Fall Checklist for Your Home and HVAC Unit

If fall snuck up on you like it did for us in Central PA then you know it’s time to start thinking about prepping your home for the colder weather. Follow our checklist to make sure that your home is completely ready for the cold weather lurking right around the corner.

Fall Home and HVAC Maintenance Checklist

1. Examine your outdoor unit for bugs and small animals
2. Cut away any shrubs or branches that may be impeding the unit’s space
3. Change out the air filter
4. Schedule a preventative maintenance appointment for your heating unit
5. Have a technician conduct an energy audit
6. Add weatherstripping to your windows and doors
7. Seal exterior gaps in the foundation, brick, or siding of your home
8. Double check the amount of fuel or propane in your tank or have it filled
9. Check fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, replace batteries as needed
10. Close valves to exterior faucets and detach hoses

Checklist Items 1, 2, & 3 – It is important that your outdoor units be free of any bugs, small animals, rodents, and vegetation. The more space your unit has to breathe, the better because of the requirement for airflow across the HVAC coils needed to bring temperature-controlled air into your home. Keeping a clean air filter also helps the heat transfer into your living space and improves the indoor air quality.

Checklist Items 4 & 5 – Technicians will be the ones to let you know if your heating system is running properly and is working in the most energy efficient fashion. Schedule a time for a certified HVAC technician to come out look at your unit and do an energy audit of your home. The technician will also be able to show you other ways you can save money on your energy costs, along with presenting a cost benefit analysis of a new energy efficient heat pump that might be better suited for your home.

Checklist Items 6 & 7 – Take the proper measures to make sure that your home is sealed tightly, keeping the cold air out and the warm air in. Items six and seven are often overlooked as ways to create a more energy efficient home. These items do not take much time and are relatively inexpensive to do.

Checklist Items 8, 9, & 10 – Precautionary measures are crucial steps in this checklist, especially once winter is in full swing. Make sure the fuel for your propane or oil furnace is filled up and ready to be turned on when needed. At any given time that a storm could come, you will want to have a full fuel tank in case of an emergency. Also, checking your fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors is something that should be done routinely and especially at the turn of the seasons. Lastly, you will want to make sure that all of your faucets are closed off from inside and hoses are disconnected outside. This prevents the chance of water freezing in your pipes, which could potentially burst.

Now is the time to capitalize on the change of the seasons and make sure that your home is prepared for the colder weather. Following this simple checklist will have you ready to take on the colder winter coming our way. If you would like to have a technician service your home, give us a call!