Proper Heat Pump Maintenance Tips for Your Florida Home

Just like all mechanical equipment, your heat pump needs timely maintenance to stay in good working condition. Routine preventative care can keep your equipment operating reliably, so your home stays comfortable year-round. Proper maintenance can also keep your utility bills in check, since a poorly-maintained heat pump can burn 25 percent more energy every year.

Heat Pump Maintenance Tips to Ensure Optimal Performance

Scheduling yearly maintenance with a knowledgeable HVAC pro is critical for keeping your heat pump running properly. The key tasks performed by a NATE-certified technician during a maintenance visit should include:

• Cleaning the coils and blower assembly.
• Looking for and correcting ductwork leaks and obstructions.
• Verifying adequate system airflow.
• Lubricating moving motor parts and checking fan belts for tightness and damage.
• Measuring refrigerant levels and checking for leaks.
• Checking for accurate thermostat operation.
• Cleaning and tightening all electrical connections and terminals.
• Testing the electrical control functionality, so your system doesn’t unexpectedly switch between cooling and heating modes.

In between visits from your HVAC technician, there are several steps you should take to keep the system running efficiently. By tackling the following maintenance chores, you can help control energy consumption, boost comfort and prevent airflow restrictions that can harm your equipment.

• Inspect your air filter once a month, and change it when there’s any visible dirt accumulation. Be sure to choose replacement filters that match the guidelines in your owner’s manual.
• Unless you have a variable-speed fan motor, keep your thermostat fan setting on “auto.”
• Keep vegetation trimmed back 18 inches away from your outdoor unit, and keep this area free of leaves, branches and general yard debris.
• A few times a year, use your garden hose to gently wash away any grass clippings before dusting off outdoor coils.
• Shut off the power to your outdoor unit periodically and clean the fan blades.
• Vacuum any dust from your supply and return registers, and ensure they’re not blocked by long drapes, furniture or area rugs.

To learn more heat pump maintenance tips for your Orlando home, please contact Rinaldi’s Air Conditioning Service.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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