Now that it’s officially spring and we’re all looking forward to when the warm weather becomes a constant, air conditioning systems must receive special attention to prepare them for summer. We’ve recently written about the importance of scheduling annual spring maintenance for your home’s AC. In this post, we’re going to go into detail about what technicians actually do during a maintenance visit. This will help you understand even more why maintenance is a necessary part of caring for an air conditioner.
Important steps in spring HVAC maintenance:
- Checking the refrigerant level: Any loss of the refrigerant in the system (known as the AC’s charge) indicates there are leaks somewhere. Lost refrigerant will not only impair the air conditioner’s ability to cool a space, it may cause massive damage to the compressor.
- Lubricate moving parts: Technicians will check on the various motors and other mechanical parts of the AC to see if they’re developing friction from wear. The technicians will lubricate the parts that need it to remove stress.
- Clean the coils: Grime and dirt across either the evaporator or condenser coils can severely restrict the performance of an air conditioner. The technicians will clean off the coils if they are dirty.
- Change/clean the air filter: A clogged air filter can cause numerous problems with energy efficiency for an AC and could even lead to icing along the evaporator coil. You’ll need to do this job yourself monthly during the rest of the summer, so ask your technician how it’s done.
- Check thermostat calibration: If a thermostat becomes miscalibrated, it can negatively affect AC performance. Technicians can restore the thermostat to correctly sensing temperatures.
- Clean the condensate pan and drain: Water moisture from the evaporator coil collects in this pan where a drain removes it. To prevent clogging, which can cause an AC to shut down when the pan overflows, technicians remove the pan and clean both it and the condensate drain.
There are other steps involved in maintenance, but these should give you a good idea of the work involved and how it helps an air conditioner run better and with less chance of a major breakdown during the summer.
To arrange for your AC maintenance in Eugene, OR, contact Comfort Flow Heating.
