What to do if Your HVAC is Out of Whack

If your HVAC system is out of whack you may need to have a qualified technician take a look at it and see what’s going wrong. But before you call in the experts make sure you haven’t made a rookies mistake and do some basic checking on your own. You don’t want to call in a technician and pay for a house call just to discover that your system isn’t running because you forgot to flip the breaker back on or worse- you unplugged it.

Okay, so if it’s not anything this simple or easy you are officially cleared to make the call. Here are some things your HVAC technician will check after they make you’re your unit is plugged in and the breaker isn’t flipped- no need to become red faced here, you know it’s not that simple because you checked.

First if you have a split system- that is you’re a/c unit is located outside of the home and your heating unit is located inside the home, your tech will look at the outdoor unit to see if it needs any type of HVAC repair first.

A common problem with these outdoor units is the fact that they are not properly shut down for the winter and that can lead to problems when you go to start them back up again in the summertime. So first things first, the tech will check to see if the air filter is clogged with debris or leaves. This is actually a common reason for the unit to stop working due to an air filter being clogged or blocked. A simple HVAC repair will involve cleaning or replacing the air filter and then checking for the second most common problem which is a Freon leak.

You’re a/c uses Freon as a coolant to create cool air and push it into your home through the duct system. But it doesn’t burn through the Freon so if your system is low or the Freon is gone completely it is not from being used up; it is from a leak in your system. It is illegal for anyone including you to replace Freon without repairing the leak because this is considered a bio hazard material and the environment can be harmed by a system that is constantly leaking.

Other HVAC repair problems that your tech may encounter on your outside unit involve your condenser coils. If your condenser coils have a buildup of ice on them that resembles freezer burn your unit won’t be able to run because air won’t flow properly through your unit.

Most of these HVAC repair problems can be fixed quickly or at least in the same day and future repairs can be avoided for the most part with some simple preemptive maintenance.
You should have a licensed HVAC technician check your unit annually and winterize your outdoor unit to avoid costly summer startup problems like these and with a little luck, your repair problems will be a thing of the past.