It is essential to have regular air conditioner maintenance to prolong the life of your unit.
Why?
When an AC unit isn’t running at peak efficiency, it takes longer to cool your home, wastes energy, and increases fuel costs, which are also wasted since you won’t be staying in the house long. This can also lead to premature wear of components including the compressor, evaporator coil, and fan motor.
Why?
Failures that are caught early can often be easily repaired, avoiding more expensive expenses later on. But if problems aren’t detected until they worsen, it could require a lot of money for major repairs or even replacement of your air conditioner.
A regular tune-up from a professional contractor can help ensure that your air conditioner operates at peak efficiency. It includes cleaning the evaporator coil, filter, condenser unit, and coils as necessary, lubricating moving parts of motors, and changing the refrigerant oil. This is recommended to be done twice a year.
How Often Should I Inspect My Air Conditioner?
Air conditioners are complex pieces of equipment. A poorly maintained unit can not only waste energy and other resources but if problems aren’t identified early on, the lack of proper maintenance could lead to major repairs or even replacement of your air conditioner.
According to Energy Star, if you’re starting to see dust build-up on the outside of your unit, this means that the insulation inside the condenser has broken down from heat and other factors, which will cause an increase in operating costs.
The Energy Star website says to look at the air filters every month during the cooling season and clean or replace them as necessary. Inspecting your outside condensing unit for any damage can also prevent costly repairs and protect your home from potential health and safety hazards.
What Are AC Tune-Ups and Why Are They Important?
An ac tune-up from a professional contractor can help ensure that your air conditioner operates at peak efficiency. It includes cleaning the evaporator coil, filter, condenser unit, and coils as necessary, lubricating moving parts of motors, and changing the refrigerant oil. This is recommended to be done twice a year.
An air conditioner tune-up is often combined with an inspection to identify possible problems and determine if any additional work should be performed. It will help keep the air conditioner running efficiently and detect potential problems that could lead to costly repairs or even replacement of your air conditioner.
With proper maintenance, an air conditioner will operate more efficiently and last longer. However, if your unit is over 10 years old or has experienced problems in the past, it may be time to consider a replacement.
