An air conditioner is quite an investment. You want it to keep your home cool and comfortable for as many years as possible so you can really benefit from that investment. The last thing you’d want is for your air conditioner to break down and need to be replaced in just a handful of years!
We’d like to help you enjoy that investment for many years. How can you avoid the problems that lead to early air conditioner replacement? The key to a long-lasting air conditioner is the compressor. Protect that component to prolong AC life. Here’s how to do it.
Limit Your Use
Anything you can do to make sure the air conditioner runs less of the time will create less strain for the compressor and help it to last more seasons. A dehumidifier can help you feel just as cool while setting the thermostat a few degrees higher. Using your ceiling fans can do that as well. Good insulation, sealing up drafts, and blocking direct sun when it’s hitting the windows will also help. And these things reduce your electric bill as well!
Keep Your Air Conditioner Clean
Good airflow is the best friend of the air conditioner. Anything that gets in the way of air circulation is preventing the AC from moving heat out of and away from your home as well as it could, thus forcing it to run more.
At the indoor unit, you can use canned air to blow away dust, so the evaporator coils won’t be wearing a dusty blanket of insulation. At the outdoor unit, trim back plants, rake away leaves or lawn clippings, and use a gentle spray from your hose to wash off any caked-on dust or dirt.
Schedule Regular Maintenance
When your HVAC technician performs air conditioner maintenance, they will do many things that ultimately result in less overheating, less wear and tear, less time spent running, and less pressure on that all-important compressor. Dust and grime will be cleaned out of the units. Lubricant will be replenished. Worn components will be replaced, misaligned ones straightened, and loose ones secured into place.
Your technician will also run through some tests to determine how well the electrical components of the air conditioner are doing. Is the blower fan motor drawing the right amount of power? Is the thermostat calibrated precisely and sending accurate signals? Adjusting these things, if they’re not correct, will also help reduce strain and prolong AC life.
Get Repairs Promptly
When an AC problem starts, it may seem quite small. It’s just a little noise, or a slight suspicion that the cool air isn’t as evenly distributed as it should be. But when the air conditioner continues to run for days or weeks while it’s struggling with a problem, it’s experiencing strain. And that problem is likely to get a lot worse over that time, leading to a repair that’s more complicated and more expensive!
Take good care of that compressor and it will take good care of you, keeping your home cool and pleasant for many years to come. Just don’t overuse it, keep it clean, schedule maintenance every year, and don’t neglect any needs for air conditioning repair in Hammond, LA.
When you need it done right, contact Professional Heating & Air.