It’s common for many homeowners to start planning service for their air conditioner right as summer is about to hit. While it’s extremely important to keep your air conditioner properly maintained every year, waiting for summer to arrive to get service done on the unit is not the best method. In fact, there are many reasons why early spring and even winter are the best times to schedule maintenance for your air conditioning unit.
Get It Out of the Way
One of the more frustrating aspects of many seasonal chores is that they’re stuck on your to-do list until you’re able to work on them. For example, it’s difficult to maintain an outdoor pool when everything is covered in snow, and you can’t definitively know if your snowblower is working properly when it’s the height of summer. However, if these tasks can be completed early, it’s best to get them out of the way as soon as possible to reduce your amount of household chores and lower your stress levels.
More Time to Thoroughly Research Potential HVAC Technician Options
As summer approaches, the heat is on to find high-quality HVAC companies that will provide you with professional service at reasonable prices. The pressure of the summer rush forces many people to only do minimal research into the companies they’re considering hiring for the job. When you decide to schedule an air conditioner service appointment in winter or spring, you give yourself much more time to plan and research various options for HVAC service.
Have a Better Chance of Getting an Appointment
HVAC companies are swamped with people trying to schedule appointments for air conditioning service in summer due to many people having the same typical maintenance schedules. If you do somehow manage to get an appointment during summer, it will likely be on a much later date and at an inconvenient time. In addition, the best companies will usually be booked solid, and you may wind up having to use the services of a much less reputable business with inexperienced and unprofessional technicians. Calling to schedule an appointment in either winter or spring greatly increases your chances of beating the summer rush and getting an appointment as soon as possible at a time that works well for you.
Get a Better Deal on Service
Many HVAC companies have special offers, sales and other deals on air conditioning maintenance in winter and spring since the demand for those types of services in the off-season is so low. Prices in the summertime tend to dramatically increase because they’re in high demand as nearly everyone tries to scramble to get their air conditioner prepared to combat the hot weather. Planning your air conditioning maintenance appointment in the spring or winter allows you to take advantage of these special offers and deals to save you money on your air conditioning service.
Save Money on Replacement Parts and Units
Just as fees for air conditioning services tend to increase substantially in the summer, prices for replacement parts and whole air conditioning units are at their highest during this time as well. In addition, high-quality parts and units start to become scarce as the summer goes on due to many people buying them up earlier in the season. There is a significant chance you’ll be left with expensive lower quality parts and units that may wind up costing you more money in the future by requiring repairs or replacement much more quickly than high-quality products.
In the spring and winter, prices for parts and air conditioning units are at their lowest, and there are usually plenty of products in stock to provide you with multiple high-quality options at great prices.
Avoid Running Your Air Conditioner When It’s in Need of Service
When the temperatures start spiking, it’s extremely difficult to resist turning on the air conditioner. However, many people feel like they don’t have much of a choice as they wait several weeks for their scheduled summer service appointment. In some areas, temperatures reach uncomfortable levels as early as late or even mid-spring.
Despite this temptation, it’s not a good idea to run your air conditioner when it’s in need of service. If parts are starting to fail, running the air conditioner may cause more damage and more severe functionality problems. If the unit is extremely dirty or functions poorly, it may run very inefficiently, which will waste a lot of energy and money.
In addition, running the air conditioner when the ducts and filters are dirty creates poor air quality within the home. Anyone with respiratory issues such as asthma or COPD will experience an increase in the severity of their symptoms when living in a house with poor air quality. Even those without respiratory conditions may experience adverse effects from the lower air quality such as coughing, sore throats, irritated allergies and an increased risk of developing illnesses.
When you get your air conditioning unit fully serviced in winter or spring, you’re never forced to run your air conditioner when it’s in need of maintenance. Your air quality will stay high, damaged equipment won’t get worse, and you’ll save money on your energy bills.
Detect Serious Problems Early
Everyone dreads that horrible moment when a service technician comes back with bad news about the state of their air conditioning unit. If the problems are detected during summer and the repairs require a second visit, you will wind up struggling to get an appointment all over again.
Extensive repair work or the need to replace the entire unit is something no homeowner wants to deal with, but it’s much better to detect these problems long before the heat of summer seeps in to ensure that you have your air conditioner in full working order to keep everyone cool. Even if you need to schedule a second appointment to have major repairs or a full replacement done, detecting these problems in spring or winter allows you to have a better chance of getting an appointment as soon as possible.
Extend the Lifespan of Your Air Conditioner
The longer your air conditioner sits idly with all of that moisture, dirt, grime and other buildup sitting in the air ducts and mechanisms, the more damage is being done to your air conditioning system. Years are quickly shaved off of the lifespans of air conditioning units due to maintenance being pushed back too far.
Replacing an entire air conditioning unit is a major expense, and it’s a massive waste of money and equipment to allow your air conditioner to deteriorate when it’s easily avoidable. Getting your air conditioning unit serviced before summer allows your system to stay in great shape all year round and maximizes the lifespan of the unit.
No matter what time of year you decide to get maintenance done on your air conditioner, our skilled technicians at Woodward Heating Air Plumbing will provide you with the best service for any cleaning, maintenance, repair and installation work that you require on your system. We also provide repair, maintenance and installation services for furnaces, heat pumps, gas piping and much more. Contact us at Woodward Heating Air Plumbing today for more information on these or any other services we provide to the areas in and around Salem, Oregon.
