Summer is right around the corner. It is! The weather will warm and become hot. Your house will warm and become hot and you will rely on your air conditioning equipment to do what it is supposed to do- keep you cool. You will set the thermostat to 78, 82 or 76 and know it will do the work of cooling your house. You will expect your air conditioning equipment to run efficiently and effectively all by itself. Hold on a minute. That doesn’t just happen. The AC will only function as expected if it is taken care of. And taking care of it means scheduling regular service two times a year. If you are a homeowner who does better with a system that you don’t have to think about, a Safety Efficiency Agreement also called a Service Agreement is an option to consider.
A service agreement can control HVAC costs and extend the life of your ac. Customers with a service agreement have priority with all of our services. When temperatures heat up and equipment goes down, Service Agreement customers have priority. Service agreement customers also receive a 15% discount of parts.
Maintaining your air conditioner extends the life of your AC
Maintenance for an AC involves several checklist points. First, the filter is replaced. The filter helps keep small particles and dust from entering your unit. A clean unit doesn’t have to work as hard as a dirty one. When equipment does not have to work hard, it lasts longer. The drains are cleaned. The electrical connections and coils are checked and the bearings and motor are lubricated and the refrigerant levels are checked. These items help ensure your equipment runs better. A better running air conditioner is more efficient. A more efficient unit saves you money and the AC equipment will last longer.
“I take care of my air conditioning unit. I spray it down with a hose.”
Unfortunately, if you are spraying your unit with water you are probably doing more harm than good. Spraying the unit from the outside could clog the coils and reduce the airflow. Air is life to an air condenser. Your air conditioner works by drawing air into the unit. A clogged coil makes it harder for the system to reduce humidity and heat. Reducing heat and humidity cools the house.
Your air conditioning unit has many different coils and if you spray your hose into the unit, you are also spraying dirt, grass clippings and cottonwood into the condensing coils. Consequently, it is nearly impossible for the unit to work efficiently.
Hire a licensed HVAC Technician
Some of the air conditioning unit manufacturers recommend “burning” the grass, cottonwood and dust out of the coils or washing the coils out. A trained technician can determine whether your air conditioner coil should be burned, flushed with water or both. If you think this is a DIY job you can get done with the help of Google, think again. If the flame is too hot, you will melt the coils. And you do not want to melt the coils. If you melt the coils, plan on replacing your air conditioning unit. We recommend hiring a licensed HVAC Service Technician to clean and maintain your air conditioning unit.
You will rely on your air conditioner to work effectively when the temperatures get warm up. Unfortunately, sometimes expectations lead to disappointment. You can only rely on your AC to function 100% if you take care of it. Taking care of your air conditioner properly means hiring a licensed technician to maintain it. Save yourself some money and get a Service Agreement for your HVAC equipment. Your air conditioner will be properly cleaned and maintained, you receive “ front of the line” response from C.M. Mose and Son and you save 15% on any parts needed. The best thing you can do to extend the life of your AC is to take care of what you have.
This article was originally published in April 2014 and has been updated.