Cooling season is fast approaching, and if you’re interested in lowering your cooling costs this summer, preventing A/C breakdowns, increasing your comfort level, and extending the operating life of your cooling system, now is the time to call us to schedule your annual tune-up.
For every year you neglect to have your air conditioner serviced, your system loses between 5 and 15 percent of its efficiency. If it’s been three years since you’ve had a tune-up, you’ll pay at least 15 percent more than you should to cool your home. Five years, and you could probably take a nice little vaca with the extra money you’d save with a tune-up.
Professional Maintenance Checklist
A qualified technician from a reputable HVAC company (like Comfort Control, Inc.) will perform a comprehensive inspection and tune-up of your system, which will include these essential tasks.
- Remove dust buildup from interior components to prevent their premature failure. Dust on the fan decreases efficiency by about 20 percent, and dust on the evaporator coil acts like insulation, preventing it from optimally absorbing heat and removing humidity from your air.
- Tighten electrical connections that loosen over time due to vibrations.
- Inspect wires and terminals for damage and corrosion, and apply a nonconductive coating.
- Lubricate the moving parts of the system to prevent friction, which reduces efficiency and can cause serious damage to the motor.
- Inspect belts and tighten or replace them as necessary.
- Measure the airflow over the evaporator coil and address any airflow problems.
- Measure the refrigerant level, and if it’s low, inspect for and repair any leaks and top off the system with the right charge.
- Test the electrical control of the system to make sure it cycles as it should.
- Check the thermostat for accuracy, and calibrate it if it’s off.
- Inspect the ducts for obstructions, loose connections, and other damage.
DIY Maintenance Checklist
A/C maintenance isn’t finished once your technician packs up and heads out the door. Here are a couple of things you should do each month during the cooling season to ensure continued efficiency:
- Inspect your air filter and replace it when it’s dirty. A dirty air filter restricts airflow to your system, which can cause a loss of comfort at best and premature failure of the system at worst. It also allows dust to enter the system and damage essential components, and doesn’t trap as many harmful particles in your home’s air as it should. Choose a high quality air filter with a rating of MERV 7 or higher, which offers a high level of protection for your system while removing more small particles from the air you breathe, including mold spores, dust mites and their debris, pollen, and some bacteria.
- Maintain your outdoor unit. Remove all plant growth within 12 inches of the unit. Spray down the housing with the garden hose to clear debris from the metal fins, which can restrict airflow and interfere with the optimum exchange of heat. If the fins are bent, invest in a fin comb to straighten them.
Ready to schedule your tune-up and save money on cooling costs this summer? Then give us a call at Comfort Control, Inc., and we’ll send out one of our highly skilled technicians ASAP!