, heating and cooling companies often recommend changing air filters just ahead of summertime to ensure your system is as effective and efficient as possible.

In general, you should inspect your air filters at least once a month to ensure that they’re not dirty, clogged, or causing problems. Also, keep in mind that how often you’ll need to change your air filters will vary depending on a number of factors, including:

Clear Debris From Your Condenser Unit

Next, it’s time to check on your AC condenser unit. The condenser is the unit located outside of your home, and it’s responsible for releasing any heat your system transfers from the inside of your house, making it a crucial part of the cooling process. Unfortunately, because AC condensers are located outside, it’s not uncommon for twigs, leaves, grass, dirt, and other debris to fall in or around the unit.

If the area around your condenser unit becomes blocked or clogged, it won’t be able to release heat efficiently — which can lead to overheating, poor system performance, or a total system breakdown. The last thing any Floridian wants is to be left without air conditioning in the middle of summer, so before the heat arrives, you should take some time to clear out any debris that’s accumulated around your outdoor condenser unit. Also, you should trim back nearby plants or shrubs so they’re at least two feet away from the unit, as this allows for proper airflow.

After clearing away any debris that’s settled on or around your condenser unit, you should inspect it for signs of damage. On occasion, things like severe weather, falling debris, or even animals may damage your condenser, which can impact your system’s performance. If you notice visible damage to your condenser or the fins inside of the unit, contact our experienced HVAC technicians for professional air conditioning repair services!

Test Your Thermostat

This may sound obvious, but a properly functioning thermostat is crucial for maintaining a comfortable home and ensuring your HVAC system operates efficiently. If your thermostat is misreading the temperature or not communicating with the rest of your system correctly, it can lead to increased energy usage, inconsistent cooling, and lots of wasted money. To avoid mid-summer cooling problems, you should take a few minutes to test your thermostat. Specifically, you can:

Also, if you haven’t already, you should consider upgrading your thermostat to a programmable thermostat. These grant you greater control of your home’s temperature, allowing you to set a schedule for your home’s heating and cooling so it automatically adjusts at predetermined times. For example, if nobody is home for hours every day, you can program your thermostat to raise the temperature during that period, which can help eliminate energy waste and lower your utility bill.

Interested in upgrading your thermostat? We can help! Our experienced HVAC contractors offer thermostat replacement services throughout Gainesville and the greater North Central Florida area!

Schedule Preventative HVAC Maintenance From LIBERTYAIR

Last but certainly not least, even if your system seems to be running fine, scheduling professional HVAC maintenance is one of the best things you can do to prepare your air conditioning for Florida’s sweltering summer season. A preventative maintenance visit at the top of the summer season can help identify minor issues in your system before they become major problems, saving you time and money in the long run.

At LIBERTYAIR Air Conditioning & Heating, we offer planned HVAC maintenance designed to keep your home cool and comfortable all year long. During our routine HVAC maintenance visits, our technicians will replace your air filters, inspect your condenser and evaporator coils, check your system’s refrigerant levels, calibrate your thermostat, lubricate moving parts, thoroughly clean system components, and ensure your air conditioning is running efficiently!

Whether you need maintenance, repairs, or a system upgrade, LIBERTYAIR Air Conditioning & Heating is here to help. Schedule an HVAC tune-up today and enjoy a cool, comfortable summer — call LIBERTYAIR now!

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