Maintaining a balanced household budget is crucial to your financial well-being. Unfortunately, doing so often forces you to prioritize some expenditures and forego others. One of the expenditures you may be on the fence about is your annual HVAC tune-up. After all, it’s not as if your HVAC system will fail immediately after you skip scheduling a maintenance visit.
However, skipping HVAC maintenance has some consequences that you may not be aware of. Here are some of the things that can happen to your HVAC system without maintenance.
Loss of Efficiency and Higher Operating Costs
One of the most significant consequences of skipping your annual HVAC tune-up is a loss of efficiency. Statistically, your HVAC system will lose approximately 1% of its efficiency annually due to wear and tear, even with regular maintenance. However, skipping your annual tune-up can increase that loss to 5% annually.
By itself that may not sound like much. However, you should consider that running the HVAC system makes up the lion’s share of the average home’s energy use. That means you’re asking for higher energy bills every time you forego annual maintenance. As energy prices continue rising, any efficiency loss is far from ideal.
Shortened HVAC Lifespan
Before you skip your annual HVAC tune-up, ask yourself this: What’s cheaper, a maintenance visit once per year or a new HVAC system? The reason for the question is simple. With AC maintenance, you can expect the average system to last about 15 years. You may get up to 20 years of reliable service from a well-maintained furnace.
If you skip the required HVAC maintenance, your AC or furnace may fail in as little as 10 years. Some quick math will tell you that the extra five years you get to avoid an AC replacement is well worth the price of annual maintenance visits.
Increased Chance of Unexpected Failure
Here in Savannah, GA, going without AC in our humid summers is basically impossible. However, if you skip your annual HVAC maintenance, you increase the likelihood that your AC will fail when you need it most. During each yearly maintenance visit, our technician will inspect your HVAC inside and out.
One of the things they’ll look for is signs of unusual wear. Those can indicate lurking problems that, left unaddressed, will lead to system breakdowns. If a breakdown occurs during a heat wave, you may even need costly emergency repair services. Fixing minor problems before they escalate into larger ones is always the more cost-effective option.
Reduced Indoor Air Quality
Did you know that the air inside your Savannah home can be up to five times as polluted as the outdoor air? It happens because homes, particularly in the heating and cooling seasons, have limited ventilation. Unfortunately, neglecting your HVAC maintenance needs will exacerbate the issue. Every time your HVAC system turns on, it recirculates air throughout your home. As it does, some of the dust, dirt, and contaminants end up captured by the HVAC system’s air filter.
However, some pollutants inevitably end up getting through. Then, they adhere to your HVAC’s blower fan and evaporator coil. Without regular tune-ups, which include cleanings, these particles may reenter your home’s air supply as your HVAC system operates.
A Voided HVAC Warranty
Purchasing a new HVAC system is a substantial investment in your home’s comfort. Fortunately, new HVACs come with manufacturer warranties that protect you against premature component failures. That can save you hundreds of dollars on repairs if a covered part fails. But have you ever read the terms of your HVAC warranty closely? Odds are, it specifies the minimum maintenance requirements for your HVAC unit that you must meet.
The purpose is to prevent the manufacturer from absorbing costs related to system neglect. When you make a warranty claim, your HVAC manufacturer may request documentation to verify that you’ve met the warranty’s conditions. If you can’t provide it, you could end up on the hook for what should have been a covered repair.
We Make Regular HVAC Maintenance Easy
At the end of the day, we understand that paying for HVAC maintenance is an expense you don’t look forward to. However, ignoring your HVAC’s needs isn’t worth the potential consequences. To help make meeting those needs more manageable, we offer multiple convenient maintenance plan packages. They can help you keep your HVAC system in excellent condition for as little as what you pay for a fast-food combo meal each month.
After over 50 years of serving local homeowners, we’re the team locals trust. When you need HVAC maintenance in Savannah, call Air Therm!
