4 Ways to Successfully Maintain Your AC Unit

Generally, a central air conditioning unit lasts anywhere between 12 to 15 years . However, proper maintenance is often necessary to achieve this longevity. In some instances, you may even extend the lifespan of your system even longer than average. Discover four ways to successfully maintain your AC unit.

1. Change Your Filter Regularly

Your HVAC unit, especially your unit’s fan, must work harder to disperse air throughout your home when you have a dirty filter, especially with when it has clogged dirt. For this reason, you should change your filter on a regular schedule , usually every 30 to 90 days, depending on the type of filter you have as well as its minimum energy efficiency value (MERV).

Filters with a MERV rating of between 6 to 12 are most common in residential homes. Generally, you want to change a filter with a MERV of between 6 to 9 every 90 days. If the MERV of your filter is between 10 to 12, you will need to change it every 60 days. This is due to the higher efficiency trapping more debris.

Another way to plan when to change your filter is to use the general rule of 1” filters are changed once month and specialty filters such as Honeywell 4” and Aprilaire Expand-a-pack should be changed every 6 months. They are thicker and are able to work efficiently for a longer period of time.

If you have a reusable filter, you will need to clean it this frequently as well.

A pleated filter clogs more than a flat one due to the pleats adding additional surface area. You will also want to clean the filter more frequently if you have pets.

2. Use Your Fan's Auto Setting

Your central air conditioning uses a fan that works separately from the rest of your unit. Its purpose is to dispense the air throughout your home. On most units, you have the option to choose between either the auto or on settings.

You should leave the fan on auto at all times. When your fan is on auto, the fan only runs when your unit cools your home. The rest of the time, your fan does not run. On the other hand, if you leave the fan set to on, it continuously runs and does not shut off. The needless running makes your fan work harder than needed.

3. Schedule Seasonal Inspections

Generally, you need to schedule two maintenance appointments for your central air conditioning unit per year. Typically, you want to schedule your routine AC maintenance visit in the spring before you start running your air conditioning for the summer and your HEAT maintenance visit in the fall before you start running your heat for the winter.

During your appointment for your air conditioning, an HVAC specialist inspects your system on the AC side. The technician will evaluate your refrigerant levels. If your levels are low, you may have a leak in your system — an aspect of your system a specialist can repair.

Your routine visit also includes the tech checking your electrical components. Other parts of a routine maintenance call include the following:

• Calibrate the thermostat

• Clean condenser coils and evaporator

• Wash condenser with water

• Evaluate the condenser for problems

If you did not change your filter before the season, a service professional can insert a new one for you or clean yours.

4. Clean Around Your Air Condenser

Outside of your home, you have a unit known as your condenser. Inside the condenser is a compressor, and it has a fan and is responsible for converting warm air into cool air and then circulating it into your home.

Although your condenser has a design that allows it to withstand the elements, leaves and other debris may compile around the unit and possibly inside of it. While the technician is inspecting the unit, they will wash condenser with water to rid the debris, but throughout the season, if you notice any leaves on top of the unit, you will want to remove those as well.

Schedule an appointment for routine maintenance for your central air conditioning by contacting Henry's Service All, serving Irving, TX, and the nearby region, by calling us today .