Your home's furnace and air conditioner should work for years before you need to have either one repaired or serviced, but how you maintain your home and these units will be very important for their overall performance. Taking the time to ensure that they're functioning optimally and that you're maintaining them as you should will help to keep them running for years. Note a few simple tips on how to do this that many homeowners often overlook. 

Vent the attic

Heat rises and may get trapped in the attic if your home isn't properly vented. Adding a vent to the attic can allow heat to escape during summer months so that your air conditioner doesn't need to work so hard. If you notice that your attic feels very humid during summer, you might also want to add a dehumidifier to the space. Having too much humidity trapped in your home can make it feel uncomfortable and, in turn, you may run the air conditioner more often. This puts added wear and tear on the motor and all other parts. By adding a vent or even an attic fan, you can keep your home cooler and more comfortable and reduce the load on the air conditioner.

Get an electrostatic filter

An electrostatic filter is one that uses an electric charge to actually attract dust, dirt, hair, and other debris. This means better filtering than simply using a mesh screen to capture particles, as even the best mesh filter will still allow many particles to pass through. With an electrostatic filter, not only will the air you breathe be cleaner, but this will also mean less dust and dirt that is kicked back to the furnace and air conditioner, reducing the work it needs to do to blow air through the ductwork of your home.

Clear the space outside

You may know to remove leaves, grass clipping, twigs, and other debris from around the air conditioner unit or heat pump outside your home, but you need to clear more space as well. These units need to have proper air circulation around them to keep the parts inside from overheating. If you allow debris to build up even within a few feet or meters of these parts, this can cause them to overheat and work harder. Keep the entire area clear, not just the grill of the air conditioner or the heat pump itself, so these pieces can work properly.

For more tips or help with maintenance, contact a local heating and air conditioning company.