Short answer

How often HVAC maintenance should be done depends on the type of system you have.

If you have a furnace only, maintenance should be performed once per year. If you have both heating and air conditioning, or a heat pump system, maintenance should be performed twice per year.

Why regular maintenance actually matters

Consistent, professional maintenance by a reputable HVAC contractor is the only reliable way to understand how your system is truly performing.

Think of HVAC maintenance like an annual physical for the comfort systems in your home. It allows a technician to evaluate performance, clean critical components, and identify small issues before they turn into breakdowns.

Without regular maintenance, problems often go unnoticed until the system fails during peak heating or cooling season.

What happens when maintenance is skipped

Skipping maintenance leads to unnecessary breakdowns and uncomfortable downtime.

Just like driving a car without ever changing the oil, assuming an HVAC system will run fine without maintenance is a costly gamble. Components get dirty, parts wear down, and airflow becomes restricted. Over time, this causes systems to fail earlier than they should.

We have seen systems as young as six or seven years old that were never maintained fail to the point where they could not be repaired and had to be replaced entirely. Proper, consistent maintenance can absolutely prevent premature system failures and significantly extend the life of an HVAC system.

Does maintenance timing matter by system type?

Yes, timing matters.

Furnaces should be serviced in the fall or early winter, before the system is working its hardest. Air conditioners and heat pumps should be serviced in the spring or early summer, before cooling season begins.

This timing allows issues to be addressed before peak demand, when breakdowns are more disruptive and scheduling becomes more difficult.

Maintenance versus a tune-up

There is an important difference between professional maintenance and a “tune-up.”

Tune-ups are often used as sales calls. Professional maintenance focuses on evaluating the overall health of the system. This includes cleaning components, testing safeties, checking electrical readings, and looking for early signs of wear that could lead to a breakdown.

The goal of maintenance is prevention, not selling replacements.

Who benefits the most from regular maintenance?

All homeowners benefit from regular HVAC maintenance.

Properly maintained systems can last well beyond 20 years. Replacing a system simply because it was not maintained is a costly and unnecessary outcome in many cases. Maintenance protects comfort, reliability, and long-term value.

How Bigfoot approaches HVAC maintenance

At Bigfoot, our goal is to prevent breakdowns and keep systems running reliably through peak seasons.

We focus on proactive maintenance for our Comfort Club members and back that approach with no diagnostic fees through the program. The goal is fewer surprises, fewer emergency calls, and better long-term outcomes for homeowners.