How Often Should You Have Your Air Conditioner Serviced?

What maintenance does an air conditioner need?

One of the most essential things you can do when it comes to air conditioner maintenance is to change or clean your filters regularly. The filter should be changed out frequently—every one or two months—during the hottest part of the year when the AC is being used the most. You might want to change it more frequently if you use your AC more often or if you have furry pets. Regularly changing or cleaning the filter can lower energy use by 5% to 15%.

Aside from changing your filter regularly, yearly maintenance from a professional should include the following :

• Air conditioner maintenance checklist
• Checking thermostat settings
• Tightening up all electrical connections
• Lubricating moving parts
• Checking and clearing the condensate drain line
• Checking system controls
• Inspecting the filter and cleaning or changing it, if needed
• Repairing refrigerant leaks and recharging the refrigerant, if needed

How do I service my air conditioner?

While professional air conditioner maintenance is recommended at least once per year, there are a few things you can do to make sure it’s keeping you cool throughout the summer months. Changing or cleaning the filter is essential to the health of your system, but you can also follow these steps for some DIY maintenance:

• Clean dust from the condenser fan with a brush.
• Clean debris from the condenser coils and fins with a garden hose. You can also straighten any bent condenser fins with a fin comb.
• Check connections on the thermostat, fuses, and breakers to make sure they are in place and tight.

Before performing any maintenance yourself, you need to shut off the air conditioner’s power.

What happens if AC is not serviced?

Not getting regular air conditioner maintenance will shorten its life and lead you to more costly repairs when repairs are needed. Even not changing out the filter regularly will affect the airflow in the system, slowing it down, which causes the system to use more energy and puts more strain on your components. The parts are also going to wear out faster without proper lubrication. The wear and tear will begin to add up in more repairs and more energy wasted. All this leads to fewer dollars in your pocketbook and less comfort in your home.

Air conditioner maintenance schedule

A regular maintenance schedule will keep your air conditioner performing at peak levels when you need it most. Get the service done before the air conditioner is in regular use at the hottest part of the year. Aire-Rite Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. recommends putting us on the maintenance schedule sometime in the spring. To ensure your whole HVAC system is working efficiently year-round, you should also get your furnace serviced in the fall before really cold weather sets in.

Air conditioner maintenance kit

Keeping your air conditioner clean is an important aspect of air conditioner maintenance. You can buy various kits on the market today with materials like special cleansers and brushes to clean your unit. Many contain fin brushes. These tools are useful to keep your condenser fins clean and to straighten the fins out when they are bent.

How often should AC coils be cleaned?

Air conditioner coil cleaning should be a part of your yearly air conditioner maintenance plan. The dirtier the condenser and evaporator coils are the more energy they use. Energy usage can be increased by 30%. Dirty condenser coils will also reduce your AC’s overall cooling performance and lead to problems like the evaporator coils freezing or the compressor overheating.

While a yearly professional cleaning is useful—and necessary for the evaporator coils, which are hard to get to—you should check your condenser coils periodically. Debris can accumulate on them fairly quickly, so you should occasionally use a garden hose to rinse the debris away.