Your air conditioner probably isn’t a part of your home that you’re considering now, but you shouldn’t let yourself take it for granted. Keep this essential part of your home in mind to maintain your air conditioner running efficiently and prevent unexpected breakdowns.
How to Maintain Your Air Conditioner
According to Sansone Air Conditioning, a Boca Raton AC repair company, “particularly for businesses and homes with infants and the elderly, going even a few days without air conditioning can be dangerous.” With this in mind, maintaining your air conditioner all year round will help you have a safer and more comfortable life when the heat does hit. Here are some of the top tips for maintaining your air conditioner.
1: Keep on Top of Your Air Filters
Many people forget that replacing your air filters is the cheapest and most straightforward way to keep your air conditioner running efficiently. Your air filter puts up with a lot of dust and pet hair, so preventing it from clogging is essential for maintaining your air conditioning system.
If the system clogs, your air conditioner will have to work harder to pull in air and circulate it through your home, causing more wear and tear on the machine and increasing its risk. You should change your air filter every month when your air conditioner is constantly running. Click here, and never forget to change your air filter again!
2: Check the Drain Line
In addition to pulling in and cooling air to pump throughout your home, air conditioning units also remove moisture from the air to allow your body to cool itself more efficiently. This means your air conditioner will have a drain to remove this water from your home.
There are many ways that the drain line can become clogged, which will overflow the unit and damage or even break it. You should regularly check the drain line, and once a year, you should clean it by pouring a cup of chlorine followed by a gallon of water down the drain.
3: Remove Outside Debris
If you have an outside AC unit, keeping it clean and removing any debris can make a massive difference. The outdoor fans of outside AC units are not very well protected to allow them to circulate air effectively, so leaves, twigs, dirt, and other outside debris can easily fall in and damage the unit.
Check your AC unit’s owner’s manual to see the correct method of removing debris, or contact an AC Repair service professional.
4: Tighten AC Belts
Your AC unit has several belts that help run the fans and other moving parts of your AC unit. These are high-impact, constantly moving parts, and over time the wear and tear of use will cause these belts to get old, loose, and worn out.
This can cause your AC unit to freeze abruptly if the belt snaps, resulting in a costly repair. Check your AC belts, and if they show wear and tear, call in an air conditioning professional like General Air Conditioning & Plumbing HVAC company in Coachella Valley who can tighten or replace the belts.
5: Clean Air Ducts
Your home’s air ducts are the final step to bringing air-conditioned air throughout your home. That means that if your air ducts are full of dust, pet hair, or other contaminants, the air quality of your home will suffer.
Maintain your Air Conditioner like a Pro!
Dirty ducts can also force your air conditioning unit to work harder, leading to less efficiency and reducing the lifespan of your air conditioning unit. Plan on getting professional air duct cleaning every 2 to 3 years, or even annually, if you observe that your air ducts are significantly dirty yearly. Regular maintenance of your home air conditioning unit is crucial for its proper functioning and to prevent issues like clogged air filters that can impact air quality and increase the need for AC repair services, as it is
often discussed on the AC repair blog.