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The cost of heating and cooling homes in Denver comprises almost half of the total energy bills. In the peak of winter and summer, your HVAC system has to work in full swing 24/7. 

Thanks to this increased pressure, both the energy consumption and the probability of repairing the machine rises. 

Luckily, if you keep the units under regular and proper maintenance, you can avoid the need for frequent repair as well as paying hefty energy bill. Here are a number of effective and easy-to-do HVAC maintenance tips for Denver residents.

Maintenance steps that you can do all by yourself:

  • Cleaning and replacing the air/furnace filter regularly: Air filters attracts quickly and if not taken care of monthly, dirt can pile up on the filters easily and if it does, the efficiency of the machine will reduce and energy consumption will arise. During summer, the workload on the filters increases, therefore, this time you should wash the ones that are reusable and also changing older ones with newer ones every six months will contribute greatly in lengthening the machine’s lifespan. 


  • Cleaning and disinfecting both indoor coils and outdoor condenser: Evaporator coils work as very favorable environment for mold growth as they are prone to remain wet. To eliminate mold growth, try washing them with a mixture of 50% water and 50% bleach. 


  • Keeping the areas close to air-intake vents dry: Any guild-up or standing water close to the air-intake vents are threat for the machine’s lifespan as well as its energy-efficient capability.


  • Clearing the area around outdoor unit: Keeping the area around outdoor unit is also important. Build-up dirt or things such as fallen leaves in fall can be a real nuisance as they can block the pathways of the machines to pull in air. 


  • Maintenance steps that require professional hands: There are some annual or semi-annual maintenance procedures such as clearing clogged up drains, cleaning evaporator coil and clearing fan blades that will require disassembling the machine. 


And for that purpose you will need help from professionals. The skilled professionals will take care of all this stuff for less than $100. Such professional touch twice in each month will keep your machine working for a long time and will help reducing energy consumption big time.

General energy-saving tips that makes a big difference in your energy bill and machine’s lifespan:

Along with the mentioned HVAC maintenance tips, you should follow the following energy-saving tips as well. These tips will not only help you cut on your energy bill, these are also designed to prolong your heating/cooling system so that you might get the best possible service from them throughout their prolonged lifetime. 

While considering comfort as your first priority, you should keep energy efficiency in your mind too because with your little change of habit, you can contribute to saving up to 50% energy every month.

  • Moving to a more energy-efficient model: New models are more energy-efficient compared to the older ones. When purchasing, give priority to the energy-efficiency and look for energy star rated ones; using one of these unit can result in saving up to 50% of your energy bill every month. 


  • Setting thermostat sensibly: Here sensibly refers to setting the thermostat at a most possible higher temperature for the cooling unit and most possible lower temperature for the heating unit so that it does not differ too much with the outside temperature and still makes your home environment comfortably cool or warm. This practice is also highly favorable for energy saving. Besides, even if you set the temperature of the air conditioner too high, it does not necessarily mean your house will be cooled too soon. But, it will keep the machine on for unnecessarily longer time, which will take toll on the monthly bill.


  • Installing interior fans: A fan will help the cooled air to spread throughout your house, which is like taking the pressure off of your cooling unit.


  • Installing whole house fan: A whole house fan attached to the wall of your home will bring natural cool air from outside and push warm air from inside your home through the attic, making your air conditioner do the rest of cooling job faster and with spending less energy.


  • Keeping heat-emitting devices away from the thermostat of your cooling unit: Light bulbs, lamps etcetera are heat-emitting devices, if kept near thermostat, heat emitted out of these devices make cooling units stay on for unnecessary long time, which will result in excessive energy loss.


  • Keeping the heating system unblocked: Make sure the heating unit is not blocked by anything big enough to make the heat difficult to flow easily from the heating unit. 


  • Relying more on the Mother Nature and trapping natural temperature: Try to trap as much natural heat as you can by sealing all the exits like doors, windows etcetera in the time of winter. This will greatly help reducing energy usage.


  • Switching to programmable thermostat: A programmable smart thermostat can change the temperature throughout the day as you program. According to your direction it will keep changing the temperature automatically. This is a great way to make sure that energy is being saved wherever possible and whenever possible.  


HVAC in Denver doesn't have to make up almost half of your energy consumption, with a few simple tips and tricks you can cut your heating and air conditioning energy bill down quite a bit.  Or, if you do have some extra dollars to spend, you can always swap out your current heating and air system for a more energy efficient one. 




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