Maintaining Your Air Conditioner

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All Leaks
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Maintaining Your Air Conditioner
It is a common misunderstanding that when one
purchases and has a new Air Conditioner
installed, that the job ends there. Frequently,
the home owner uses their unit, with no regular
maintenance, and when is stops working, the
fateful call for the repairman is made. In
truth, with regular, easy, commonplace
maintenance, the function and life of an AC unit
can be extended many years.
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Maintaining Your Air Conditioner
To understand the care required, one must first
understand the basic parts of the unit, and how
each can be monitored, how preventive care is
done, and thus the need to assess malfunctionwill
occur much less frequently. Overall, this will
decrease the cost of running an AC unit, as well
as the maintenance costs needed over time.
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Maintaining Your Air Conditioner
Components of Your Central AC unit
The Filter All AC units have a filter which
cleans the air flowing into the unit from
particulate matter, dust, hair, etc. It is
critical that these filters are checked and
cleaned or replaced on a regular schedule. One
must locate the filter, usually in the duct in a
wall or ceiling. There are now many different
types of filters, with different filtration power
and lifespans. Different filters have different
maintenance schedules, and it is a wise choice to
check them more frequently than recommended,
especially if in older, dusty homes, and in homes
with shedding animals. Aggressive maintenance
will decrease the cost of running the AC, as well
as increase the units efficiency. A very basic
tenet is to check and/or replace filters every
one to two months during warm weather.
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Maintaining Your Air Conditioner
The Coils, Fins and Drains Air travelling
through the filter then is carried to the
evaporator coil and condenser coil. These parts
get clogged up with soilage over the course of
the use of the AC unit. Eventually, regardless
of the filters status, these will get dirt and
debris on them over time. Dirt in these parts
will cause them to lose heat, and decrease the
overall functionality of the unit. It is also
critical to have these parts checked on a yearly
basis for damage and soilage. Outdoor units must
be free from trees, leaves, and dust. Keeping
the area that is around your unit clean from
debris will give extra added life to your unit.
Over the coils lie fins which easily get bent and
damaged, hence obstructing the unit. Since these
fins are a soft metal, they can easily be brushed
into position. It is also important to assure the
patency of the drain, as moisture easily backs up
and causes mold and other property damage.
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Maintaining Your Air Conditioner
Other Safety Recommendations In order to get
maximum performance from your AC unit, preparing
for each season is critical. After summer, AC
units outdoors should be secured and covered to
protect them from damage during inclement
weather. Prior to the warm season, the units
need to be uncovered, inspected for damage, and
all parts mentioned above inspected and updated.
If any question or uncertainty, the best option
is to call your local HVAC repairman, and not put
yourself in harms way.
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Maintaining Your Air Conditioner
This article is penned by Lora Davis for All
Leaks. All Leaks is a heating and air contractor
that provides all kinds of repairs, maintenance,
installation services in Bergen County NJ and
other nearby areas. In case you need a air
conditioning contractor Bergen County NJ then
give them a call at 201-898-1795 today and say
goodbye to your AC problems.
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All Leaks
Elmwood Park, NJ khater1939_at_gmail.com Phone
201-898-1795 www.allleaksnorthnj.com