How to Care for an Air Conditioner
On a hot day, there’s nothing quite like coming home from a hard day at work and walking into your cool, comfortable home...or not. You know the minute you walk in and feel the humid warm air that something is not right. Problems with air conditioners are inevitable, but there are some things you can do to delay those problems and to extend the life of your cooling system. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Clean or replace filters periodically. In areas where there is little dust or pollutants, every three to six months would be adequate, but in most places thirty days is probably the most desirable interval for filter changing.
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Keep vegetation from growing at least three feet from your outdoor condensing coils. You may decide to prevent grass and weeds from growing around the air conditioner by surrounding it with plastic sheeting covered with gravel.
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Hose off debris and pollen build-up from your outdoor unit when you can visually see the cooling fins getting clogged.
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Shade the outdoor unit. This will help the motor from overworking trying to keep the coils cool.
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Cover your condensing unit in the winter months with a plastic sheet. Make sure that the breaker switch is off.
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Make sure that the condensed water pipe on the indoor unit has no blockage.
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Spray a mild disinfectant inside the indoor unit monthly to help prevent mold and mildew.
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Run the air conditioner for a few minutes every month to circulate the refrigerant and keep the seals lubricated.
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Have your air conditioner serviced by a qualified heating and air conditioning professional every other year to make sure the system has plenty of refrigerant and that the contacts and switches are in good working order.
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Tips & Warnings
When running the unit in the winter, make sure you uncover the outdoor unit and turn on the breaker switch. Turn off the switch and cover the unit when you are finished.
