Your HVAC System And Your Pets
As you probably know, owning a pet can change your life in unusual ways. But did you know that your pet can affect your air conditioning and heating system too? All pets come with dander, which can pose a serious problem with regards to indoor air quality. Besides, shedding animals can damage HVAC units in a number of ways. Although we agree that it can seem like common sense, some homeowners forget to be extra careful with their HVAC system. R.F. Ohl is here to help by offering high-quality heating and cooling services for your HVAC systems. Easton PA homeowners benefit from annual maintenance so that their systems work well even if they have lots of furry pets.
By being aware of your HVAC systems…
around your pets, it will perform well and keep your home comfortable. This in turn, keeps you and your pets happy. In this article, we will discuss what do you need to do to keep your system functioning normally while keeping your household happy, including your fur babies.
Safeguard Your Equipment
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If you have a male dog or cat, you’re already familiar with your pet’s habit to mark his territory. This isn’t much of a problem until the animal chooses your outdoor condensing unit as their target. Should this happen, the coils will degrade and stand a higher likelihood of losing refrigerant after coming into contact with the urine. The best way to avoid this is to erect a fence around the outdoor components of your HVAC system.
Installing a special cage around the equipment is another way to pet-proof it. Whatever you do, ensure that your pet will never claw, urinate or chew on any parts of your air conditioner. However, remember to leave enough room around the equipment to allow sufficient airflow. Airflow is critical for the performance of your AC system.
How Does Your Pet Affect Indoor Air Quality?
Hair and dander from your pet can degrade air quality inside your home and the efficiency of your HVAC system as well.
In particular, the material can accumulate to the point where it clogs up the air filters inside the equipment. This affects the efficiency of these components, which in turn forces, the entire system to work harder and consume more energy as a result. You can avoid such problems by:-
- Cleaning your pet thoroughly from time to time. This minimizes the amount of dander and hair that the animal sheds
- Cleaning the entire house regularly.
- Changing your unit’s air filters frequently to maintain high efficiency. While you may already be doing this, you might need to change the filters on a monthly basis if you keep several animals in your home. Remember to have the filters checked every once in a while, and replace them as soon as they start to accumulate dirt.
- Don’t forget to a heater and AC tune-up by a qualified HVAC contractor at least once a year.
Adjust Your Thermostat Accordingly
As you prepare to go from one annual season to the next, it’s important to adjust your thermostat in order to save energy. This is something most homeowners do, but it’s important to remember the well being of your pets as you change the settings on your thermostat. So take a look at the kind of pets you have, and determine the particular settings that will keep them safe and comfortable.
Although dogs have the ability to adapt to wide variations in temperature, keep in mind that extreme changes may increase their risk of falling victim to certain diseases. As such, you must make sure you supply enough drinking water before you can raise the thermostat’s temperature settings. Also, see if they’re comfortable at the temperature you’ve set by observing their behaviors.
If they start panting constantly and drinking more water than they normally do, this could be a sign that the temperature is too high. Other animals, such as amphibians and reptiles, have the ability to adjust body temperature depending on conditions within their surroundings. Owners of such pets should thus take extra caution when adjusting their thermostats.
HVAC Systems Easton PA
As a pet owner, you already know that your animal needs to be cared for. They need to be fed, given water, cleaned and given lots of positive attention on a daily basis.
Having a pet in your home means you should take extra care of your HVAC unit.
So take the required measures to protect your equipment and maintain the quality of your indoor air. Don’t forget to schedule regular tune-ups for your HVAC system to maintain efficiency and reliable performance.
For professional air conditioner maintenance, contact R.F. Ohl. Our certified HVAC technicians will get your cooling system or heater working at its highest efficiency so that you don’t have to pay the expensive energy costs associated with a poorly functioning system. Also, you home will feel much more comfortable. For a more detailed list of our home services, click here.
We service Bath PA 18014, Bethlehem PA 18015, Durham PA 18039, Easton PA 18040, Hellertown PA 18055, Kintnersville PA 18930, Martins Creek PA 18063, Nazareth PA 18064, Riegelsville PA 18077, Springtown PA 18081, Stockertown PA 18083, and Tatamy PA 18085. We also service all of Carbon County, Monroe County, Lehigh County, Northampton County, and Schuylkill County.
R.F. Ohl is an Authorized Bryant Dealer. This means that R.F. Ohl has fulfilled a rigorous set of standards that Bryant has set forth to achieve such a designation. These requirements are based on knowledge in the HVAC industry, proper certifications, positive customer experiences, and much more. When you work with R.F. Ohl, you can feel confident that you’re getting the best local heating and cooling contractors available. Bryant products are considered top of the line. Click here to learn more about Bryant heating and cooling systems.
Contact us today or give us a call at (610) 377-1098 if you have any questions.