The best air conditioner unit is the one you don’t have to think twice about – you turn it on, and it works. You get cool, dry air and no hassles or worries.
However, whatever time of the year, air conditioners in Phoenix should be serviced and kept in top performance condition. A homeowner’s failure to keep the A/C system serviced ends up costing time and energy, and it tries everyone’s patience, especially when it’s 110 degrees outside.
All across the USA, air conditioners have to withstand different temperatures, from high heat to extreme cold. They must also tough it out against high wind, torrential rain conditions, and more. The Midwest and Northeast often must withstand cold temperatures, as well. It’s the opposite of what we have here in the Valley of the Sun, when the summer heat beats down and your A/C is on from May to October.
Tips for Cleaning Home Air Conditioners
To prevent any big costs, it’s important to have your unit on an air conditioner service maintenance plan. Just as car owners have their autos on a regular maintenance program, homeowners too should do the same for their AC units. With older air conditioners, it’s a smart move to have a maintenance program set up, in case the unit stops functioning during a heat wave.
When your air conditioner is not regularly maintained, it loses 5% of the original efficiency each following year. With regular maintenance, it is possible to have the air conditioner retain its 95% efficiency over the years. As a result, annual maintenance reduces your electric bills, as well.
Here’s a proper checklist to make sure your A/C unit gets the right attention. If you’re in our local service areas, give Isley’s Air Conditioner Service team a call. We’ll perform all these A/C unit checks for you.
- Clean the condensing unit coils: This project in particular is one of the most complicated and delicate and best left to professionals.
- Check the air compressor Amp draw: This is part of the overall procedure for testing after installing new parts in an HVAC system. Generally, a homeowner or electrician might check the Amp draw for furnace blower motors or condenser fan motors. This is to see if the A/C unit has the correct amount of power in the correct components.
- Check fans and motors: The motor fans should be oiled, and the belts should also be well adjusted at all times.
- Be alert to AC coolant levels: If the system’s coolant level is less than 10%, it will cost you about 20% more operate the air conditioner. When your unit gets low on coolant, make sure to refill it as soon as possible to avoid further issues. This is a great job for an HVAC expert.
- Keep shrubbery away from around the AC unit: Keep the plants around your conditioner well trimmed so that leaves and grass do not interfere with its function.
- Change filters: Make sure you change your filters about every month, especially if they are not the pleated ones. The pleated ones can be changed every two to three months because they have a large surface area that traps a lot of debris.
- Air Space: Make sure there is two feet of space between the outdoor AC and the heating units.
- Shut down water supply into humidifier. It’s important to shut down the water supply that flows into the humidifier in the furnace. Later in the fall, you can re-start the water supply, replace the wick filter in the humidifier, and set the system to produce about 35% to 40% in relative humidity for the fall temperatures.
- Inspections around the house: Keep inspecting the insulation of the refrigerant lines that lead into the house. If they are missing or damaged, make sure you get a technician to replace them.
Other air conditioner tips for your home could include:
- Change the battery of your carbon monoxide detector every year.
- Have the blower furnaces lubricated once in a while, but make sure a technician does it because they are usually installed too tight.
- Make sure that the tube that drains the port does not get clogged by algae and sludge. Have it cleaned every few months.
- Clean up any debris like leaves, twigs and pollen that might get into the air conditioner unit. Check the sides of the outdoor units, the heat pumps, and the top of the air conditioner.
- With something as important as air conditioning, take some time to get it done right – or hire someone who will.
