Heating And AC Repair When You Own A Pet | Dallas, TX

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When it comes to owning a pet you already know that they’re the most important creature in your life. You want to make sure that they’re well taken care of and they have everything they need. But that doesn’t mean that you want to completely ignore what you need. And one of the things that your pet may be interfering with is your heating and AC unit. In fact, they may be leading you to a whole lot more heating and AC repair.

What You Need to Know About Your Pets and Heating and AC Repair

The truth is there are a lot of different things that you should know when it comes to owning pets. And when we talk specifically about your air quality and your HVAC system your pets are going to play a big role in both. After all, you want to make sure that they are comfortable, but you may not realize just how much your pets are actually causing you problems with your HVAC system and potentially leading to even more heating and AC repair needs. Which is why you need to follow a few important steps.

Replace Your Filter

The filter you use on your HVAC system is designed to last a set number of months, but that’s variable based on a number of different factors. If you have pets you’re going to need to replace the filter more frequently because there’s more dust and debris getting in the way. It’s going to be going through the air and into your vents and clogging up the filter a whole lot faster than every three months or so. That means you need to check the filter as often as once a month (or more) depending on how many pets that you have to avoid some of the Dallas, TX heating and AC repair.

If you have several pets and especially if they are long haired pets or they tend to shed a lot you’ll need to change the filter frequently to make sure that it doesn’t get clogged. You may even want to switch to a reusable filter that costs more upfront but can be cleaned and used for a long time. These can save you a lot of money in the long run and taking care of the filter regularly will reduce the amount of heating and AC repair that you have to do in order to keep your system running.

Vacuum the House

Another way you can help reduce your heating and AC repair is to make sure that you’re vacuuming up as much of the pet hair and debris as you possibly can. This is going to help you keep all that debris from getting into the vents in the first place because you’re getting rid of it before it can get into the vents. You’ll want to vacuum your home frequently, so you don’t end up with a lot of pet debris throughout the house that gets sucked into the vents.

The more animals you have the more frequently you’re going to have to vacuum, which could mean as much as every other day or even every day. Cats and dogs especially that shed a lot will leave behind a whole lot of extra dander that can get into the vents and clog up your filters. If you are diligent about vacuuming you won’t have to worry quite as much about it, and that can save you some of the heating and AC repair in Dallas, TX that you might otherwise have to do because of the overload on your HVAC system.

Groom Frequently

If you have pets that shed a lot it’s a good idea to groom them frequently to make sure they’re not losing as much hair throughout the house. Grooming will get rid of a lot of the loose fur without leaving it scattered around, which means you can throw it out rather than having to vacuum as much or having it all getting directly into the vents. This is going to be a whole lot more convenient for you and it’s going to allow you to spend a little time bonding with your pets as well.

A lot of pets enjoy the grooming process and will enjoy being brushed and bathed. And it doesn’t take a lot of time, especially if you’re doing it frequently. Instead, you just take a few minutes each day to brush your pet and then clean out the brush. This will help you have a few minutes of relaxing too during the day. And just that few minutes is going to make a huge difference in the way that your pets feel and the amount of heating and AC repair that you need to do as a result of all of their dirt and debris getting into the vents.

Clean the Air Ducts

If you want to make sure that you’re cutting down on heating and AC repair you should also make sure that you’re cleaning out the air ducts in your home. You will need a professional to take care of this but it’s something that should be done regularly to make sure that your ducts stay clear of dirt, dust and debris. After all, not everything that gets sucked into the vents actually makes it to the filter. Much of it gets stuck somewhere in the vents and it stays there until you get them cleaned.

That dirt and debris can slow down your HVAC system making it less efficient and that causes a need for more heating and AC repair. After all, if your system has to work harder to do the same job it’s going to wear out a lot faster. You’ll also want to make sure that you clean out the ducts because that pet dander can get blown back out and around your house again. That can cause you problems with allergies or asthma if you’re not careful. Even if you usually don’t notice a problem with pet dander, too much of it building up will likely be a problem.

Watch Out for Chewing

Chances are you’ve caught your pets chewing on something that they shouldn’t at least once in a while. So, what do you do? Well, the best thing that you can do is try to keep them from chewing, especially on any cords and wires associated with your Dallas, TX HVAC system. If they chew through these wires it could be dangerous for them and it’s going to mean some important heating and AC repairs for you as well so you can get the system working again.

Make sure you cover any cords and wires that you can or block off areas that you don’t want your pets to get into. Remember that cats especially can jump higher and farther than you might think, so protecting wires will be a little more difficult with them. No matter what kind of pet you’re protecting your system against, however, you want to make sure that they can’t get into anything that they shouldn’t. For some this means closing up the HVAC in a closet or back area that the pets don’t need to be in, but you want to make sure you are checking out all of the options to avoid heating and AC repair.

Lower The Temperature

When you’re at home you want the heat or air conditioning to be set at a temperature that’s comfortable for you. In general that means you’ll have it at least in the high 60’s. But your pets don’t need that much heat (or cool). When the weather is warm they can do well down in the low 60’s. And when the weather is warm they’re okay in the mid 70’s. That means you can turn your thermostat down when your pets are going to be home but you’re not.

The important thing is that you set your thermostat to stay at a set temperature. If you have it set to that temperature throughout the day while you’re not home and then it goes up (or down) when you get home and stays there it’s going to be better than if you’re constantly turning the temperature up and down throughout the day. And that’s going to mean less heating and AC repair needs. Even better, your pets are going to be totally fine with it. They’re not going to be concerned about the temperature difference because they can stay comfortable with a wider temperature variance than you can.

Set Up an Air Purifier

An air purifier can help you with a number of different factors but the most important part is getting rid of some more of the pet dander and dirt. It will help to clean the air that you breathe, which makes it a whole lot easier for you to breathe. Not only that but it will help your pet as well. After all, breathing in their own dirt and dust isn’t really good for them either. And you’ll be cleaning the air before it gets into the Dallas, TX HVAC system, which is better for heating and AC repair needs.

Make sure that the air purifier you get is large enough to handle the space that it needs to purify. If you get something that’s too small it will be on all the time and it won’t be able to do what it needs to do. On the other hand, if you get something too large you could still damage the unit even though it doesn’t need to run all the time. The key is getting what you actually need to balance out the use and the cost. Not to mention improve your heating and AC repair needs.

Enclose Your Outdoor Unit

If you have an outdoor AC unit you may want to look into enclosing it so that your pets and other pets don’t get into it. The unit needs to be protected so that it doesn’t suffer from general damage from pests in the neighborhood as well as pets. Plus, you want to protect it from the weather or from things like the occasional thrown ball or falling branch. So, enclose the unit to make sure that nothing is going to get into it. There are special enclosures that are designed for your AC unit and will protect it from different kinds of damage, which also means heating and AC repair.

When you enclose the unit you’re going to cut down on heating and AC repair that is needed for the physical components of the unit. You could also protect some of the components from suffering other types of damage as a result. The key is to make sure that the enclosure is solid and that you keep an eye on it to make sure that it’s not punctured or damaged. You want to make sure that you are aware of any animals that might try to get into it as well.

What To Do Next

When it comes to protecting your home from damage by pets and especially your HVAC system there are plenty of things that you can and should do. Your pets aren’t necessarily good at doing what they need to do in order to protect your home, so it’s going to be up to you to do what you can and cut down on the potential problems like too much pet hair and dander that get into the HVAC system and wreak havoc once they are there, which leads to heating and AC repair for you.

Contact a professional to get even more help and advice about what you could do to keep pet hair from causing you too much Dallas, TX heating and AC repair. You might be surprised just what your pets could be doing to your system and how much improvement you could make in a very short time. All you need to do is give us a call at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Dallas. You’ll get everything that you need to improve the air quality in your home and make sure that your HVAC system is running at the best possible levels. And it will only take a few minutes of your time each day.