Doing this at least once or twice a year is sure to maximize the life expectancy of your refrigeration appliances.
Installing a soft starter to smooth out the huge momentary rush in power the compressor motor experiences as it starts up. Thats by far the most impactful thing you can do to increase fridge lifespan to the point fridge manufacturers factor it in rush current in planned obsolescence calculations.
The problem is that soft starter kits are expensive and you need to be competent enough with electricity to wire it in.
wait, no one told me about the schedule!
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
Damn, that reminds me I need to change the HVAC filter!
Is there a good way to see if the current filter is running less efficiently, or do you just change it every 6 - 12 months regardless?
Every 6 months. But I slacked this year and didn’t change them out before summer. So I’m going to start fresh now, and then change at the beginning of summer, and then again next year around Thanksgiving.
You should really be changing them once a month
I get the extra thicc accordion style and I replace them at the manufacturer-suggested 6 months. The duct cleaners told me it should be done every 4 months, but he also said our duct weren’t too bad and I hadn’t had it done in like 6 years, so…
Duct cleaning is a scam fyi
Oh really? What makes you say that? I can see some buildup of lint past the returns and vents, but of course I can’t see very far.
It’s a scam because as you just pointed out they can only clear the registers and can’t get very far into the ducts.
In most houses ducts have a lot of twists and turns. Some times your ducts will split off from the heavy sheet metal ducts and go down correlated tubes, etc.
It’s damned near impossible to clean the entire ducts and even trying could mean damaging a part of the duct you can’t even access.
The duct cleaners will try to convince you that they can clean every nook and cranny of your hvac system.
They clean like 20% of your ducts and call it good. It’s pointless.
Save the money and clean your own registers with some soap and water. The ducts won’t get cleaned anyway.
Thank you, I’ll read up on it more.
Uh oh, me too. I hate doing it! Plus, filters are expensive if you get the good ones.
You dont need the good ones. In fact, sometimes the good ones can damage your HVAC system. If you use 3M filters, use the red label, not the purple label.
Don’t I want a HEPA filter for better air quality, especially if I have a dog?
What i was told by an HVAC guy who was at my house to fix an issue was those more expensive filters make the system work harder as the filters limit airflow and that additional workload can cause issues.
physics wise that makes sense but modern systems should* be designed taking into account the air resistance of their specified filters
older or for any other reason more weak airflow systems probably do benefit from a less dense filter
*lol “should” means so little these days
Nope. HVAC systems are not designed around filters. It’s the other way around. After market filters are designed around marketing and grabbing at your wallet, not caring about your hvac system.
High density filters are going to reduce air flow and your blow motor will be working over time.
Eventually you’ll wear your blower motor out and it will need to be replaced.
The world is full of shitty products. The onus is on you to sort through it.
this also makes sense, hmm.
is the best bet to examine the blower specs and find a corresponding filter grade?
where’s that Alec guy when you need him…
Can you define older, or modern? Like how old is too old to have been designed for HEPA filters?
I cannot because I’m just a goofball with a mild interest in home improvement
Wikipedia says HEPA filters became commercially available in the 1950s though so anything older than that I’d bet some beer money would benefit from a less dense filter
I wouldn’t think forced air heating systems that old are too common though tbh
I’ve had refrigerators all my life and never heard of cleaning their vent. How do I do this?
It’s more the fan in the compressor/condenser in the back, hah. I just said vent because it was simpler for a title.
First, get some headlight fluid from Home Depot.
