Summer Vacation Plans for Your HVAC

Planning a summer vacation is often hectic, with lots of details to take care of before you get away. One item that may get overlooked is your home’s HVAC system, but it deserves some vacation planning too. By taking care of the following HVAC-specific tasks, you can relax knowing it’s safe and in good working order while you’re gone.

Change the Thermostat Programming

The day before you leave, switch your programmable thermostat over to vacation mode to avoid energy waste and ensure that your home will be comfortably cool when you get back. If you’d like to get alerts about your HVAC system’s performance, or the flexibility to adjust your return date, invest in a Wi-Fi thermostat that you can access from your mobile device while you’re traveling.

Guard Against Power Surges

If there’s a power surge while you’re away from home, you may arrive back to find numerous costly items ruined. Having a whole-house surge protector installed before you leave can preserve your electronics, equipment and appliances that have microprocessors — televisions, computers, gaming consoles, HVAC components, microwave, refrigerator and dishwasher.

Replace the HVAC Air Filter

Put in a fresh air filter the day before your departure so airflow restrictions can’t affect the HVAC system’s efficiency or cause a breakdown or component failure while you’re not home.

Make Your Outdoor Unit Secure

Your outdoor unit becomes more vulnerable to copper theft if the wrong individuals realize you’ve gone on vacation. To avoid coming home to no cooling and a costly replacement, secure the unit by adding a locked cage, an alarm, motion-activated lights and/or a security camera.

Take Care of Preventive Maintenance

If you haven’t gotten around to scheduling a preventive maintenance visit yet, book it now. When a certified technician completes an inspection and tuneup of the HVAC system, you’ll know that everything is working reliably and efficiently. You’ll also learn about any emerging problems so you can get them repaired before they escalate.

For more advice about getting the HVAC system in your Middletown home ready for summer vacation, contact us at C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Middletown, New York about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about summer vacation maintenance and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 845-367-4482.

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