Our furry friends are without a doubt family members – they give us comfort, unconditional love, and are always happy to see us when we come home. Plain and simple, they make life extraordinarily better.
And if you have pets like most of us at Pro-Tech HVAC Home, you too know the struggle of constantly tending to pet hair throughout your home. The vacuum cleaner becomes your best friend. Lint rollers become indispensable. Every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you have a couple of stray hairs from your puppy or kitty stuck somewhere on your clothes.
Having furry friends also means having pet hair and dander all over your home. Pet dander has the potential to be a real issue for your home’s heating and cooling system with clogged filters and ducts forcing your HVAC system to work overtime, leading to reduced efficiency, and greater maintenance issues.
With pets in the home, your HVAC system will require some additional TLC to run optimally. Follow these HVAC maintenance tips for fellow pet lovers!
1. Change Air Filter Every 30 Days
We recommend replacing your disposable air filters every 30-60 days. With pets in the home, you should really replace every 30 days, as pet dander quickly accumulates to clog filters. Changing your air filters is one of the most proactive ways to keep your air conditioner in good shape and maintain clean indoor air quality. This is also an inexpensive way to extend the life of your heating and cooling equipment.
Always forgetting to replace your air filters? Mark your calendar, set a reminder on your phone, or ask your smart home assistant to alert you when it’s time to replace your them!
RELATED: Why It’s So Important to Change Your Air Filter Regularly
2. Clean Air Vents
When your pets shed indoors, their dander winds up in accumulating on your air vents—supply AND return vents. Any particulates that are trapped on and in these vents are then recirculated throughout your air…yuck! When you inhale these particles, your body may respond by coughing, sneezing, wheezing, or even result in a runny or stuffy nose. Prolonged exposure to excessive pet dander can even lead to more serious respiratory issues.
We encourage you to inspect your air vents for pet hair, dust, and debris. You’ll know a dirty vent when you see it! Give them a good dusting and vacuum them to get rid of any dust and dander that’s accumulated.
3. Clean Carpets & Floors Often
Your home’s carpet is a trap for pet dander only to recirculate when stirred up by any foot traffic. Give your HVAC system a lending hand by regularly dusting and vacuuming your carpet and the rest of your home. Keeping your home free of these allergens will help your HVAC system from being overloaded by removing the particles before they reach your system. You may consider investing in a robot vacuum to ease the burden of the chore!
While you’re at it, don’t forget to give your couches, chairs, etc. a quick vacuum as well.
4. Protect Your Outdoor Unit
If your pets spend time in the backyard, be sure to protect your outdoor air conditioner unit. The condenser is a giant suction unit—the vents actually pull outdoor air in as part of cycling the air indoors. If your pet rubs on the condenser as dogs and cats sometimes do, they are sending their fur and dander directly into the unit. This can clog your outdoor unit and can send dander into your HVAC system from outdoors. If you have an animal that pees on upright objects like trees, then the condenser is also at risk. Urine is acidic and in yards where a dog has been regularly peeing on the condenser, you will find the fins completely etched away by the acid.
5. Use an Air Purifier
An air purifier will take away some of the stress placed on your HVAC air filters. Air purifiers not only reduce pet hair and dander that clog your filter and home ventilation system, but they also eliminate other airborne allergens such as dust and mold.
6. Groom Pets Regularly
This is probably obvious, but your pets should be brushed and groomed regularly. Brushing your dog, cat, rabbit or other furry companion picks hair up into the brush and drops it on the ground, meaning less fur can float into the air and clog up the air filter. Weather-permitting, it’s ideal to brush them outside because loose fur can fly away on the wind instead of becoming part of your home air system. Just be sure it doesn’t fly into your outdoor HVAC unit!
7. Schedule Preventative Maintenance
Finally, keep up with your HVAC maintenance. A house with pets is full of love, but it’s also full of fur, which puts extra stress on your HVAC system. Routine maintenance on your HVAC system ensures everything is thoroughly cleaned, inspected for optimal efficiency, and prevents additional damage by identifying potential risks. Pro-Tech HVAC Home recommends scheduling bi-annual maintenance, once in the Spring and then again in the Fall.
Learn more about our Preventative HVAC Maintenance plans and contact us today to schedule.
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Maintenance Plans
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Pro-Tech HVAC Home offers new installation, replacement, repairs and maintenance of heating and air conditioning systems in the Annapolis area. Our customers rely on us for honest and reliable service for air conditioners, heat pumps, gas furnaces, Mitsubishi systems, and more. We’re happy to answer questions, troubleshoot, and help you choose the best HVAC system for you and your family. We’re always happy to help answer your questions, so please give us a call or send us an email.