Cleaning your air conditioner unit is very important throughout the year, and often it’s the simplest of things that cause the worst problems. We are going to walk you through some of the steps to do it and what to look for.
As a homeowner, you have to watch for things like plants that are in the way of your air conditioner. Get rid of as many plants and obstructions as possible to ensure that you’re not choking airflow.
What’s happening with an air conditioner is that as this fan moves, it’s pulling air into the system, absorbing that heat that you had in the home, and pushing it up through that coil, and getting rid of it. If there are any obstructions in there, it’s going to choke that airflow, it’s going to slow it down, and you’re not going to get as effective air conditioning. On top of that, it’s going to stress the motor out and the compressor, and that’s when things get expensive.
Example of debris in an air conditioner unit
What’s important to walk away with today is to understand, keep the plants away from it, and if you see stuff that’s stuck in there (cottonwood, insects, spiderwebs), what we want you to do is wash that off.
You will notice that this air conditioner has fins, and these fins are made out of aluminum. We want to try and avoid damaging those fins, as seen in the picture below. Damaging the fins doesn’t destroy it, but what it does reduce the energy transfer.
When cleaning it, you want to spray it downward. Not across, if we go across, what’s happening here is the water pressure is bending those fins. Avoid using any harsh chemicals; realistically, the only thing you really need is water.
Example of spraying down the air conditioner
Every time you get out and cut the grass, take a look at the unit, is it dirty or not? If it’s dirty, take a minute, wash it off.
It is effortless to keep your air conditioner clean; if you follow these steps and tricks, you will be staying cool all summer long. Keeping your unit clean is a good practice in between yearly service inspections and maintenance. If your air conditioner gets clogged up or if it’s sitting for a long time and you’ve got moss or other things going on, we have cleaners, proper cleaners that won’t damage the aluminum, won’t damage the system, give us a call. We can help you out; that’s all part of the routine service.