Your HVAC system is easy to forget about, right up until the day it quits on you. The good news is that a little upkeep spread across the year goes a long way toward avoiding those expensive, inconvenient surprises. Here’s a simple season-by-season calendar to keep your heating and cooling running smoothly all year long here in St. Louis.
Spring: Get Your AC Ready
Spring is the time to make sure your air conditioner is ready before you’re sweating through a St. Louis July. Here’s your checklist:
- Replace your air filter
- Clear leaves, grass, and debris from around the outdoor unit
- Give the unit at least two feet of clearance on all sides
- Turn the system on and test it before you actually need it
- Schedule a professional AC tune-up
Testing it now means that if something’s wrong, you find out on a mild day instead of during the first 95-degree scorcher.
Summer: Keep It Running Efficiently
Once the AC is working hard every day, your job is to help it breathe:
- Check your filter regularly, about once a month during heavy use
- Keep the outdoor unit clear of grass clippings and our famous St. Louis cottonwood
- Watch for weak airflow or air that isn’t cold, which can be an early warning sign
- Make sure the condensate drain line isn’t clogged
- Use a programmable or smart thermostat to ease the load when you’re not home
A system that can breathe and isn’t running full blast 24/7 lasts longer and costs less to run.
Fall: Switch Over to Heating
When the first cool days show up, it’s time to shift your attention to the furnace:
- Replace the filter again
- Fire up the heat on a cool day to test it before the first real cold snap
- Check your thermostat’s batteries and settings
- Make sure vents and registers are open and not blocked by furniture
- Test your carbon monoxide detectors
- Schedule a professional furnace tune-up
The whole point is to discover any problems on a comfortable fall afternoon, not at 11 pm on the coldest night of the year.
Winter: Keep the Heat Reliable
Winter is about keeping things running when you need them most:
- Keep fresh filters in the system
- Keep vents clear of rugs, furniture, and boxes
- Listen for strange noises and pay attention to any odd smells
- If you have a heat pump, keep it clear of snow and ice buildup
- Know the warning signs, like short cycling or uneven heat, and call early instead of waiting
Small problems are cheap and easy in December. The same problem ignored until January is neither.
Year-Round Habits
A few things are worth doing no matter the season:
- Change your filter on schedule. It’s the single easiest thing you can do for your system.
- Keep two feet of clearance around both your indoor and outdoor units.
- Pay attention to changes in sound, smell, and airflow. Your system usually warns you before it fails.
- Book two professional tune-ups a year, one in spring for the AC and one in fall for the furnace.
Regular maintenance isn’t just busywork. It extends the life of your equipment, keeps your energy bills down, and catches the small stuff before it turns into a big, expensive repair.
When to Call JLM
The backbone of this whole calendar is those two professional tune-ups a year. We handle spring AC checkups and fall furnace checkups, catch problems while they’re still small, and give you a free estimate if a system is ready to be replaced. You can see our full range of heating and cooling services anytime.
We proudly serve Creve Coeur, Eureka, Ballwin, and the rest of St. Louis County.
Call or text JLM at (314) 221-3149, or contact us to schedule your seasonal tune-up.
