You might think of a home as some place that needs to meet regulations, as businesses like restaurants or industrial workspaces often have to, but most homeowners are shocked to find out that homes also have regulations that they have to fit with. HVAC rulebooks can also be very daunting documents, sometimes in excess of a thousand pages, so often a professional consultant must come in and tell you whether or not you are compliant. Doing so makes sense for four very big reasons.

The first and foremost reason is the health, wellness, and safety of you and anyone else living with you. Minor HVAC conditions rarely prove life-threatening, but even medium severity issues over time can deteriorate the health of someone in the home, often in the form of respiratory ailments. Allergies can also be inflamed, and things like mold can prove dangerous if left unchecked or undiscovered. A smooth-running HVAC system doesn’t create the indoor pollution that does bad things to your lungs.

The second reason you should have a consultant see if your home meets HVAC regulations is so that you can simply continue living there. Even if problems do exist, left uncorrected, they can get so bad that local authorities force you to move out and possibly even condemn your structure. This means not only moving, but losing your home in the process. A simple inspection spares you all of this.

A third reason to see how your home stacks up in terms of HVAC regulatory compliance is if you are hoping to resell the home or even rent part of it out to anyone. Any home inspection process a potential buyer does will uncover results that are better off if you find on your own and correct before they ever know a thing. HVAC issues that you might need to get fixed prior to selling can deduct tens of thousands from your final sale price, possibly impacting the new home you want to afford.

The fourth and final reason you should have someone see if your home meets HVAC regulations is simply energy efficiency. It is not generally illegal to have older equipment and materials installed, otherwise every new regulation would cost all homeowners money every year. However, moving into compliance with current standards often means having energy efficient hardware put in that keeps your home warmer and cooler much easier depending on the season, which is reflected in far lower energy bills each month.

These are the four primary reasons you should have a professional contractor see how your home stacks up against current HVAC regulations.