The Las Vegas Fall HVAC Checklist: What to Do Before You Switch to Heating

There’s a brief window in Las Vegas (usually sometime in October) when you realize the AC hasn’t run in a few days and the nights are getting cooler. That transition period, as short as it is, is one of the best times of year to give your HVAC system the attention it’s earned after a brutal cooling season, and to make sure the heating side is ready before you actually need it. In Las Vegas, “needing” heat can go from zero to urgent in just days. Here’s your HVAC fall checklist.

Change the Filter

Your air filter has been working hard. Six or seven months of continuous summer operation in a desert means the filter you have now is more than ready to be retired, even if you changed it mid-summer.

Test the Heat Before You Need It

The worst time to discover your furnace isn’t working is the first cold night you need it. Heating systems that have sat unused since spring can have failed igniters or pilot light issues.

Turn the thermostat to heat and set it a few degrees above room temperature, then let it run for five to 10 minutes. You’re listening for normal operation and checking for warm air from the vents. A burning smell for the first few minutes is normal as dust burns off the heat exchanger; a burning smell that sticks around is not. If something’s not right, get a technician out.

Inspect the Outdoor Unit

Your condenser unit has been running hard all summer and is now heading into its off-season. Before it sits idle for months, take a few minutes to check around it. Clear leaves and anything that’s accumulated around the base or against the coil fins during monsoon season. Check that the fins aren’t visibly bent or clogged.

Las Vegas winters are mild enough that covering the unit is unnecessary and can trap moisture and invite pests, but a quick look and cleanup takes the load off the next startup.

Clear and Check Your Vents

Walk through the house and make sure supply and return vents are open and aren’t blocked. Over the summer, furniture and rugs get rearranged, and supply vents occasionally end up blocked, which affects airflow.

Also check any vent filters or covers you may have added. These are popular in Las Vegas homes with pets and kids, but they add static pressure to the system and need to be cleaned more frequently than most people think.

Schedule Your Fall HVAC Tune-Up

A fall HVAC service should focus on inspecting the heat exchanger for cracks, checking the igniter, verifying gas pressure and combustion, testing safety switches, and making sure that the blower is operating correctly in heating mode. For heat pump owners, the technician verifies the reversing valve is working.

This is also a good time to address anything that came up during the summer. Getting those things handled in the fall gives you time to order parts and schedule follow-up work without any urgency pressure.

Our AC maintenance and heating repair teams are ready to help. Schedule your appointment today.