Air Conditioning System Cleaning and Maintenance Guide

Air conditioners are convenient and necessary buddies for the cold days of winter and the warmest peaks of summer. They provide constant temperature environment for all kinds of weather. Considering that they are machines, they require every-now-and-then tune-ups so that efficiency of work is assured.

Maintaining air conditioners is a must for everyone who wants to obtain better results in heating and cooling down, and longer life expectancy of the machine. However, a small and insufficient number of people actually perform a routine check of their air conditioning systems. Many postpone it until the moment the machine crashes or some parts of it stop working. A recent study showed that 55% of air-conditioner consumers don’t perform tune-ups for their machines and thus doom them to a shorter and less efficient life. It should not be surprising then that half of these consumers are very unsatisfied with their air conditioning system’s work. They complain about the poor quality of performance and the bad condition of the machine. And that compared to the high price they have to pay in order for it to operate.
So if you don’t want to be one of these unhappy air-conditioner owners, you had better schedule regular checks for your machine.

What you can do about your air-conditioner

The things that you need to be alert about are some parts of the air-conditioner, such as coil fins, compressor, condenser coils, fan, filters, etc. Take a look below at the things that need your attention the most:

Evaporator

In order to clean the evaporator, you are going to need a screwdriver, large mirror, wire, household bleach and stiff brush.
The evaporator should be cleaned once a year. It is located in the plenum and is to be found above the furnace. In order to reach it you have to remove the insulation before the plenum. Then reach the access plate; it has several screws. Remove them and then remove plate. Then you can clean the evaporator with stiff brush. If you can’t see what you are doing, a hand mirror will help you in that.
After you clean the underside of the unit, you have to clean the tray below the evaporator. For this purpose, you’re going to need household bleach. One tablespoon of it should be poured into the hole in tray. This helps prevent fungus growth.
After you finish cleaning the evaporator, put everything back into place. Turn air-conditioner on to check for air leaks. If there are any, put some duct tape to them.

Condenser

The condenser is usually located outside the house. It has a fan that circulates the air around the condenser coil. The coil is the one to be cleaned. How is it done?
First off, remove any grass or vines growing around the condenser unit. Then clean the condenser from outside. Let dry. With a soft brush clean the fins and do it very carefully. They are very easily damaged.
It is recommended that during winter and fall condenser units are protected from the cold and ice. You should cover the condenser with a special commercial cover which fits its shape.

Refrigerant

The refrigerant used in air-conditioning systems is a coolant. Most of the time it is Freon. Freon is essential for the cooling of the room. If there is not enough amount of the Freon, the air-conditioner will not cool down the place. What is best in this case is to arrange for a professional service to fix things.

Fan

When a fan is not working properly, it usually becomes noisy. Most of the time the reason for its malfunctioning is dirty or loose blades. What you can do about it is clean the fan and the adjacent area. Open cabinet and find fan then clean all the dirt with soft cloth. Check fan for looseness.
Author Bio: Connie Jameson knows a lot about cleaning thanks to the company she works http://www.perfectcleaning.org.uk/carpet-cleaning-acton-w3/.
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