How Often Should You Schedule HVAC Maintenance for Your System?

If you talk to any industry professional they will typically agree that lack of maintenance is the number one cause of failures and complaints. The easiest preventable things such as coil cleanings, capacitor replacement, drain maintenance, filters, and inspection of electrical components can all be addressed with a maintenance visit. Maintenance is key to any mechanical system and should be done on a routine basis... but what is routine?

I have a very simple guide to help you determine this with some exceptions, but what in life doesn't have exceptions? The first rule I have is if a system is less than 5 years old, then you are probably ok with just an annual check up. Most companies offer a fairly inexpensive 1 time tune up price, to come out and go over the system and perform and annual maintenance which is sufficient for newer equipment. For systems between 5 and 10 years old, it really depends on the environment it's installed in. For instance, if you rent your property out, tenants aren't typically known for changing filters as often as they should. If your outdoor unit constantly has grass clippings, dryer lint, or other outside elements thrown on it, this can be a cause for more routine maintenance. For these situations I would highly recommend getting on a twice a year maintenance plan with your contractor after the equipment is more than 5 years old to ensure your investment is protected.

If you are a good do it yourself homeowner (meaning you have a good working knowledge of mechanical and electrical components), then you could possibly get by for the next 5 years with just annual check ups. I'm going to stress extreme caution here as I know everyone want's to think they are good do it yourself types, but if you are not willing to at least watch a few videos about proper care and maintenance for your hvac system, I don't recommend you even attempt this. One tiny little wrong move here and you could cost yourself thousands of dollars trying to save a couple of hundred.

When systems get over 10 years old, I highly highly highly recommend strict routine maintenance programs. If you don't have good maintenance at this critical point in the equipment's life, go ahead and plan on replacing it in the next 3 to 5 years. I know some of you are thinking, I've had the same unit for 30 years with no maintenance and it's still running. Yes, I agree, equipment was built better 30 years ago... Not anymore! The economy has demanded cheapest possible production with the most bells and whistles so the market delivered exactly that. Equipment that is maintained properly at this point has a good chance of lasting up to 20 years. You have to have a realistic expectation at this point too, just because you are having maintenance done, doesn't mean that you wont have repairs. There are two beneficial goals to maintenance plans and that is to try and get ahead of developing issues before you are stranded on July 4th weekend and not being able to get the system repaired because parts need to be ordered and, maintenance plans are typically accompanied by discounts which will be very helpful at this point. When equipment gets over 10 years old, it's not uncommon to start seeing some of the more expensive repairs becoming necessary which is why the discounts are nice to have.

I'm going to surprise you with my next suggestion, but it'll make sense. At the point which you are told (by an honest contractor), that it's time to start considering replacing the system; maintenance is no longer greatly beneficial. Good and honest professionals will make this suggestion for a number of reasons, but typically it's because we see multiple back to back expensive repairs in the very near future which can quickly add up to the cost of a new system anyways. I say maintenance is no longer beneficial because you are better off at this point saving as much money as you can to purchase the new equipment. Side note, DON'T FINANCE, PAY CASH AND ASK FOR A CASH DISCOUNT! Save yourself as much as possible. HVAC equipment is expensive and the price is never going down, it will always continue to increase. I've been in the mechanical industry for 20 years now and I've NEVER seen prices go down, so don't expect that.

Maintenance is key to the equipment future especially if you live in an area where the equipment is running at least 80 percent of the year. Think about it this way. You get the oil in your car changed every 3000 miles, tires rotated, filters changed, and you driver your care maybe 2 hours a day on average? If you live in a climate like I do in eastern North Carolina, your HVAC is running 18 hours per day some days.

Kenneth Casebier