Keeping your air conditioner well-maintained isn’t just a suggestion given by professionals, it’s a must. For starters, air conditioning units are expensive so as much as possible, you’d want the one in your home running for as long as possible. You’d especially want to avoid having it breakdown once the summer season arrives.
Another reason why you’d want to keep your air conditioner well-maintained is that once it is in bad condition, it is bad for your health. More into this later. For now, it’s important to discuss some easy steps on how you can keep your air conditioning unit well-maintained and running smoothly.
Always Clean Inside-Out
The air conditioning unit has many parts – each of which needs to be cleaned as thoroughly as possible. Ideally, you’d want to have your air conditioning unit cleaned every 3 to 6 months. If you can’t do it yourself, then it’s best to call on professionals for help as they can do it more properly.
Cleaning each part is essential as each one faces issues over time. For instance, the evaporator drain builds up mold and mildew over time. Clean the filters, the fins, and every part you see. All of these are susceptible to various issues that accrue overuse.
Replace Or Clean The Filter
What is the air filter inside an air conditioning unit for? As per https://filterbuy.com/, this is an essential part of the air conditioner that blocks pollutants like dust, viruses, bacteria, and many others from circulating around your house once the unit operates. Over time, there will be a build-up of these pollutants on your air conditioner.
As stated a while back, units that are in poor condition are bad for your health. In the case of dirty filters, the bacteria and viruses are going to be a part of the circulating air that’s produced by the air conditioner. What this means is that eventually, you might get sick from what’s unseen in the air.
That’s not all, filters in bad condition also result in mould and dust build-up. These pollutants can cause serious respiratory problems for you and your family as well.
Your choice now is to take out your filter and have it cleaned at least every three months. In the case that your filter is no longer functioning properly because of a hole or any tear, then you’ll have to get a replacement ASAP. Never run your air conditioner if there’s no filter to keep the pollutants out.
Regulate Heat Naturally
Your air conditioning unit is going to struggle to keep the house cold if the temperatures are hot. This puts unnecessary strain on your air conditioning unit which can cause it to have problems in the future. You can do certain things to regulate the heat inside your home.
For instance, close the windows and block the sun through the curtains so that it doesn’t get too hot inside the house. The cooler your house is, the easier it will be for your air conditioner to cool things down.
Fix The Fins
The fins are usually found on the condenser unit of the air conditioner. These are thin pieces of metal aligned to form what looks like rows of sheet metal. These get bent over time whether because of debris hitting them or some other foreign object. Always check out the fins and see if there are any bent metals.
What you’d like to do is to use a metal bread knife to carefully realign the metal. This is very easy to do. Make sure that you don’t put the knife in more than ½ inches as that’s not going to be safe for you and your air conditioner. Lastly, make sure to shut off the power before doing this.
Listen To Unnecessary Sounds
One of the key signs that something is wrong with your air conditioner is if there are sounds that weren’t there before when it’s operating. This could be a light hum or clanking sound. This often means that there’s an issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
Aside from these, you should also feel if your air conditioner is no longer regulating the temperature as it used to. These are some signs that your unit either needs serious cleaning or fixing.
A well-maintained air conditioning unit is one that helps regulate the temperature in your home as properly as possible. These maintenance tips are only the brunt of what you should do to protect your air conditioner but these are major steps already.