Monday, May 30, 2011

Beginning of Summer!

Memorial Day is usually considered the beginning of the summer season. Here are a few tips to help your central air conditioning system keep you cool and run efficiently.

My first recommendation is to have a qualified technician come to your home to service and test your central air conditioning system before it gets hot. If the level of refrigerant, commonly called FREON, is off 10% it may cost you 20% or more to operate. An air conditioning tune-up could save you more than the cost of the tune-up and your system will cool much better with less energy.

Now, here are things that you can do yourself:

Air flow is very important to your air conditioning system.

*Clean, wash or replace the air filter in your system., The air filter will usually be in your furnace or a return air filter register grill. EVERY system has a filter to keep the dirt from building up in the inside coil of your system. If that coil gets dirty it is very hard to clean as it is inside the system and not easy to get to.

If the filter is in your furnace, make sure the blower door is back in place after you service or change the air filter.

You should clean or replace your air filters at lease twice a year and many manufactures recommend monthly! I include our filter washing when we change the clocks each year. Three items: change time - spring ahead and fall back, check smoke alarms and smoke alarm batteries, wash or change air filters in heating & AC system.

*Make sure nothing is on top of your outside unit or within 12” of the sides of the unit. Trim back any vegetation to 12-18 inches from the unit; 18” is best as it will grow back.

By the way, your outside unit does not need to be covered when not in use. It was made different than people, it was built to be naked all year round.

*With the system turned off, hose off outside coils. Do not use a strong spray of water as a strong jet of water may bend aluminum fins.

*With the temperature being over 75 degrees F, that’s 24 degrees C, turn the system on for a few hours to make sure it will cool correctly before it gets really hot.

*After the system has run for an hour or so be sure to check the condensate drain to be sure the water is going to the place it is suppose to go and not running or leaking into the furnace area or other parts of your building.

Your air conditioning system will produce as much as five (5) gallons or more of water an hour. If it leaks to the wrong place it could cause a lot of damage.

If you suspect any trouble with your system call or email us and we’ll try to help you. Our website is www.DialOneToday.com. Our email address is DialOneToday@hotmail.com and telephone number is 714-DIAL ONE (342-5663).

Best wishes for a wonderful summer.

No comments:

Post a Comment