Real Estate Blog by David Phillips, REALTOR

How Your Heating and Cooling System is Affected by Drastic Changes in Weather

How Your Heating and Cooling System is Affected by Drastic Changes in Weather

Living in Hampton Roads has many benefits...but one of my favorites is that we get to enjoy all four seasons and sometimes all within the same week it feels like . One day it’s in the 30’s and the next it will be in the 70’s or even 80’s.

So how does this affect your heating and cooling system?

As we get closer to spring we will have more warm days and more cold nights. Switching your HVAC system between heating and cooling modes can create an extra workload on your unit and there are a few things everyone should be aware of to ensure hat your system runs smooth for many years to come.

In most cases, switching between heat and cooling mode on your thermostat is generally safe provided you follow a few key steps:

1. Always remember to set your thermostat to “OFF” first and wait 5 minutes before switching to another cycle or mode. This will allow refrigerant pressures to equalize and prevent short cycling which can blow fuses or trip breakers or even cause compressor lock out situations. Some newer digital thermostats have built in timers to prevent this but only work properly provided the batteries are fully charged so the best advise is to wait it out.

2. Adjust your thermostat. Once you have switched from heating to cooling mode you can now adjust your temperature to what is comfortable. The US Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat to 78 degrees when in cooling mode. Reducing your cooling to temperatures of 72 degrees could increase your cooling cost by as much as 47 percent.

3. Schedule your tune up. Do you have an annual maintenance agreement for your system? If not,...