Is Your Air Conditioner Ready For Summer? Follow This To-Do List

With summer here, it is time to ensure that your air conditioner is ready to keep you and your family cool. Here are three things that you need to do before it gets too hot:

Check Your Filter and Change It If Necessary.

Your HVAC filter plays an important role in the efficiency of your HVAC system. If it is dirty, it will not allow adequate airflow to run through the evaporator coil, which is the component of the unit that cools the air. When this happens, not only will your home get hot, but the evaporator coil will ice up and the air conditioning unit will shut down. So, you need to check your filter on a regular basis and change it when it is dirty. The best way to know when it is too dirty is to take it out, hold it up to the light and see if you can see through it. If you can't, it's time to change it. At minimum, your filter should be changed every three months, according to Energy Star.

Open Up Your Supply Registers.

Many homeowners make the mistake of closing the metal supply registers in rooms that they don't use. They assume that this helps to save energy. However, this actually can harm your HVAC system. This is because it increases the pressure that is being built up in the HVAC duct system and is being pushed back to your air conditioning system. The pressure continues to build up inside the ducting and causes the air conditioner to work harder in order to keep up, which leads to a higher energy bill. This may result in a frozen evaporator coil, which may lead to the same issue as mentioned above with the dirty air filter. Alternatively, it could lead to everyone in the house feeling uncomfortable because there is inadequate air coming out of the supply registers that are open. So, it's always a good idea to keep all your supply registers open.

Clean Your Outdoor HVAC Unit.

When the exterior air conditioning unit has accumulated dust, dirt, and debris, it won't be able to cool your home efficiently. The best-case scenario is that it'll take longer to cool the home. The worst-case scenario (aside from it breaking down on you) is that it will blow out lukewarm air. This is because the A/C is similar to a sponge in that is absorbs something. A sponge absorbs water and the inside A/C unit absorbs heat via the liquid refrigerant. The refrigerant is then transferred to the exterior unit so that it can release it or "squeeze" it out and cool the refrigerant down. So simply grab your water hose and wash of your outside HVAC unit. In fact, do this frequently throughout the summertime to make sure it stays cleaned off to ensure that your unit isn't working extra hard to cool your home.

For air conditioning repair, contact a company such as Lakeside Heating & A/C Inc.


Share