5 Easy Air Conditioner Maintenance Tips At home

Air conditioners are powerful machines, a single failure can cost much money, effort, and comfort. As an air conditioner user, you are supposed to know that most failures are preceded by several warning signs. Regular maintenance will help you to detect the early signs and thus protect your health and money. If you are not aware of the issues your air conditioner is having, a technician may recommend unnecessary upgrades and procedures and a well-maintained machine runs efficiently, uses less power, and ultimately costs less. 

Before going for regular maintenance, you should be familiar with the basic safety issues. When you open it up, make sure that the air conditioner is disconnected from electricity, wear a respiratory mask to protect you from the harmful particles trapped in the filter. Moreover, if you are not sure what you are doing, it’s a must to call an agency like M. B. Kiser Heating & Air Conditioning and have spring AC tune up. The maintenance of this powerful machine should not be so complicated, if you follow a checklist regularly that can save you from untimely repair and your cost too. The following checklist for air conditioner maintenance may help you - 

1. Regularly Check and Replace Air Filter 

This is one of the most crucial means of air conditioner maintenance, you can regularly change the air filter or clean the existing one if it is reusable. But how often? Replacing or cleaning the filter every month is recommended in high-use time (summer and winter) and do it at least once when the machine has very little or no use. Have a look at the anatomy of the machine to locate the position of the filter. If the filter is filled with dust, dirt, and allergen particles, it produces low-quality air and triggers various health issues. A high-quality air filter is not that expensive, a fiberglass air filter can solve the problem of dust or dirt, it doesn’t capture smaller particles like pollen, bacteria, and viruses. 

2. Look after the Thermostat 

This might be the easiest but one of the most useful means of air conditioner maintenance. Definitely, it’s not a big deal to check if the thermostat is working properly and producing the right temperature for your house. Various upgraded versions of the thermostat are available in the market, you can consider replacing your existing one to align with the standard if it doesn’t serve your purpose. The next level thermostats are so smart that it allows you to adjust the temperature on the basis of your presence and absence, high temperature when you are not at home, cooling it before you get there. Why not having a comfortable home whilst saving energy, money through the smart operation of the air conditioner. 

3. Clean the Central Unit 

How much do you know about the outdoor central unit of your air conditioner comparatively with the indoor portion? Most of us know very little but it plays a serious role in the cooling process, therefore it deserves your care. Known as the condenser unit, it releases the heat absorbed by the inside part of your air conditioner. The central outside unit contains the compressor, condenser coils and fan, and refrigerant lines. As the unit is located outside, you need to give special attention and care to it. A good way to take care of it is by arranging a periodic inspection and cleaning off the dirt that built up over time. Another great way to protect it is having its surroundings clear, make sure that no plants or shrubbery are growing around the machine.

4. Unclog Evaporator Drain

Do you know how the condensation gets cleared? It’s the evaporation drain that clears all these that build up during the air conditioning process. If you let the drain gets clogged, wait for the fluid to build up inside and cause a serious problem like blowing vapor.  Check the drain often and unclog regularly. To clean it, push a thin long brush, don’t forget to switch it off, and disconnect the electricity. Then, go for vacuum cleaning with a shop vac, pour the drainpipe with a mixture of bleach and water and wait for 30 minutes. Now flush the water through the pipe and make sure the water passes through that, that’s all. 

5. Make Sure that Air Conditioner Fins Aren’t Bent 

Have you ever noticed aluminum fins on the exterior of an air conditioner? They are there to keep the machine cool so that it can serve your home at the right temperature. Your job is to ensure that the fins don’t get deformed. To avoid deformation, make sure that there is nothing within one foot of your air conditioner as it happens when debris smacks up against the air conditioner compressor again and again. If you notice the fins are bent, go for getting them back into their original shape running a brush along with them or use a butter knife to twist if the bent is severe. 

If you know clearly how an air conditioner works it will be much easier for you to take care of. Both the inside and outside parts of the air conditioner require equal care to keep up its service.