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The air conditioner is one of the most neglected home appliances ever. You do not think about it until there is a problem. AC is heavily used everywhere but it does not get the attention it needs. It is like a silent guardian who keeps you cold on hot summer days. Maintaining an AC is not that tough if you know the drill. The whole process is like changing the oil of your vehicles. Today, we will discuss how we can maintain our air conditioners in brief.
Regular ac maintenance can benefit you in many ways. If you do maintenance of your ac in due time, you will know if there are any issues. This way, you can reduce the chance of an in-season breakdown. According to many HVAC (Heat, Air Ventilation, and Cooling) techs, regular ac maintenance can avoid 80% of all the repairs. If you do not care about timely servicing, then there are options like replacing your AC system in Winter Park, FL exists as well. That is why it is called preventative maintenance.
Proper maintenance can boost the AC performance to a whole new level. Without proper supervision, your AC will not perform as it should. The AC will become less effective in colling if there is dust in the filters. Thus, it will cost more electricity bills and become less energy-sufficient. Moreover, it will lessen the lifecycle of the device. According to some surveys, an AC without proper maintenance lasts about 12 years, whereas an AC with proper servicing lasts about 20 years.
Now, let us see how we can maintain our air conditioners ourselves. The most important task is to clean the filter. Dirty filters reduce the airflow and reduce the efficiency of the system. Similarly, air can bypass the filter when the airflow is obstructed. This way, dirt can directly go into the evaporator coil and impair the coil’s heat-absorbing capacity. According to research, replacing a clogged filter with a clean one can lower the energy consumption by 5-10%.
For central air conditioners, filters are located along the return duct’s length. Usually, the filter locations are in ceilings, walls, or in the AC itself. On the contrary, room air conditioners typically have a filter mounted in the grill. It is recommended to clean the filters every month or two during the cooling season.
Adjusting the thermostat to a higher temperature is essential if you are away for a long time every day. It will lessen the amount of time the unit has to work each day and gradually lengthen the life cycle. As a result, the electricity bill will be lower each month. Newer thermostat models allow you to pre-program the thermostat to match your schedule and you will still feel cold when you arrive home.
Another important thing about an air conditioner is the air conditioner coils. The air conditioner’s condenser coil and evaporator coil collect dirt with time. The dirt insulates the coil, reduces the airflow, and reduces the ability to absorb that. So, you have to check your evaporator coil once a year and clean it when necessary.
Similarly, the outdoor condenser coils can be dirty as well if the outdoor environment is dusty. Here, checking the outdoor unit’s condenser coil is easy – you can quickly notice dirt on the fins.
The aluminum fins on condenser and evaporator coils can be easily bent and block the airflow through the coil. If your coils are bent already, you can try a fin comb available at the air conditioning wholesalers. It will comb these fins back into the original condition.
Finally, these are the ways that you can do it yourself to maintain your air conditioner. Air conditioner maintenance is essential and there is no way you ignore it. If you ignore preventative maintenance right now, then you may have to suffer in the long run. At one point, you have no way but to call servicing personnel or buying a new one.
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