The Fall Stretch: Why Your HVAC System Works Overtime This Time Of Year In The Lowcountry (And What You Can Do To Avoid Any Issues)
Published by Katy Wall on
With fall easing into the Lowcountry, it’s the time of year when many folks start gathering up their cool weather gear.
With temperature lows dipping nearly 10°F from September to October, it makes for some especially chilly mornings here in the Charleston area.
Relative to other parts of the country, lows around 50°F are quite mild (even warm in some parts of the US), but here in the Southeast it makes for some really cold overnights and mornings.
Those temperatures aren’t just experienced by your family, friends and even pets – they’re also felt by your home’s HVAC system.
Cool Overnights & Mornings
This time of year, those cool overnights and mornings mean that your home’s heating system will need to be engaged in order to keep you and your family warm.
Kicking on your heating system – whether you have a traditional furnace system or a heat pump system (more on that below) may cause any lingering issues from the previous heating season to get worse.
These lingering issues can ultimately result in decreased performance – and even total failure in some cases.
Warm, Humid Days & Afternoons
After the morning chill wears off, our usual warm, humid days can return, meaning your HVAC system will need to go from heating to cooling – on a dime.
Again, depending on the system type you have, this fast switching between heating and cooling can cause any issues that were present before this time of year to develop into larger issues – leaving you short on both ends of the heating and cooling spectrum.
Especially Hard On Heat Pump Systems
Heat pump systems – which can both cool and warm your home – can be especially stretched this time of year.
While a standalone furnace & traditional central AC system combination can keep issues separated between the two independent system setups, a heat pump system bears the load during both heating and cooling operation.
Heat pump systems are designed nicely for this switch, but again if any lingering issue from the summertime peak load season pushes into the fall, this operation switching can push those issues beyond simple repairs.
Sign Up & Schedule Your Maintenance
As you can tell, this time of year can put a lot of local HVAC systems in peril with the heating & cooling temperature swings.
One thing you can do to stay out ahead of any issues this time of year is by signing up for an annual preventative maintenance plan for your system (or systems).
Preventative maintenance plans have a lot of benefits, but most important, during inspections your HVAC technician can catch any potential issues ahead of them becoming much larger issues down the road.
With a proper maintenance plan – and any issues evaluated and fixed – you should feel very comfortable switching from heating to cooling.
If you find yourself feeling worried about your system this fall, reach out to your favorite local HVAC company – they’ll have the experience, tools and insights you need to stay cool (and warm) this fall.
