Tips On Maintaining Your Air Conditioner

The surest way to keep your home feeling comfortable and cool is by taking good care of your AC system. Sadly, many homeowners overlook the need for diligent maintenance when it comes to this equipment. Having a unit break down due to insufficient care can be devastating, especially when this equipment starts to malfunction right at the start of a heat wave. Following are several tips on maintaining your air conditioner that are well worth considering.

Never let small problems spiral out of control before seeking help. If you’ve noticed water dripping from the base of this equipment or excess condensate at the unit exterior, you should reach out for help right away. Systems that make loud clanging noises or other suspicious sounds should also be inspected in a timely fashion. Taking care of issues as they arise will limit their impact and reduce the amount of money that you have to spend on the related repairs.

Keep in mind that most problems aren’t discovered until people try to use these systems during hot seasons. Due to this fact, most companies in this industry find themselves overwhelmed with service calls as soon as the weather starts to get warm. This is why it is important to turn your unit on during off season in order to make sure that it works and to identify any problems that may have developed over time.

The best way to beat the crowd is by having these units serviced several times per year. If you have trained technicians servicing the unit on a regular basis, no problem will ever go overlooked. This means that you won’t have to spend a number of days or weeks waiting for a technician to arrive even though the inside of the home is already sweltering.

You can handle some portions of the required maintenance all on your own. Anything that does not require you to take the unit apart or deal with the interior electrical wiring should be simple enough for you to manage without help. It is important to read the manual for your unit and to adhere to the manufacturer’s maintenance instructions.

One thing that all homeowners can do is to replace or clean dirty filters. These efforts will keep the unit functioning efficiently and should be made approximately twice per year. You may need to change your filter more often, however, if you happen to live in a very dusty area or if you run this equipment regularly, even during the cooler seasons.

If you have noticed a significant change in your air quality, it may be time to have air ducts cleaned out as well. This is especially important to do if you have people living in the home who suffer from asthma, allergies or other, serious respiratory conditions. Unless your air ducts get cleaned, the same allergens and toxins will continue to get cycled all throughout the home.

Make sure to align yourself with a trustworthy provider of these service well ahead of any need for them. This will give you the chance to diligently screen and review all of the available options rather than hiring the first available company that you come across. An experienced and reputable company can help you get an affordable, feasible maintenance schedule in place that will help you extend the lifetime of this important home equipment.