If you’ve ever looked at your air conditioning when it’s running during a heat wave and thought, “Wow, it’s doing a lot of work—how can it hold up without overheating?” then you’re one step ahead. People often take their home air conditioning systems for granted and assume they can just run them as much as they want without serious trouble. Sure, electric bills will go up, but if they can afford it, what’s the problem?
But there are problems with running the AC without mercy—such as an AC that overheats and needs to be replaced! You don’t have to sacrifice your comfort to give your air conditioner a break; you only need to know some important tips. Below we’ll look at ways you can help your air conditioner survive this late summer heat without running into an AC breakdown or a need for air conditioning repair in Mansfield, LA.
Maintenance—do it if you haven’t already this year!
This is the most important piece of advice for keeping your AC in good shape and running for many years. Your AC needs professional maintenance annually to clean, adjust, and tune it up. Missing maintenance allows strain and age to get an early hold on the air conditioner. We recommend spring for air conditioning maintenance, but if you missed it, it’s not too late. It’s much better to have maintenance done later than to skip it entirely. Call us today and ask about our Proactive Savings Agreement to take care of regular maintenance.
Keep the thermostat at a steady, higher temperature
Don’t push the thermostat lower and lower when the heat rises—this won’t cool your home down faster and it places excessive strain on the compressor as it has to run for longer. Instead, aim for the highest indoor temperature you find comfortable and leave it there during the day. We recommend aiming for 78°F. At night, raise the thermostat by 8°F from the daytime setting. If you have to keep adjusting the thermostat throughout the day for comfort, it often indicates the AC has a repair problem.
Change the air filter regularly
Have you changed your AC’s air filter yet this summer? If not, then it’s almost certainly overdue for it. This filter needs to be changed for a clean one every one to three months. If a dirty filter is left in place, it makes the AC fight to draw in air for it to cool. Dirty air filters are a major cause of air conditioning systems overheating—and it’s an easy problem to prevent.
Clear the outdoor cabinet and clean it
The outdoor cabinet of the HVAC system, the condenser, is where the air conditioner releases the heat it pulled out of the air in the home. If the condenser doesn’t have enough space around it to exhaust this heat, or if the condenser coils have gotten too dirty, more heat will get trapped in the AC and lead to it overheating. We recommend you check around the cabinet to see if any debris and plants are cleared away, and then wash down the cabinet with a hose under gentle pressure.
Moon’s Air has provided whole-home comfort since 1971. Call us for service today—it’s good to be Mooned!