How To Ensure a Long Effecient Life of Your Air Conditioner

An air conditioner can be both a blessing, and a nightmare! During hot, humid months, an air conditioner will keep your home cool, fresh, and dry…however depending on how often it is being run, can cause conjestion, sinus headaches, flared allergies, and a whopping electricity bill. Most of the time, the negative effects of an air conditioner can be minimized (if not eliminated completely) if maintained and used properly. Here are some helpful tips to expand the life of our Air Conditioner and help it run more effeciently and effectively for your home, the environment and your wallet!

Change the furnace filter monthly including the A/C season.

Change the batteries in the programmable thermostat yearly (if applicable) .

Turn A/C on only in the later evening or early morning. It saves the compressor life.

When you turn your A/C unit on, drop the temperature only by 2 degrees at a time on the thermostat, based on present room temperature. Once that temperature has been achieved, drop down 2 more degrees at a time. Follow this procedure until the desireable temperature has been met. Following these procedures will omit the possibility of the coil freezing up and allowing only warm air through the vent.

Make sure the vents in the basement are fully closed through the A/C season.

Keep the outside unit free of lint or grass.

Prevent dogs from urinating on unit as this will rot out the unit.

Make sure the company that installs your unit are properly trained individuals.

Make sure the unit is vacuation tested for a minimum of 1/2 hour to secure that there are no leaks in the unit when installed.

Do not place a full cover on the A/C unit in the winter months, if you do cover the unit, only place a board on top to protect the fan.