As a homeowner, you know that there are a lot of responsibilities and expenses that come with maintaining your home. You do whatever you can to keep your home in good working order and to maintain its various systems. Your air conditioning (AC) system is one of the most important ones in the whole house, especially during the summer months. So, reducing wear and tear on your AC and extending its life is a high priority.
Here are six things you can do to protect your AC and keep it running reliably when you need it most.
Avoid Running Your AC Around the Clock
The motor on your air conditioner can wear out a lot faster when it is running night and day. If you or your family members are home all day, then this might be unavoidable.
But if the house is empty during the day, then it’s a good idea to turn the central AC off or at least turn up the thermostat by a few degrees while everyone is out for the day. The same goes for when you head out in the evening or when on vacation. Giving your AC system a rest from time to time can add years to its life.
Replace Air Filters on Schedule
One of the easiest things you can do is to change out the air filter every 90 days or so. When the filter becomes clogged with lint and dust, the airflow is restricted. This causes your unit’s motor to have to work much harder to suck fresh air into the system.
This extra strain on the motor can cause it to overload and burn out much faster than usual. So tossing out that old air conditioner filter needs to be done every few months to reduce wear and tear on your unit.
Seal Air Leaks in Your Home
One trick you might not have thought of is to check the weather-stripping around your doors and windows. Weather-stripping is that band of rubber that is used to seal your windows and exterior doors from leaking cool air out and letting hot air in. Over time, this rubber strip becomes worn out and begins to crack, letting your cold air escape.
By keeping those doors and windows sealed properly, it’s easier for your AC to maintain the temperature according to your thermostat. So the end result is that the AC doesn’t have to work as hard to keep your home nice and cool.
Have Your AC System Professionally Maintained
At some point, you should also have your entire heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system checked out by a professional repair company. Professionals can check out the motor and all the mountings to ensure that there are no loose screws or damaged parts. With all the movement that takes place in an air conditioner, excessive vibrations or unbalanced parts can cause things to break down much faster than normal. So you definitely want to give your AC a tune-up every now and then.
Be sure to hire a reputable company which has many years of experience. Take All Year Cooling as an example. Based in south Florida, All Year Cooling has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has high ratings from other consumer protection and trade organizations too. These are the kinds of things you want to look for when searching for an HVAC maintenance company.
Clean Ducts and Vents Regularly
Keeping your air ducts and vents clean is also important to reducing wear and tear on your system. First, clean the input vent that houses the air filter. Then clean all the vents in all the rooms of your home. The air ducts themselves will also need to be cleaned by removing the wall vents.
If your HVAC system has a false ceiling surrounding it, then pull those panels off, grab a stepladder and clean everything that you can reach. But if this is too much work for you, or if you simply prefer not to do it yourself, you can have a housecleaning service or an AC service company do the cleaning for you.
Close Vents to Unused Rooms
One last tip to help you extend the life of your AC is to close off the vents and doors to unused rooms in your home.
Many empty nesters have one or more bedrooms that end up being used for storage or as guest rooms. Since these rooms are rarely used — except when company comes over — you can reduce your cooling bill and reduce the load on your air conditioner by closing those vents and doors and keeping these rooms sealed off. You should also keep those drapes and blinds closed tightly to reduce the amount of sunlight and heat from coming in as well.
Keeping your AC system in tip-top shape will keep you and your family cool all summer long. Follow these six home tips for extending the life of your AC unit, and you’ll save yourself a lot of money and headaches for years to come.
