A broken air conditioner is a nightmare in the summer and a high expense in your pocket. You will feel sweaty on hot afternoons, and your utility bills will also rise, unfortunately.
Hence, you need to take adequate care and ensure scheduled maintenance of your residential air conditioner. It helps you ward off costly damages and saves your money on electricity bills. If you have no idea how to start this routine, here are a few tips to help.
1. Hear Out for Strange Noises
An air conditioner doesn’t inherently make unusual and loud noises, the only sound you can expect is a gentle whooshing of air through the vents and whirring of the fan and compressor motors.
So, if you hear anything that resembles banging, rattling, screeching, humming, or grinding, you should immediately call professional air conditioning experts to fix it.
2. Clean the Debris from the Outdoor Unit
The outdoor unit of your air conditioner gathers a lot of dirt, dust, and debris. You may not realize, but these contaminants can affect your HVAC’s performance and efficiency. Hence, it will help if you keep it clean and dirt-free.
Don’t let grass clippings, vegetation, leaves, or dirt collect around the unit. They can choke the air inflow pipes and make your unit consume more electricity to provide fresh and cold air.
3. Check the Coil Fins
The lifespan and operational efficiency of your air conditioning unit depend on several elements, including the coil fins. This component facilitates heat exchange in the air conditioning system. When the heat is absorbed, the refrigerant inside the coil evaporates. But, coil fins undergo severe wear and tear with time.
Aluminum fins and condenser coils can be bent easily to block the airflow. This can slow down or stop the cooling function in a residential air conditioner. But, you can avoid this issue by scheduling regular maintenance with a certified technician. They will detect the bent or misaligned fins to straighten them.
4. Check and Clean the Air Filters
Any HVAC system relies on functional air filters to provide fresh and clean air. Unless the air filter works appropriately, the unit may spread airborne pollutants or contaminants in your home. If you want to maintain healthy and clean indoor air quality, it is crucial to check and change the filters between regular tune-ups.
A monthly check is sufficient to keep them clean. Air conditioning filters are prone to indoor pollutants like pet dander, fur, or dust. Hence, invest in a unit that uses replaceable air filters. This way, you will know when to replace the filters by looking at the dust collected on the filter screen.
5. Keep the Coils Clean
The evaporator coils and condenser coils in your AC facilitate a flawless cooling process. These components are fitted in the area where they can collect a lot of dust particles and dirt. Foreign materials can also affect the functionality of coils and obstruct the airflow, impacting the unit’s overall performance.
Also, dirt or dust can form an insulating layer on the coils, reducing their ability to absorb the indoor heat. The outdoor evaporator suffers the same fate with the accumulation of debris or dirt around it. Before the unit breaks down completely or your electricity bills shoot through the roof, call the technicians to clean these coils and prevent dirt buildup.
6. Install an Adjustable Thermostat
If you’re looking to reduce maintenance and repair costs of your air conditioning unit, try to keep it at optimal performance using the latest technology. A programmable thermostat can help in this purpose.
As an innovative technology, it can prevent your air conditioner from overuse. You can program the system and integrate automation into your unit. As a result, the system will cool or heat your home without lingering around the unit.
7. Invest in Duct Booster
Sometimes, you may feel certain areas of your house hotter than other parts. It shows that your residential air conditioner is working overtime and needs a duct booster. This addition will help in balancing the cooling or heating throughout your house.
Without investing in another unit or a bigger air conditioning system, you can maintain even temperature across the house.
8. Keep an Eye on Electricity Bills
Without your knowledge, your air conditioner may start showing signs of deterioration or disrepair. You can notice these changes by looking at your energy bills closely.
If you find a sudden spike in the bills, you may have to blame your air conditioning system. Before it gets worse and adds up costly repairs to the mix, call professionals to look at the root cause and repair the unit.
If the concrete pads under the heat exchanger are sinking in or the unit repeatedly turns on and off, don’t delay the maintenance and save more money in the long run.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
