We always strongly urge homeowners to have air conditioner maintenance done every year. It improves AC efficiency. It helps the system work more effectively to keep you cool all summer. It significantly reduces the likelihood that your air conditioner will need any repairs during the coming season. It helps ensure that the system will keep running for as many years as possible. And it can even improve indoor air quality.
Even when you understand the importance of AC maintenance, though, you might not know much about what it entails. What exactly will your HVAC technician do when they’re performing air conditioning maintenance in Point Pleasant, NJ? Here are the details.
Cleaning
The first critical step is cleaning all the components of your air conditioner, both the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. There are multiple reasons for this. For one thing, you don’t want last year’s dust, or bacterial growth from last year’s condensation, blown through your vents when you turn your air conditioner on for the first time this summer. But the other reasons are even more important.
Removing dust, grit, and grime from the various moving parts of your air conditioner will help them move with less wear and tear. And when things like a blower fan motor which create heat have thick insulating blankets of dust, they’ll easily overheat, so that dust must be removed. And once the system is completely clean, your technician will be able to clearly see all the components.
Lubrication
In addition to needing to be clean from grit, moving parts in your air conditioner need grease to allow them to slide smoothly against each other. This lubricant wears away over the course of the year and must be replenished. This cuts down on friction, thereby reducing wear and tear and lowering the risk of overheating.
Inspection
All the components of your air conditioner must be inspected. Your technician will be able to take note of anything that is worn, damaged, or out of alignment. Things can be adjusted, repaired, or replaced if necessary.
One of the most important parts of the system for your technician to inspect is the coils. This is the piping the refrigerant runs through, and there can be up to 75 feet of it in larger residential AC systems. If the coils leak, the loss of refrigerant will prevent the system from working well and put a lot of strain on the most expensive component—the compressor—which you really don’t want.
Testing
Your air conditioner is an electrical system. As such, it needs to have tests done to be certain that electrical connections are being made and that the components are drawing the right amount of power. And in order to work at all, your AC relies on signals from your thermostat. This must also be tested and, if it’s inaccurate, recalibrated.
When you schedule AC maintenance, your technician will leave you with a system that is in tip-top shape and ready for the hot days ahead.
You’re More Comfortable With Atlantic Air Systems. Schedule your first maintenance appointment with us today.