August 5, 2013
When it Comes to Keeping Your Home Comfortable, Your Air Conditioner is the Key.
One of the most important parts of any HVAC system is the air conditioning unit. It will work in many cases throughout the whole year without any prolonged break. It is going to play a key part in keeping the air in your home on a comfortable level in regard to temperature or humidity. Regular maintenance is the key to keeping your air conditioner working properly. Failing to do so can result in degrading performance and escalating operational costs.
First, it is important to contact an HVAC expert if your air conditioner is not working properly. Tinkering with it yourself may make the situation worse. If you are not familiar with the mechanics of the device, you may not even be able to identify the reason for the issue.
The second rule is to keep the machine clean. All air conditioners come with filters. You must routinely clean or replace these parts of your device. Dirty, dusty filters will block the normal flow of air. The accumulating dust will affect the heat-absorbing capacity of the evaporator coil itself and on the long run that will result in serious issues. Keeping those filters in shape by replacing or cleaning them once in every two months will significantly improve your device’s performance. Energy-consumption-wise dirty filters can raise the needs of the device by as much as 15 percent.
Coil fins are common parts of air conditioners too. They are made mostly by aluminum and they tend to deform by time. A deformed coil fin will block the airflow in the machine degrading its efficiency. Checking them on a regular basis, and fixing or replacing them if necessary, will ensure that your device performs at its peak capacity.
Check if there are any clogs in the condensation draining pipe. A drained pipe will prevent the system to get rid of the extra humidity in the air, which in turn will trigger the coloring of the wallpapers or painting because of the superfluous moisture.
Check the sealing of the windows. At the end of the day, what the point is of supplying cool air in the interior of the house if that is allowed to escape.
Throughout the winter, covering and wrapping the unused parts of the device is a great strategy. It will prolong the lifetime of the machine, protecting it from the weather while it is not in use anyway.
The regular maintenance of the air conditioner is an essential task and keeping these simple rules in mind, it will not challenge anyone’s capacities. Always keep aware of the first rule though: serious malfunctioning is best investigated and solved by trusted experts.
St. Louis Air Conditioning
When contracting an expert for regular maintenance, or fixing a HVAC problem, call Scott-Lee Heating at (314) 200-0788. A Scott-Lee Comfort Specialist will be happy to help you improve the comfort level of your home environment.