When it comes to servicing your air conditioning unit, you don’t want to wait until you notice a problem. Instead, you should invest in regular preventative maintenance, which has both monthly and annual components.
As spring and summer temperatures rise, so can your electricity bill, due to increased reliance on your air conditioning unit to keep your home or business cool and comfortable. Performing proper cleaning and maintenance before hot weather begins can often reduce your cooling costs by ensuring that your unit is running at peak efficiency. Here are a few of the most important maintenance services that your air conditioner needs each spring. Some of them can be accomplished on your own, while others require the assistance of a professional cooling technician.
Condenser Coil Cleaning
Dirty condenser coils interfere with your air conditioner’s ability to transfer heat out of your home, which in turn reduces the unit’s efficiency and overall cooling ability. In order to prevent this, you need to clean the coils once per year. The best time to clean the coils is in the spring, before you begin using the air conditioner heavily. If you want to clean the coils yourself, you can remove the cover and go over the coils with a soft-bristled brush, paying special attention to the inside of the coils. You can get a more thorough cleaning by hiring a qualified technician to clean the coils, either by spraying them with compressed air or with a commercial grade cleaner and a garden hose.
Drain Line Vacuuming
As air conditioners cool on humid days, they produce water, which is disposed of through their drain lines. Naturally, if the drain line becomes clogged, the condensate produced by the air conditioner will not drain properly. This could cause the inside of your air conditioner to grow mold, which would give you poor air quality inside your home. Clogged drains could even lead to water damage inside the walls of your home. In order to prevent this, have a technician cap one end of the drain line and then use a high-pressure vacuum to clean out the drain line. Again, this service should be performed at the beginning of the air conditioning season.
Filter Replacement
Air conditioners are constantly cycling air in and out in order to cool it. As they do so, they also take in and airborne particles such as dust, lint, or allergens that might be floating around in the air inside your home. In order to keep your air conditioner’s intake unobstructed and its output fresh and clean, you need to replace the filters regularly. It’s always good to start out the season with a fresh filter. After that, you should check the filter each month and replace or clean it as needed.