You cannot set up an air conditioner and forget about it. That is because air conditioners contain several parts, such as filters, motors, and coils. As you turn your air conditioner on every day, these and the system’s other components will be affected by wear and tear. Constantly running the air conditioner can also damage these components.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, your air conditioner will not function efficiently throughout all the years that you have it in service without regular maintenance. Furthermore, failing to have regular AC maintenance ensures that your air conditioner will slowly lose its ability to cool your home over the years as energy consumption increases.
Regular AC maintenance from a licensed technician protects you against losing the use of your air conditioning system. That is because our technician from Dring Air Conditioning & Heating will find issues that can become problems that require expensive repairs in the future. Rather than wait until these issues are serious enough for you to know about them, your licensed technician repairs them so that your air conditioner continues to work efficiently.
During the inspection, our technician finds parts that need to be lubricated and others that he must replace. Your technician checks the refrigerant lines, coils, compressors, and motors to ensure that these components are in working condition. If they are worn out or damaged, your technician replaces them so that your air conditioner continues to work as intended. This is why your air conditioning system can continue to cool your home without any glitches, but it also prevents expensive repairs in the future. Failing to address minor issues is what leads to those expensive repairs.
Replacing the Filters
The filters are highly important parts of the air conditioning system. They keep dirt, dust, and other unhealthy debris from reaching the sensitive parts of your air conditioner. After the air passes through the filters, cleaner air comes through and enters the air conditioner. Needless to say, these filters become very dirty after a while, and our technician must replace them. This ensures that your air conditioner never has these harmful particles enter its system.
If, on the other hand, you fail to replace these filters, it can cause your air conditioner to break down entirely. A dirty filter cannot prevent harmful particles from entering the AC system, and this causes the motors and other moving parts to become jammed. With the buildup of particles, the air cannot move in and out freely, and the system cannot operate efficiently. This situation causes the AC system to use an increased amount of energy. When this occurs, the air conditioning unit breaks down eventually.
Cleaning
Cleaning is highly important to the outside portion of your air conditioner. The unit has metal fins, and mulch, grass clippings, leaves, and twigs become lodged in between them. This outside debris prevents air from flowing into and out of the unit. If the coils are dirty, they cause your air conditioner to cool your home less efficiently. More importantly, dirty coils may even cause a fire.
Keeping an Eye on System Performance
To ensure the smooth and efficient operation of your air conditioning system, it is important to remain vigilant about its performance. You can assist your technician with maintenance tasks by promptly addressing any changes in its operation, such as shorter cycles and an inability to maintain cooler temperatures. These issues can be indicative of a larger problem within the system, which can lead to costly repairs if left unaddressed.
By staying alert to changes in your air conditioning system’s performance and seeking maintenance when needed, you can help extend the longevity of your system and prevent costly repairs. Remember to always be proactive and address issues as soon as they arise to avoid potential problems in the future.
Cleaning the Coils
An air conditioner has two sets of coils. The indoor unit has evaporator coils, and they remove the humidity and heat from your home. The outside unit has condenser coils, and they move the hot air from the inside to the outside. These coils become dirty after a while, and this prevents the heat from transferring from the evaporator coils into the condenser coils. If you go too long without cleaning these coils, the trapped heat causes the system to overheat, and the air conditioning system begins to fail.
Several unpleasant things occur when you do not clean your evaporator coils and condenser coils. The coils become corroded. This is particularly true of the outside coils because they are subject to more exposure. Corrosion causes the coils to develop cracks and holes that allow refrigerant to escape. Your air conditioning system cannot cool your home as well without a sufficient amount of refrigerant.
Not cleaning the coils also causes your air conditioning system to use more electricity. This is not a costly repair, but it does cost you more money because it causes your energy bills to increase. Even though your air conditioning system is working harder and longer, it fails to cool your home sufficiently. That’s because, when evaporator coils are dirty, the coils fail to adequately absorb the heat. This leads to the air conditioning unit running at near-constant levels without cooling your home to your satisfaction.
Without regular maintenance, you do not have clean evaporator coils and condenser coils, and the air conditioning unit fails before its lifespan is over. That is because the refrigerant fails to go from liquid to gas and gas to liquid as it is supposed to do. This puts a strain on the air conditioner’s compressor. The compressor is known as “the engine” of the air conditioner, so when the compressor dies, the entire air conditioning system dies with it. This is one of the largest expenses of all.
Checking the Motors
The fan motor is another component that requires regular maintenance. Without regular maintenance, the fan motor can begin to work improperly, and this is another danger for your compressor. A fan motor that fails to function causes the compressor to overheat. This leads the entire system to a complete breakdown, requiring a repair or a full AC replacement.
The fan motor works harder than any other component of the air conditioning system, but when you do not have regular maintenance, the fan motor gets very dirty. When dirt enters the system, there is more friction that disturbs the system’s inner workings. The buildup of dirt and impurities stresses the fan motor. This, in turn, causes the fan motor to overheat. Regular maintenance for this portion of the air conditioning system helps your air conditioning system last throughout its entire lifespan. It also prevents the air conditioner from needing other major repairs in the future.
The Capacitor
Without the capacitor, your air conditioner would not be able to start. The fan motor needs the electric charge that it receives from the capacitor to get going. For this reason, the air conditioner needs a capacitor for the air conditioner to work.
Dring Air Conditioning & Heating offers customers in Carrollton, TX more than just AC maintenance. Our technicians can also provide AC repair and AC replacement, and when the weather cools down, we offer heating repair, heating maintenance, and heating installation. Contact us for more information about our extensive services today.