5 Ways to Protect Your HVAC System During a Home Remodel

Dust is always an annoyance in your Delaware, Pennsylvania, or Maryland home. Unfortunately, it can be really damaging to your HVAC system. While most HVAC systems can handle the general levels of dust present in a home, renovation projects can create an excessive amount of dust — including gritty sawdust — that can build up in the air handler, furnace, or ducts.

Fortunately, there are five things you can do to protect your HVAC system:

1) Talk to your HVAC specialist before you start your project. An HVAC specialist can look at your system and offer personalized advice as to how you can protect your HVAC system.

2) Clean or change your air filter more often during the renovation. Your heating and cooling system will work far less efficiently with a dirty filter. Check the air filter often and consider changing it even if you don’t see any dust, since particles too small to see can still be blocking airflow. Once the renovation project is done, change the filters again and consider having the ducts cleaned.

3) Keep as much dust out as possible. Try to do messier renovation work outside, especially if sandblasting or doing anything that generates excessive dust.

4) Contain dust and debris where you can. Put plastic tarps around the renovation area and clean the area often to prevent dust from getting all over the house. Consider changing clothing or using clothes coverings to avoid tracking dust into other rooms.

5) Block off entry into your HVAC system. Closing registers and other entryways into ducts can protect your HVAC system, although it generally means you will need to keep cooling systems and heating systems off while registers are closed. Cover the registers carefully in addition to closing them to keep more dust out and to prevent debris from being swept in.

At Sobieski Services, Inc., our goal is to help our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey learn more about energy and home comfort issues – especially HVAC and plumbing issues – so that they can save money and live in healthier, more comfortable homes.

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