How to Regularly Maintain Your Air Conditioning and Heating System

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Ravinia Plumbing, Heating, and Electric in Highland Park, Illinois, is a family business that has been in Chicago since 1928. Its current president David Ariano joined the company in 1994. He currently manages 76 employees and has acquired other HVAC and plumbing companies to its portfolio. Ravinia Plumbing, Heating, and Electric has won the Carrier President’s Award six times, and it has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

David also spends his time supporting small businesses in the area. He generously shares his knowledge and experience with new contractors so that they too can succeed. He also guides homeowners on air conditioning maintenance techniques, so they can look after their systems themselves. A heating and cooling system should be checked at least twice a year. This is important because the system is constantly running and moving a lot of air through the house. Heating and cooling systems contain filters that collect dust so that the system stays clean and works efficiently.

These filters need to be replaced regularly to keep collecting as much dust as possible. If you’re using a filter that’s one-inch thick, it needs to be changed once a month. It’s better to get four-inch filters since they don’t have to be replaced more than twice a year. The one-inch filter is the most basic option to protect the system. It traps the larger dust particles, but the smaller particles end up on the wheels of the blower system, and on the evaporator coil, which is responsible for circulating the air and cooling the house. If there’s too much dust on these components, your system could be damaged permanently. Dust is responsible for causing the breakdown of most air conditioning and heating systems. Then the homeowner has to spend a lot of money to get a whole new system.

Homeowners in North Shore Chicago can do their own A/C maintenance. Anybody can change the filters; they don’t need to pay for a professional to do that. But they also need to clean the wheels on the blower system, and the evaporator coil. This is difficult for homeowners to do on their own. The evaporator coil is wrapped in a sheet of metal, and you can’t clean that without the right tools. Cleaning the outdoor condensing unit is also challenging because there’s a lot of electricity that flows through the system. A person could electrocute themselves if they’re not careful. It takes less than an amp of electricity to kill someone, and an air conditioner runs on 30-60 amps at twice the voltage. That’s why it’s very important to hire a professional instead of trying to maintain these systems yourself.

David also offered tips on how homeowners can cool their home, without using an air conditioner. He suggested blocking the sunlight that’s entering through the windows during a hot day. Too much sunlight can heat up the home a lot and then you’ll have to use more air conditioning to cool things down.

There are a lot of costs involved when it comes to repairs and David tries to help people as much as possible. As a top HVAC leader, he focuses on building trust with customers more than anything. He said that the business doesn’t need to make a lot of money on every single job. It’s more important to support people and even do some small routine work for them. He doesn’t believe in fleecing customers by pushing them to get big and expensive repairs done all the time. That’s why he shares advice on how customers can maintain their systems on their own so that they’ll have fewer breakdowns.

David said, “So, if we can help them to maintain their house properly and get more life and enjoyment out of the systems in their homes, so much the better.”

That’s what makes Ravinia Plumbing, Heating, and Electric an industry leader in all aspects regarding its customer care, and its generosity in sharing helpful maintenance tips.

Established in 1928, Ravinia Plumbing, located at 1580 Old Skokie Valley Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035 has enjoyed an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau for almost 20 years. The company has been a six-time winner of the Carrier Corp. President’s Award, a recipient of the Angie’s List Super Service Award multiple times, and is a recommended company with the prestigious Best Pick Reports.