What do you think of first when someone mentions summer? Is it the bright sun, cool water, and fresh breezes? Time off from work, gatherings with family, vacations, and celebration? At Welter Heating, we think of all of those things, but we also think about HVAC maintenance. Why? Because summer is the perfect time to check up on your home’s HVAC to make sure it’s operating it’s best to keep you and your family cool all season long.

Here are nine of our best summertime HVAC maintenance tips:

Change out your filters. Changing your filters is a HVAC maintenance task that should be top of mind year round. If it’s slipped your mind recently, that’s okay! Now is the perfect time to change out the filters in your air conditioning units so they aren’t under any unnecessary stress. Filters tend to fill up quicker in the summertime because your HVAC system is running more frequently. If you feel like your home could use an air quality boost, when you change your filters, look into options with higher MERV ratings.

Give your exterior air conditioner a bath. Being outdoors means an air conditioner can become a magnet for grass, mulch, leaves, and other natural debris. This can get inside your unit and jam up the proverbial works. Brush anything on top of your unit away and look closely to make sure there’s nothing clogging the interior fans.

Clear debris from around exterior HVAC units. Your air conditioner, and HVAC system in general, relies on its ability to pull in and cool outside air before circulating it through your home. If you’ve gathered winter and springtime debris around your unit, it can negatively impact its performance. Make sure there isn’t anything leaning on your outdoor HVAC units like plants, wood, gardening tools, or other debris and give it a solid foot or two of clearance on all sides.

Get your ducts cleaned. It’s probably been a while, hasn’t it? If it has… schedule a duct cleaning! They’re more than worth it when you look at the benefits that come from unblocked air flow and circulation.

Check that all your vents are open and unblocked. This is a good check to make seasonally, but it’s especially important during hot summer months when you’re reliant on cool air flow. Take a walk through your home to ensure that your vents and registers are all still open and able to circulate air throughout your home.

Check the thermostat. Is it working properly? Are your calibration settings ready for the higher temps and the work involved in cooling your home? If you’re having any issues with your home thermostat,  now would be the perfect time to look into upgrading to a programmable smart thermostat to take the worry and planning out of home cooling.

Flip the switch on your ceiling fans. This tip doesn’t directly relate to your HVAC system, but it does relate to the way air moves through your home. All ceiling fans have two settings and a switch that allows you to flip between the two. In the summer, you want to make sure your ceiling fans are rotating clockwise to force air downward and keep excess heat from rising. This air flow control will keep unnecessary stress off of your HVAC system and leave your home feeling more cool and comfortable. Win-win!

Make sure your air conditioning unit has enough refrigerant. Though it does take a while, refrigerant runs out over time. If you’ve noticed your air conditioning isn’t working as optimially as you’d like, this could be the cause. Refilling your home AC’s refrigerant will solve your not-cool-enough woes.

Invest in preventative maintenance. The moral of the story is this: you’re less likely to face big, costly HVAC issues if you invest a small amount in regular maintenance. Having a technician come and check out your system at the beginning of each summer to verify everything’s working properly can not only give you peace of mind, but save you dollars in the long run.

Summer is all about relaxation, comfort, and enjoying your time with loved ones. All those things are a lot easier when your home HVAC system is working properly. Keep up with these maintenance tips to stay cool all summer long. If anything unexpected happens, you can always call on the team at Welter Heating for help whenever you need it.