The blower is an integral part of your HVAC system, and its role is to control airflow. It turns on the fan that forces conditioned air from the furnace, heat pump or air conditioner through the ducts to various spaces in your home or commercial building. This air circulation is critical to maintaining comfortable temperature and humidity levels throughout your spaces.
As a mechanical device with moving parts, your blower motor’s efficiency and longevity will largely depend on proper maintenance. With the help of our HVAC professionals at Polar Air & Heating, Inc. in Las Vegas, NV, you can look forward to enjoying all the benefits of keeping up with your blower motor’s maintenance.
Improved Energy Efficiency
The buildup of dust, dirt and debris, such as pet dander, on your blower motor will cause it to work even harder to circulate air. The increased workload will drive up your HVAC system’s energy consumption, leaving you with higher utility bills. Cleaning and properly maintaining the blower motor will significantly improve its efficiency by eliminating the clogging. This increased efficiency will reduce how much energy your HVAC system consumes at any one time, allowing you to realize considerable energy costs.
Improved Air Quality
Your HVAC system’s blower motor circulates heated or cooled air throughout your spaces. If left unchecked, the buildup of dust, dirt and other contaminants on the various blower motor components will only be recirculated into your spaces. The resulting poor indoor air quality can cause many health problems, from triggering allergic reactions to causing or contributing to the development of respiratory infections.
Proper maintenance through cleaning your blower motor helps remove these contaminants. You can enjoy improved air quality and look forward to all the health benefits of breathing cleaner air. Members of your household and visitors alike will be happy to spend more time in your home when the indoor air quality is great. Employees and customers at your business will feel the same.
Consistent Comfort
Restricted airflow due to poor blower maintenance will affect the comfort levels in your home or office. On the other hand, you can expect your HVAC system to maintain the desired temperature in your spaces if your blower motor is working as it should to move around air.
Also, it’s not enough to simply have your HVAC system push out conditioned air. Proper maintenance keeps your blower motor and fan distributing conditioned air evenly throughout your spaces, so you can enjoy consistent, year-round comfort throughout your living or working environment.
Quieter System Operation
Clogging from dust, dirt, and debris can cause your blower motor to produce unusual noises, such as a loud hum, as it strains to perform its role. Cleaning your blower motor will eliminate the noise. Similarly, failing to lubricate your blower motor can make it produce a screeching sound as it runs. Maintaining the motor by oiling it will restore quiet operation.
The loud bang or rattle is an even more annoying sound your blower motor may produce. The loud banging noise from your furnace is often because of the mounts on your blower motor. Tightening the mounts as part of your blower motor maintenance program should solve this problem and restore your HVAC system’s quiet operation.
Restoring your blower motor’s quiet operation allows you to continue enjoying the peace and quiet in your spaces. Whether you are working from home or looking to enjoy a relaxing couple of houses at home, you will not have to worry about these disruptive noises. In a commercial setting, the loud noises can distract your staff, adversely affecting their productivity.
Assured Safety
Inefficiencies resulting from poor blower maintenance, including failure to clean dust and debris buildup and inadequate lubrication, can cause the motor to overheat, posing serious safety risks. Another common cause of overheating in blower motors is loose connections.
The buildup of dust and debris can be a fire hazard if the motor consistently overheats. Regularly cleaning away this buildup and keeping up with other activities on the blower maintenance checklist eliminates these safety hazards. Your spaces will be comfortable and safe.
Extended Lifespan
While the make and model of the blower motor will greatly influence its longevity, these motors can last as long as your furnace. Improved efficiency resulting from proper blower motor maintenance can significantly improve the lifespan of your motor and the entire HVAC system.
If your blower motor is not constantly overworking, it will experience less wear and tear. By sticking to a regular maintenance program, you can delay replacing your blower motor by a couple of years, which is a great cost saver.
Reduced Repair Costs
Preventive maintenance for your HVAC system’s blower motor is generally less expensive than the corrective maintenance and repairs you must perform when the motor breaks down. Depending on the severity of the problem, repairs may no longer be an option, and you will be forced to dig even deeper into your pocket to replace blower motor components or the motor itself.
By enhancing the motor’s efficiency, proper maintenance reduces the risk of breakdowns. The HVAC technicians can catch issues early on before they become a major problem that requires extensive repairs. Some of these repairs can be quite costly, so maintenance will save you money.
Comprehensive Blower Motor Maintenance in 3 Categories
Your blower motor’s routine maintenance program covers scheduled inspection of components that are leading indicators of potential failure. This includes routinely inspecting and maintaining the condition of the shaft seals and that of the lubricant and bearing. Routine maintenance also involves ensuring there’s no blockage on the return air registers and replacing air filters.
The quarterly blower motor maintenance program include cleaning the motor of dust and assuring proper belt tensioning. The HVAC professionals will also look out for cracks and any other signs of physical damage on the blower motor’s fan blades.
A comprehensive annual maintenance program involves visual inspections and performing several tests to ascertain the condition of your blower motor. From checking the surface temperature of the bearings and the state of the motor mounts to using feeler gauges to check the gap between your blower motor’s stator and rotor, this annual maintenance is thorough.
Each category of blower motor maintenance programs is equally important and requires technical expertise. For this reason, it’s best to leave all your maintenance needs to trained and experienced professionals. DIY mistakes can be costly to fix when you finally decide to call an expert, and they may affect your motor’s longevity.
Schedule Your Blower Motor Maintenance With Trusted Experts Today
Regular maintenance can help catch blower motor problems in the early stages or keep them from occurring in the first place. Our HVAC professionals are well-trained and experienced in performing routine checks, as well as quarterly and annual maintenance, so we’ll make sure your blower motor runs efficiently and for longer.
Of course, the blower motor is just one part of a complex system. Our team of NATE-certified technicians is well-versed in whole-system maintenance for HVAC systems. We offer professional heating and air conditioning installation, repairs and maintenance services in Las Vegas, NV and the surrounding Silver State and Clark County areas. Our indoor air quality experts also offer a comprehensive range of air improvement services.
Contact us at Polar Air & Heating, Inc. today to schedule your maintenance visit and get answers to any questions about maintaining your blower motor.
