Winter is coming to an end, which means that spring is right around the corner in Philadelphia. Odds are you used your heating system extensively during the winter months in order to keep warm.

The spring is a time of the year where you won’t need to depend on your heating system or your cooling system too much, making it the perfect time to do a little HVAC maintenance to make sure that your cooling system—heat pump or air conditioner—is running properly and efficiently for when summer hits.

We’ve outlined a full spring HVAC Checklist for Philadelphia homeowners. Don’t miss out on these tips to prepare your air conditioner for summertime!

Spring HVAC Checklist: What Philadelphia Homeowners Need to Know

1.) Change Your Air Filter

\You should be changing your air filter on a monthly basis in order to ensure the proper airflow throughout your home. If you don’t change your air filter regularly, dust and dirt will build up to the point where it will obstruct your airflow.

This will make it harder for your HVAC system to cool or heat your home properly, affecting both your comfort and your energy bills. Read more about changing your air filter and the role it plays in your spring HVAC checklist.

2.) Check Operation of All HVAC Units

Turn on all of your HVAC system’s units to make sure that they are working properly. If your HVAC system isn’t cooling or heating your home to the temperature you’ve set, then you have an issue with either your thermostat or your HVAC system and you’ll want to schedule professional maintenance.

You should also make sure that none of your HVAC units are making strange sounds or producing strange scents – these are all signs of potential problems and should never be skipped as part of your spring HVAC checklist.

3.) Tighten Electrical Connections

Electrical connections that are faulty can make the operation of your HVAC system unsafe and can also end up reducing the lifespan of your HVAC’s major components. This should be a regular step in a spring HVAC checklist for Philadelphia homeowners.

4.) Clean & Lubricate Indoor HVAC Components

All of the HVAC system’s indoor components, including the blower fans and coils, should be cleaned and lubricated to ensure that they work as efficiently as possible. Cleaning and lubricating these components will also help to prevent any problems from developing in the near future.

5.) Clean the Outdoor HVAC Units (Your Air Conditioner or Heat Pump!)

Clean out any leaves, grass or dirt that may be blocking your vents. If you don’t clean them out, it will restrict the airflow in your home, which will reduce your HVAC system’s efficiency.

6.) Check Your Air Conditioner’s Refrigerant Levels

Because temperatures are going to begin going up as summer gets closer, you’re going to want to make sure that your air conditioner is in peak operating condition. Check the refrigerant levels to make sure that the unit will cool your home efficiently and effectively. Read more about checking your air conditioner’s refrigerant.

These maintenance tasks should be performed to make sure your HVAC system is performing properly after experiencing heavy use during the winter, and also to prepare it for the upcoming summer months.

While many of these tasks can be performed on your own, we recommend that you have a professional technician perform an HVAC inspection every spring.

Philadelphia HVAC Inspections

To schedule a professional HVAC system inspection this spring, be sure to contact W.F. Smith today.

Before you make the decision to install a traditional HVAC system into your home, you may want to consider going with a ductless heating system instead.

A ductless heating system can be hugely beneficial in providing better comfort at lower costs. Here at W.F. Smith, we install Mitsubishi ductless heating systems into Philadelphia area homes.

What is a Ductless Heating System?

A traditional HVAC system uses a duct system to carry warm or cool air through the different rooms in your home. A ductless heating system produces heat or cool air through units installed in designated zones throughout the home. The lack of a duct system means that energy won’t be lost during the transfer of heat or cool air from the HVAC system to the rest of the home.

The Benefits of a Ductless Heating System

There are a number of benefits that make a ductless heating system something that you should seriously consider. Ductless heating sytems:

• Save Energy – Not only do you save energy by eliminating the loss of energy through a duct system, but you can save energy by heating or cooling each zone separately instead of heating or cooling the entire home. For example, if everyone in the home is in the living room, then there’s no need to waste energy heating the bedrooms.
• Save Money – Since you’ll be saving energy, you’ll end up saving money as a direct result. By using less energy and preventing the loss of energy, your heating and cooling bills will go down.
• Improve Comfort – The ability to control each zone separately means that you have more control over comfort. You can heat or cool a room you are in much quicker using zonal heating and cooling since you don’t have to wait for the entire house to cool down or warm up.
• Increase Flexibility – The units used in each zone are smaller than room air conditioners, which means that they are unobtrusive. You have more flexibility in terms of where you install them as well – you can set them on the floor, hang them from the wall or suspend them from the ceiling.
• Remove Need For Ducts – You don’t need a duct system. Not only do ducts often lose energy due to duct damage, but you’ll need to periodically clean your ducts and have them inspected for damage and repaired if necessary.

Will Ductless Heating Benefit You?

Ductless heating systems are an effective solution for Pennsylvania homeowners and provide many benefits that a traditional heating system simply can’t offer.

These benefits affect homes with more than one level and many rooms more so than one-story, open floor designed homes. The more rooms your building has, the more effective a ductless heating system will be. If your home has a large, open floor plan with only one or two rooms, then a ductless heating system may not provide enough of an advantage over a traditional HVAC system to be worth the investment.

If you are interested in installing a ductless heating system in your Philadelphia area home, then be sure to contact us for a free estimate today.

There are a lot more options than there used to be when it comes to heating and cooling. For example, you’re no longer just restricted to a duct system – you can now install ductless heating units onto your property. Ductless heating units are comprised of a small outdoor unit and one or more indoor units.

The following are just a few of the benefits of ductless heating.

Ductless Heating: What It Means for Philadelphia Properties

Ductless heating is easier to retrofit – People that own older homes may not want to install a duct system that runs through each room. This would require that they eliminate all kinds of space, from attic floor space to basement headroom to even closet space. Not to mention that when it comes to historic homes, the less you have to change the original floor plan, the better.

All you need to install a ductless heating unit is space to mount the unit and access to electricity. Because ductless heating units are so easy to install, they can be advantageous for new homes as well – especially since they don’t take up nearly as much square footage.

Ductless heating can save you money – One of the biggest advantages of switching to ductless heating is that it can save you a ton of money over the long run.

Standard duct systems use up a lot of energy generating heat and distributing via ducts around the entire house. Any damage to the duct system can cause the heating system to work inefficiently, thereby causing your heating bills to go up.

A ductless heating unit will disperse heat directly into the room it’s located in, which means heat is not lost as it’s dispersed. Not only does it make heating your home more efficient, but ductless systems use less power to operate. You can even use a multi-split system in order to control the heat in different zones of your home. This means that you can heat one part of your home at a time unlike duct systems, which heat even rooms that aren’t being used.

In addition to saving on energy costs because of these reasons, you may also be eligible for utility rebates or tax credits.

Ductless heating results in better air quality – With traditional HVAC systems, the air ducts have to be professionally cleaned on a regular basis. Even with a regular professional cleaning, dust and allergens often build up within the ducts and are spread throughout the home.

Ductless heating units contain multi-stage filtration to help reduce dust, allergens, bacteria and other particles in the air, thereby drastically improving the air quality of your home.

Ductless heating is more environmentally friendly – Because of the zoning capabilities and the superior energy efficiency, a ductless heating unit is the more environmentally friendly option.

Install a Ductless Heating System In Philly

As you can see by the benefits, ductless heating is a better option than installing a traditional duct system.

For more information about installing a ductless heating system in your home, be sure to contact the heating experts at W.F. Smith. We have over 70 years of experience and we work to keep your home comfortable throughout Philadelphia’s coldest days and nights.

Contact us for a free estimate!

There’s a pretty good chance that you’ll be cranking up your home’s heat once winter hits the Philadelphia, PA area. Philly winters aren’t known to be mild, after all.

As you begin putting your heating system to more use, you’re going to find that your energy costs are going up. Depending on how energy efficient your home is, you could see your energy bills skyrocket. The following are a few tips and tricks to help homeowners in the Greater Philadelphia area save energy around the house this winter as well as reasons why you should do so:

Ways to Save Energy: Philadelphia Style

The following are a few tips that can help you to save a substantial amount of energy around the house:

1. Schedule a Heating Inspection

You should schedule a heating system inspection once a year to ensure that it’s working properly and efficiently. Schedule the inspection right before winter hits so that you have time to repair any potential problems before they get any worse with use.

2. Install a Programmable Thermostat

Sometimes you have to spend money to save money. Upgrading your old thermostat to one that is programmable will allow you to set it to automatically change to a more energy-saving setting during times that you are out of the home or asleep. There’s no point in heating the house if you’re not at home, after all.

3. Insulate Your Attic

Older homes in the Greater Philadelphia area may not have insulated attics, meaning you could be spending hundreds of dollars each winter on wasted heat, and money! If your attic is already insulated, have it inspected to see if it needs to be replaced or upgraded. Attic insulation is vital to keeping energy use down. This is because the heat your heating system produces will rise (as all hot air does). If your attic isn’t insulated, the heat will escape into the attic and out of your home. This means that your heating system will have to use more energy than it should in order to replace lost heat – and result in expensive heating bills.

Reasons to Reduce Energy Use

Saving on your energy bills isn’t the only reason why you should try to save energy this winter. The following are a few other reasons:

– Reduce repairs and replacement – The less efficient your HVAC system works (whether it’s due to minor system problems or due to the need to overwork because of lost energy), the greater the odds are that you’ll have to spend money on repairs or replacement.

– Reduce your environmental footprint – Saving energy is just a responsible thing to do. The less of a negative impact your home makes on the environment, the better.

– Add value to the home – A more energy efficient home, whether due to added insulation, upgraded HVAC system or more, will help improve the value of your house.

– Maintain comfort – The less energy that is being lost, the more comfortable your home will be – something that’s especially important during the winter season.

70+ Years of Heating Experience

Use these tips in order to save energy around your Philadelphia area home this winter. For additional advice concerning home energy use or your home’s HVAC system, be sure to contact us at W.F. Smith today.