To gauge performance and schedule timely repairs, you need to understand and measure the efficiency of your HVAC system and act accordingly. Measuring the performance of your HVAC system is a good way to know when you need air duct cleaning or when you need to call in AC maintenance and repair services to perform a tune-up.

Gauging the efficiency of your HVAC system is as simple as measuring the output of the system and comparing it against the performance promised by the manufacturer. Today, we’ll look at some of the simplest ways to measure the performance of your HVAC system.

Measure the BTUs of your System

A BTU is the British Thermal Unit – a scientific measure for heat. All HVAC companies promise certain numbers when it comes to the BTUs of a system. To ensure that your gas furnace is outputting the right amount of heat, you can purchase special machines that will allow you to measure the output BTU. Once you’ve got a measure of the BTU of your HVAC system, you can compare it with the original listed performance by the manufacturer and judge whether your HVAC system has dropped in efficiency. If you think getting a machine to measure the BTU output is not a viable option, you can always call in your local AC maintenance & repair services to come and measure the output for you. After they’ve determined that your efficiency is lower, they will propose ways to fix the problem.

Measure the Efficiency of Your HVAC by Monitoring Airflow from the Vents

Airflow is essential in ensuring that different parts of your home receive equal amounts of conditioned air. Therefore, poor airflow is a good indication of something going wrong within your HVAC system. A few things can result in poor airflow include:

1.       Clogged Air Vents: Dirty and clogged air vents impede airflow and will require cleaning or replacement before you can restore normal airflow. This is the easiest thing to fix among the many problems which lead to poor airflow in your HVAC system.

2.       Damaged or Leaky Air Ducts: Due to rodent damage or other pests, you might find yourself with a damaged or leaky air duct. In this case, you will have to hire AC repair specialists to perform air duct repair or replacement, depending on the damage. Once they’ve finished their repairs, your HVAC system will return to regular airflow.

3.       Damaged System: Over years of operation, your HVAC system will gradually drop in performance. Because of this, you might end up with poor airflow with parts of your house not getting conditioned air. In this case, getting an HVAC tune-up can help you restore the system into a better operation state – with improved airflow.

One simple way of determining whether your HVAC system has poor airflow is to walk around different areas of your house and check for inconsistent temperature levels. In addition to this, you can stand close to an air vent and listen intently to the airflow. This will allow you to roughly judge whether air is flowing properly out of the vents and the amount of force behind the air. Finally, to get a concrete assessment, you should call in AC repair services.

Measuring Efficiency by Gauging the Temperature

Another simple way of measuring HVAC performance is measuring the temperature in different parts of your house. Here, if your HVAC system has dropped in efficiency or is not performing well, you will notice irregular temperatures or sudden temperature changes in many places in your home. That is, depending on how fast an area of your house cools down or heats up, you might have an inefficient HVAC system in your hand. A properly functioning HVAC system should be able to steadily deliver conditioned air and maintain a steady temperature in an area.

Conclusion

If you think your HVAC system is not performing up to the mark, you can try any of these methods to measure its efficiency. From there, you can take steps to remedy any issues your HVAC system or the various central ac units within it might have. This is where you can rely on your local HVAC maintenance and repair companies to come to your air. They can repair your air ducts, provide a general tune-up, or replace your air filters with better ones to boost HVAC efficiency.

See the summary here in an infographic – 3 Primary Causes behind Poor Airflow from HVAC System [Infographic]

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