Maintenance

Air conditioners are tough appliances, built to give you years of relief during the summer months. One of the ways to avoid the shock of turning on your air conditioner and discovering it’s not working is to perform yearly maintenance each spring. This ensures you’ll be ready to cool off come the hot summer months.

Studies have shown that each year your air conditioner doesn’t receive maintenance or a tune-up, it loses approximately 5% of its efficiency. With maintenance, you can keep your air conditioner running at about 95% of its original efficiency. Not only will you save on those high emergency repair costs, you’ll also have lower electricity bills in the summer months.

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) recommends that checking the coolant levels should be a part of the yearly maintenance since losing just 10% of the coolant will result in 20% higher operating costs for your air conditioner. The yearly check should also include cleaning the condensing unit coils, checking the compressor, adding oil to fan motors, ensuring the belts are working, and checking the system pressures and temperatures to ensure that they match the manufacturer specifications. Since turning the air conditioner on and off can cause wear and tear on the compressor and fan controls, these should be checked. Electrical connections and their contacts need to be examined for corrosion.

Common Problems with Air Conditioners

There are some common problems that cause air conditioners to break down. Start by cleaning/replacing the filter. One of the most common air conditioner problems is discovering that your unit is leaking. When an air conditioner leaks, it is losing refrigerant. Adding more refrigerant is not going to help if your air conditioner has a hole. You need to call a professional appliance repair technician for a proper repair.

Another common problem for a broken air conditioner is problems with the thermostat sensor. This part of the control panel measures the temperature of all the air entering the evaporative coil. It’s important that the sensor remains near the evaporative coil but it cannot touch it. If your air conditioner is cycling constantly or running inconsistently, it’s possible that the thermostat sensor has been jostled out of place. You may be able to bend the wire holding it away from the coil (with the air conditioner unplugged, of course).

Improper drainage is another problem air conditioners run into over the summer months. When it gets humid, the condensate drain may begin to clog, causing problems for your air conditioning unit. A window-mounted air conditioner may run into this problem even when the weather isn’t humid if it hasn’t been mounted properly. A room air conditioner must always be levelled to maximize its performance.

With proper maintenance, you can minimize the chance of losing your air conditioner on the hottest days of the summer. If you do end up getting a broken air conditioner fixed mid-summer, you should be able to find same-day appliance repair in the GTA without breaking a sweat.