Have you ever wonder why an AC doesn’t do proper cooling after a couple of months? Well, its because of an air conditioner requires proper maintenance in order to function correctly. An AC is a type of home appliance which has to be appropriately maintained. Otherwise, it will perform poorly.
The increase in electricity bills and poor cooling are the typical results if you ignore maintaining your AC unit. In this post, we are going to learn how you can safeguard your AC by yourself.
Self-maintenance is limited, but with some simple methods, you can optimize your AC performance. And trust me, these steps are not optional but rather necessary. Let’s start learning.
Tip 1. Clean the AC Air Filters Regularly
An air filter blocks harmful dust, dirt, pollen, bacteria, micro-organisms, etc. so that you can breath pure air. At the same time, the air filter’s tiny holes get blocked by these impurities which slows down air flow in your room. That is why it becomes necessary to clean up the air filters once in two weeks. Use a soft toothbrush to remove all the dust particles easily.
Air filters are designed to access easily just by lifting the front panel of your split AC or Window AC. Here is a video link for LG on how to clean up your air filter.
Tip 2. Check for AC Condenser Coil Corrosion
The outdoor unit is always exposed to dust and salty moisture that brings corrosion in the AC condenser coil. In order to function correctly, the condenser coil has to come in the direct contact of the atmosphere and even a small layer of dust can reduce its heat exchange (airflow) capacity.
The indoor unit, evaporator coil, also collects dust that acts as an insulator. As a result, your air conditioner doesn’t cool faster over time. That is why we should always check for the corrosion in the coil once in a year to make sure we are not compromising with the active cooling.
To tackle this, use anti-rust coating paint or spray for AC in your condenser coil.
Tip 3. Straighten AC’s Bent Coil Fins
There are two kinds of AC fins, one is compressor fins, and the other is evaporator fins. Both fins do the same job, which is, maintaining proper airflow through and out of the outdoor AC unit. Air fins are very delicate metals and can bend or clutter over time. This small damage in fins grill reduces the amount of airflow required by an AC for proper cooling.
That is why always try to straighten the fins whenever possible. The impactful way to use an HVAC fin comb, which makes the task much more manageable.
Here is how you can perform it.
Tip 4. Remove Dirt from the AC Outdoor Unit
The outdoor compressor unit, which is placed on the ground is vulnerable to animal furs, dead leaves, debris, and dust caused by a dirty environment. These impurities make your outdoor unit very dirty and decrease its overall performance. So make sure to clean up these impurities every month. Another convincing way is to place your outdoor unit at least 2 feet above the ground foliage.
Tip 5. Cover your AC When Not in Use
Do you think that you do not need your AC for the next few months, maybe because of winter or perhaps you are going to months-long vacation? If yes, then it is a wise decision to wrap your AC units using any packaging box or cloths. This helps to block small dust particles to enter your critical AC components. It is an extra layer of protection that you can do to maintain your air conditioners cooling efficiency.
Outdoor unit is designed to withstand harsh weather conditions so don’t brother to cover it.
Here are good AC covers that you can buy for Indoor AC unit.
Tip 6. Prevent your AC’s Refrigerant Leakage
Refrigerant may leak due to the mechanical vibration or improper joint in the coil. As the price of refrigerant is kept on increasing, the repairing cost is also becoming more and more expensive. So it is always recommended to check if there is any refrigerant leakage in your air conditioner. Nowadays many good air conditioners come with automatical refrigerant detection and self-diagnosis. Daikin has Neo Swing Technology in which the compressor decreases friction and vibration to prevents leakage of refrigerant gas during compression.
Use professional AC refrigerant leak sealer to prevent.
Tip 7. Clean the AC Drain Pipe
The most frequently encountered problem for AC unit owners is a blocked AC drain pipe, which can result in water leakage from your indoor unit.
Drainpipe removes all the extensive moisture present in the room so that we can enjoy the fresh air breeze. The water in the drainpipe sometimes gets stuck because of added impurities. So periodically pass a stiff wire to make sure the drainpipe is not blocked, and water can move quickly. Failure to this can result in no moisture control and bad smell in your room.
Clean your AC drain pipe regularly to prevent this issue. Here is how you can do it.
Here is the high pressure washer cleaner gun that can do the AC drain pipe cleaning job.
Tip 8. Call for Proffesional AC Servicing
Alternatively, a service agent can diagnose and maintains your air conditioner performance so that it does not consume additional electricity and provide optimal cooling. That is why regular AC checkup is essential. You may use your warranty to call for two free AC services within a year of purchase. Alternatively, call premium AC service provider like Urbanclap. Here is what a service technician can do for your AC.
- Checks thermostat accuracy
- Checks the motor speed and oils it
- Checks refrigerant leakage
- Checks for noise level
- Fills the required amount of refrigerant
- Measures airflow in coils
- Tests the leakage in every joint
- Check for proper voltage supply
- Checks for overheating in the internal components
- Cleans up main parts to make it dust-free
So you have just learned the important checklist to maintain your AC’s cooling performance. We also have prepared a list of the best 1 ton AC in India that gives a powerful cooling performance with great energy savings. If you have any questions regarding AC maintenance, you can ask us below.
