RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Dropping temperatures have HVAC technicians getting a jumpstart ahead of the winter months. It comes as families across central North Carolina prepare for the first possible freeze of the season.

“With North Carolina, you can never predict if it’s going to be a 20-degree or an 80-degree day right now,” said Adam Parker, a service HVAC technician with Michael & Son Services. “When it’s starting to cool off, we usually see a big uptick because everyone is testing their systems. If they’re not coming on the first time, then we definitely know about it.”

Parker said business has started to pick up as their technicians do routine maintenance on HVAC systems within homes, a winter checkup. He and other technicians try to get a head start before they receive an influx of calls on their coldest days, which prevents customers from dealing with possible wait times and ensures their homes have heat when it’s needed most.

“We’re very much cleaning the systems out, testing all the heating functions, gas furnaces,” he said. “We’re making sure they’re firing up properly every time and heat pumps are switching properly over from cooling to heating.

“We’re seeing a lot of dirty furnaces that need to be regularly maintained and haven’t been for a while,” Parker continued. “The service technician said it’s a common issue he runs into, in addition to clogged drain lines in gas furnaces and failing capacitors.”

“Those capacitors are going to go out on the hottest days and the coldest days. “If [the heat pump’s] system is not running to its peak outside, it’s going to be running with their heat strips a lot, which is like a toaster oven heating your house. It has to run constant electricity through a coil to heat the house. When those start running, that’s when your energy really starts to spin.”

According to Parker, this could potentially triple or quadruple your energy costs. Routine maintenance, he said, can ensure your system is not working more than it has to and causing your energy bill to rise even more.

Parker said sealing windows and doors, insulating units in your attic, and keeping your thermostat from fluctuating are simple ways to ensure your home’s heating system remains efficient. He said turning off your heat when leaving for work or out of town for the holidays can cause the system to run for extended periods when it comes back on.

For Brad Earle, a homeowner in Durham, he said a routine check-up on his system is something he’s done before each winter season since he married and bought his first house in 1976.

“You do have issues,” he said. “Systems get older. We’ve had an issue with one of our houses where things got old and the technicians were the ones that caught it.

“It’s too late in my mind to be 28 degrees and freezing,” Earle continued. “Sometimes, it’s a simple fix. Sometimes, it’s a more expensive fix. To me, this is the way to find out.”