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5 Steps To Prepare Your Air Conditioning Unit For The Summers

Girl holding remote control relaxing under the air conditioner, lying on couch

Summer HVAC

As summer time rolls around, temperatures quickly rise and can make your home uncomfortably warm. And you really don’t want to come home one day to find your air conditioner isn’t doing its job correctly. Luckily, if you just follow a few HVAC maintenance steps before the heat rolls in, you can prevent your home from feeling like an oven. And now is the perfect time to do some A/C repair to get your air conditioner in tip-top shape, so you can stay nice and cool all summer long.

Step #1 Clean Or Replace Your Filters

It’s good practice to make sure your filters aren’t getting clogged with any dust. You don’t want your filters having air flow issues, which would reduce the effectiveness of your air conditioner. On top of which, any loose dust particles will be circulated into your home if you don’t keep the filters clean. Even worse, mold and mildew can accrue on the filters as well. And it goes without saying that none of these are good for your lungs at all.

The good thing is this is likely the simplest way to keep your air-conditioner in good shape. You only need to clean or replace your filters about once every month or so, too. Now, if you’ve only got some dust to deal with, you can opt to use a vacuum to suck away any dust trapped on the filters. But if that’s not enough, you can run water over them with a hose as well. That should get them sufficiently cleaned. However, if you find your filter is beyond saving, the smart thing to do would be to replace them altogether.

Step #2 Clear Away Debris

Outdoor AC units are susceptible to things like leaves, dust, mud, and so on. So make sure to clear any of this away from your unit. This junk can clog up your air-conditioner and make it run less effectively, leading to more effort expended while increasing the overall costs to your bills. You can clean this up by first disconnecting it from the power. Then run a hose over it, taking care to clear any and all debris. If you’re lucky, that’ll be enough to handle things. If not, you may need to buy some specialty air-conditioner cleaner from a hardware store. You’ll also want to take extra care and clean the fins out with a rag or soft brush. Just be a bit careful as the metal fins can bend. This should be adequate to keep your air-conditioning unit free of debris. Try to do this about once per month. If you stay on top of this, it shouldn’t take very long each time you do it.

Step #3 Clean Condenser Coils

You’ll want to give extra attention to the condenser coils as well. This is a pipe inside your air-conditioner that pulls condensation away. But this pipe can get clogged, which could cause condensation to back up into your air-conditioning unit or even your home. This could lead to messy or even costly problems you don’t want to deal with. To prevent this, make sure the drain pipe is actually draining properly. That’ll handle the majority of the problem. Secondly, make sure there’s no debris obstructing the coils as well. Just clean and remove anything that shouldn’t be there, and this A/C repair should get the condenser coils working perfectly again.

Step #4 Check For Leaky Ducts

To make sure you save the most money during the summer, which is when you’ll be using your air-conditioning unit the most, make sure you seal your ducts properly. In fact, a study at the University of Florida concluded that sealing leaky ducts can save A/C owners in excess of $300 per year.

What you can do is start by looking at your ductwork. Check for any holes or separated pieces. You also want to check for any joints that have become disconnected. If you manage to find any leaks in the process, make sure to seal them up with high-quality tape. Regular tape degrades too quickly for your HVAC needs, so you can’t rely on using them.

Step #5 Add A Programmable Thermostat To Your HVAC Unit

On the chance you don’t have one of these already, you can get big savings on your air-conditioning (and heating) unit by using a programmable thermostat. What’s great is you can time your air-conditioning unit to switch off during your work time or when you’re just not home. Even better, it’s really not that hard to install one yourself. It only requires a few tools and some spare time, so anybody can do this with little issue at all.

And you’re all set! A quick final tip though would be to test your air-conditioning unit. It’s unlikely, but you may accidentally knock something loose while maintaining your unit. Just go back and double check if there are any problems, and you’ll go a long way towards preventing a need for a new A/C installation. Otherwise, with these 5 tips in mind, you can expect your air-conditioning unit to function perfectly over the summer, all while getting the maximum savings in the process.

Let Us Help Keep You Cool This Summer

Of course, even with all these good practices in place, your HVAC unit may still encounter problems you can’t handle and a professional touch may be required.

In these cases, we at Global Green Solutions can help you with your HVAC needs, and you can call us at (888) 860-4826 to do so. You can also fill out our form here, or email us at service@ggsar.com as well.