Service on your air conditioner—not to mention your whole Olathe heating and cooling system—is not something that you can ignore. Regular service is the best way to keep your system running smoothly and efficiently without breaking down at inopportune times or costing you a fortune on your heating and cooling bill.

Some things you can do yourself, but a seasonal tune-up every spring and autumn is a good idea to keep your whole HVAC system in good working order. Fortunately, Davenport Service Company is listed as an essential business, and we're still making heating and cooling service calls to homes around Olathe and the Greater Kansas City Area. We're doing everything we can to make homeowners feel safe throughout the process and ensure proper social distancing to protect you and our employees during this time of uncertainty.

If you're curious about what we're doing before, during, and after service calls to help keep everyone safe, you can skip to the bottom of this article to read more about our step-by-step process. If you're ready to do a few things around the house to help keep your Olathe heating and cooling system in ship shape this spring, here are some things you can do yourself to get started:

Read up on the subject. Start with your owner's manual, if you still have it. If not, a Google search for the manufacturer and model number of your water heater, furnace or A/C unit can often turn up the owner's manual in PDF form online. If you still have specific questions, look for reputable blog articles, including the ones we upload here at the Davenport website.

Perform a visual inspection. You probably don't spend a lot of time looking at your home HVAC system, but it turns out there's a lot you can see that can tell you what your air conditioner needs. Is the A/C unit level? Is it clear of debris or foliage? Does it sound right when it kicks on? You'll need to examine more than just the A/C unit itself. Look at exposed ductwork and vents/registers and see if there are any holes, cracks, blockages, or defects.

Change your HVAC system filter. Some call it a furnace filter, and others call it the air filter. No matter what you call it, all the air that comes through your vents, whether it's hot or cold, flows through it. Your filter should be replaced every month or so to keep your HVAC system running optimally. Not sure what rating of filter you need? Davenport Service Company can help choose the filter that's right for you.

Clear the area around your air conditioner or heat pump. Remember when you were doing that visual inspection and we asked if there were any weeds, leaves, or other debris left over from the winter months around your air conditioner? Now's the time to clear those away. There should be at least a two-foot-wide clear area on every side of your air conditioner or heat pump in order for it to operate efficiently.

Vacuum the fins of your A/C unit. Use a soft-bristled brush on your vacuum cleaner to clean the outside of your air conditioner, but DO NOT try to open it up or vacuum the inside. Leave those kinds of jobs to the pros at Davenport Service Company.

Adjust your programmable thermostat. If you're like most people, you and your family are probably spending a lot more time at home lately. Even if you're not, it's always a good idea to take a look at the settings on your programmable thermostat when the seasons change. Make sure that your thermostat is set at temperatures that keep the place comfortable without putting a strain on your system. If you don't already have a learning thermostat such as a Nest, now's a good time to consider upgrading.

Clean your vents and registers. Even if they didn't look dirty during your visual inspection, it's a good idea to vacuum or at least dust the vents and registers throughout your house when the seasons change. This will not only help to maximize air flow, it will also cut down on the amount of particulate matter that's circulating through your HVAC system. Doing this can be a lifesaver during allergy season, especially when we're dealing with shortages of things like Kleenex and other supplies.

Control heat with your windows and blinds. Your windows have a big impact on the temperature of your home, and not just when they're open. To keep your home cool during the spring and summer, close the windows and keep the blinds drawn during the hottest part of the day. This goes double for rooms that are facing the sun.

Change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. We don't spend a lot of time thinking about these detectors when they're not going off, but keeping up to date with the batteries can save lives, and it'll save you from that annoying "low battery" beep in the middle of the night.

Know when to make the call. Like we said, there are some things you can do yourself, but working around electricity can be dangerous, and performing even routine maintenance on something as complex as your HVAC system requires a knowledge of its inner workings that is probably best left to the experts. It's important to know when to call in the pros. If you're already on a routine maintenance schedule with our Davenport VIP program, you won't even have to call. We'll call you to schedule a perfect time to check out your HVAC system, change the filter, and do all the things that are needed to keep your air conditioner running smoothly.

We're here to help, and we're taking all the necessary precautions! Davenport Service Company has been providing "Customer First" Olathe heating and cooling service for more than forty years. We know that the folks in the Greater Kansas City Area are staying home right now to help keep themselves, their loved ones, and their neighbors safe. We also know that you can't control when your air conditioner needs service, and we're here to help.

Our technicians all wear gloves and masks, practice good social distancing, and sanitize everything where we work, whether that's in your home, at our offices, and especially in our trucks. If you don't want someone to hand you a ticket or any paperwork, we can email one to you, and you can call in to pay.

Whether you need air conditioner service, require a tune-up, or just need to know which air filters you should buy, Davenport Service Company is here to help and answer all your questions while maintaining your safety and ours, of course. Just give us a call at 913-441-2222 today. We're here for you!