10 Things on your spring cleaning checklist

The daffodils are peaking through, the thunder storms are rolling, and the layers are coming off… Spring has sprung here in Richmond!

With the equinox comes spring cleaning. There’s never a nicer time to fling open the windows and refresh your home. Often overlooked is a home’s heating and air systems. There is no better time to do a check up on your equipment… The sweltering Richmond summers are a terrible time to find out you need work done!

ENERGY STAR is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voluntary program that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect our climate through superior energy efficiency. Energy Star has put together a spring checklist to make sure your equipment is in top shape to keep you and yours comfortable and healthy in the months to come!

Maintain your equipment to prevent future problems and unwanted costs. Keep your cooling and heating system at peak performance by having a specialist do annual pre-season check-ups. Specialists get busy once summer and winter come, so it's best to check the cooling system in the spring and the heating system in the fall. To remember, plan the check-ups around the time changes in the spring and fall.

A typical maintenance check-up should include the following:

Check thermostat settings to ensure the cooling and heating system keeps you comfortable when you are home and saves energy while you are away.

Tighten all electrical connections and measure voltage and current on motors. Faulty electrical connections can cause unsafe operation of your system and reduce the life of major components.

Lubricate all moving parts. Parts that lack lubrication cause friction in motors and increases the amount of electricity you use.

Check and inspect the condensate drain in your central air conditioner, furnace and/or heat pump (when in cooling mode). A plugged drain can cause water damage in the house and affect indoor humidity levels.

Check controls of the system to ensure proper and safe operation. Check the starting cycle of the equipment to assure the system starts, operates, and shuts off properly.

Clean evaporator and condenser air conditioning coils. Dirty coils reduce the system's ability to cool your home and cause the system to run longer, increasing energy costs and reducing the life of the equipment.

Check your central air conditioner's refrigerant level and adjust if necessary. Too much or too little refrigerant will make your system less efficient increasing energy costs and reducing the life of the equipment.

Clean and adjust blower components to provide proper system airflow for greater comfort levels. Airflow problems can reduce your system's efficiency by up to 15%.

Actions To Do Yourself:

Inspect, clean, or change air filters once a month in your central air conditioner, furnace, and/or heat pump. Your contractor can show you how to do this. A dirty filter can increase energy costs and damage your equipment, leading to early failure.

Howell’s offers a Comfort Club membership designed to troubleshoot your system for you.  As a member you receive routine maintenance on your HVAC system, discount on repairs, preferred services, and much more. Give us a call today for details!

Enjoy the sun and blooms, RVA!

Why Do I Need Maintenance on My Air Conditioner or Heat Pump?

It kinda makes you wonder...

If planned maintenance is such a great idea, why aren't all companies doing it?

Well, we couldn't have asked a better question. Every season, we get hundreds of calls from folks having trouble with their heating and cooling system. From water leaks to low refrigerant levels, the result is always the same: you are inconvenienced!

After the repair, we almost always determine that a regular, "planned" tune-up program could have prevented it. Frankly, the repair is usually triple the cost of a tune-up (which is why many service companies don't promote them very much.) And if the equipment is beyond help, a replacement is about 50 times as much! Starting to get the picture?

So, why not get on a regular heating and cooling maintenance program that includes:

• Twice annual "Energy Savings" tune-ups, cleaning and adjustment
• Priority scheduling (even on our busiest days)
• Discounts on service repairs - 10% off your bill! Every time!
• Energy savings from an efficiently tuned system.
• Each year you renew your membership, you'll earn $50 a year in Bonus Bucks to use toward the replacement of your system.

The benefits continue to pay you! So, stop wondering... and enroll in our Energy Savings Plan today! Call us at (800) 358-4822 today for all the details!

Benefits of Routine HVAC Maintenance

Most of our customers had concerns - like you - with one or more of these...

• Energy bills are too high.
• Indoor Air Quality is poor.
• Too many repair bills.
• Unreliable heating and cooling system (or service!)
• Just not comfortable enough!

Believe me, we know how tough finding a solution to those can be, but fortunately, that's what Howell's happily provides for thousands of Richmond customers.

First, your heating and cooling system is probably the most expensive equipment in your home. Plus, it is responsible for keeping the temperature constant. It also supplies your home "air exchanges" (like breaths for you and me) to keep the air fresh, moving, and healthy.

And lastly, your heating and cooling system is required to do all of these functions simultaneously. Winter and Summer. Night and day. Automatically. All year long.

So, here's what you can expect from a properly tuned heating and cooling system by one of our 'champion' Howell's service technicians:

Reduced Heating & Cooling Costs

Right out of the gate, a properly maintained heating and cooling system will save you money. Guaranteed! One maintenance visit will pay for itself in energy savings. Removing dirt and checking proper refrigerant charge will get your system back to manufacturer's specifications.

Improves Your Energy Efficiency

Your system "eats" energy every time it cuts on - roughly 6 times per hour in mid Summer. An under-performing system can be as high as 8-10 times. Ouch!

Adds Years to Equipment Life

Dirt is the #1 cause of system failure. Dennis, one of our "champion" technicians for the last 25 years, has said that he has seen too many compressors die to the fact that the indoor coil was blocked up with dirt. If you want your system around for when you really need it, or are trying to "squeeze" and extra year or two out of it, then get rid of that dirt!

Keeping You and Your Loved Ones Safe

I don't want to scare you, but an un-maintained fossil fuel burning furnace can be deadly. Each year we read about carbon monoxide fatalities due to unserviced, or poorly serviced, systems.

Improves Indoor Air Quality

Now your system just moves the air throughout the house, right? In part, your filter is responsible for removing the allergens or particulate out of the air stream. However, one important factor can affect Indoor Air Quality, and that is your duct system. Most duct systems we find have about 20-30% leakage. If your duct system is located in a damp, musty crawlspace, or in a hot, humid, and dusty attic, then your duct system is pulling air from those areas into your system, into your home, and bypassing your filter.

The Gift of Foresight

It is not by chance that we have given the name Energy Savings Plan (or "ESP") to our maintenance contract. We want to give you the gift of foresight. A small problem left undetected or uncorrected can domino into bigger, more costly problems down the road.

Let us tune your system that can clean your air, save you on energy, and put comfort back in your personal or business environment... while it saves your system (and bank account!) from early replacement. Visit our website today to find out how you can get a discount on your next tune-up and every other repair from us or to schedule a maintenance visit.