It’s that time of year. The days are ablaze with color, the nights are crisp and clear – perfect weather for sitting around the firepit in the backyard before the cold of winter settles in. It’s also the perfect time to perform routine maintenance on HVAC and plumbing. Doing a little now can save big hassles later.
What can you, as a professional, do now to minimize emergency calls from your customers later?
Offer preventative maintenance packages. Reach out to customers offering deals on fall maintenance, including tune ups on their furnaces, boilers and AC units.
Reach out with DIY tips. You’re the pros at maintaining their HVAC and plumbing equipment, but homeowners can do a lot themselves to extend the life of their units and minimize costly emergency repairs.
Here are some tips for routine maintenance to pass along to your customers.
Fall maintenance: HVAC
Preventative maintenance for HVAC in prep for winter is all about cleaning filters, brushing away summer debris, checking for possible snafus or problems and ensuring the furnace is going to fire up when it’s needed.
Schedule an inspection. Your HVAC customers should be reaching out to you this time of year for a routine inspection. Is the furnace and boiler ready to rumble for winter? Routine maintenance can catch any potential glitches before they become big problems.
Change the furnace filter. Dirty furnace filters cause so many problems, all of which could be prevented by simply changing the filter. It’s an easy DIY task, yet many homeowners forget to do it. How often should the filter be changed? That depends on several factors, including what type of system you have and the size of the filter. Some say every month, others say once a year. A good rule of thumb to pass on to your customers: Change the filter on the same day you change the batteries in your smoke alarms.
Get the AC units ready for their winter’s nap. Inspect AC units, whether they’re window models or permanent outdoor units. Clean out any debris that has accumulated over the summer and cover. Take out window units, clean them up and store them somewhere dry.
Fall maintenance: Plumbing
Plumbing prep this time of year includes making sure pipes are insulated, clean and ready for winter.
Insulate outer-wall pipes. In the Midwest, we know all too well the dangers of pipes running on outer walls. If your customers haven’t insulated yet, now is the time to do it.
Drain outdoor faucets. If people still have their backyard hoses attached, put that on the weekend chore list before the temperatures dip. It’s also a safe bet to turn the water off to those outdoor faucets to prevent any freezing that might occur.
Schedule a main drain inspection. Fall is a great time for homeowners to get a plumber out to the property to inspect their main drain. Doing this once each year prevents roots and debris from accumulating and blocking that drain, which can lead to a costly (and nasty) backup inside homes.
A little proactive maintenance on HVAC and plumbing systems now can prevent emergencies later!
