How to upkeep your home air conditioner system

Like anything electronic or mechanical, your home air conditioner system needs a little love from time to time. Like your car, your air conditioner – be it a split system, ducted, wall unit, window or portable – needs to be checked under the hood, have an oil and grease and be kept in good working order if you want to get all the benefits that a home air conditioner should be offering to you and your family.

To ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of your systems running it is always best to consult the owner’s manual to ensure that you are doing everything you can in terms of keeping the system clean and maintained – remember you are not an expert (unless you are an air conditioning mechanic or installer of course). If you do need some help with anything major, it's important you always call your air conditioning expert.

When it comes to upkeep, the key is always to keep the system as clean as possible, replace the filters and ensure that everything is in running order, but what are the best steps to get this done?

Regular professional servicing

When it comes to servicing your air conditioner there is a range of things your professional air conditioning technician will do :

Measure your air flow

Inspect all electronic terminals, clean and ensure there are no loose connections

Check that your temperature gauge is telling the truth

Check your coolant levels, review any potential leads and ensure that there is no duct leakage

In addition to these main tasks, there will be general checklists of things the manufacturers of specific models will require, which again is down to the experts to manage on your behalf. The key is to ensure that you are investing the cheap cost of getting an air conditioning technician – around $50 per hour – compared to having to replace large parts if not the whole air conditioning unit or condenser if you fail to look after your system.

How often should you get them checked?

There is no ‘hard and fast rule’ in terms of air conditioning maintenance, but if you get your unit serviced and checked once or twice a year depending on your system and its age, you will be going a long way to preserving its longevity. Not to mention keeping your bills to a minimum as your system runs more efficiently.

Is there anything you can be doing yourself

Depending on your home air conditioner system, there is a range of things you can DIY to upkeep the system yourself. These little things again can ensure that your system runs for longer, stronger and more efficiently every time.

Portable air conditioners & window units

The pocket rockets of the air conditioning world, need a lot more ‘ongoing’ maintenance than their ‘set and forget’ cousins the fully ducted and split system air conditioner. As these units rely on clear water to be refilled, filters to be regularly cleaned out and washed not to mention the removal of any residual dust or grime that the heat and humidity may have brought with it.

Cleaning these units is fairly straightforward and always contained in your owner’s instruction manual. If you have purchased this unit second hand, you may need to check online for a manual or instruction video on how to maintain your system.

Again, if you are not sure – don’t do it! Spend that little bit extra to get an expert involved. Remember these systems are electronic, they involve coolants and water, so they are not to be messed around with if you don’t know what you are doing.

Split system air conditioners

home air conditioning systems – unlike ducted – have a range of things you can do to ensure that you are running smoothly.

The outside condenser of your system is what does all the work; you need to ensure this is kept clean, has space around it to essentially breath and is not exposed to every single element of every single season where possible. Especially in the southern states, where weather extremes are a fact of life, you need to ensure that your external air conditioning condensers are given every chance for longevity.

Your filters can be taken out relatively easily and cleaned. This should be done regularly, monthly or quarterly at worst. If you have a lot of guests coming through your home – or you maybe even running an AirBnB– you need to ensure this is clean for everyone’s health and wellbeing.

To clean these systems, you can either use a vacuum cleaner or simply wash the filter under a tap. Ensure that all residual dust and particles are removed before putting the filter back in and running the unit again.

The key to air conditioner upkeep is if you don’t know, don’t touch it. Professional technicians can provide you pointers on how to easily do everything, and they also do it safely.

Ducted Air Conditioning

To put is simply, other than ensuring that all the ducts, vents and external condenser are free from dust, debris and loose items – leave it alone. The fully ducted systems are extremely technical and are not systems that should be meddled with.

If you have a system that is through your flooring, one thing that can be easily done is cleaning with a vacuum cleaner inside the vents to remove any dust or other items that may have fallen. Similarly, in the roof ducts, ensure you are regularly wiping the vents with ‘wet wipes’ or a damp cloth to remove residual dust.

Remember whatever is stuck in your vents is being pushed eventually around your home, so keep it clean, and it will run like a dream.

How to clean your ducts?

Where you can make a difference in the system as previously mentioned is through keeping the ducts clean, but also the vents and air intake. The air intake is where the air is sucked in to be recirculated into your home.

These vents can often be clogged with a large amount of dust and debris, so if you want to keep them clean, you can do so.

Ensuring that your air conditioning unit is turned off, using your vacuum cleaner with the brush attachment, remove as much of the visible dust, dirt and other elements from around the vents. Ensure you wear protective eyewear and coverings for your face and mouth as you will be surprised as how much can build up in your system over a fairly short period.

Clean air is always best

A clean air conditioner is a happy air conditioner, which will lead to a happy family. There is nothing worse than coming home on a hot day, turning on your air conditioning unit and it either blowing dust around the place or worse, not working at all.

Apart from a general clean and tidy, employing the services of an air conditioning specialist is paramount to ensure the safety of you and more importantly your loved ones. People who tinker with devices they don’t know about can cause more harm than good – so keep it simple, call in the professionals.

Professionals will ensure that your air conditioning no matter how big or small runs smoothly, is clean and well maintained. Jim's Heating and Cooling are not only one of South Australia’s leading experts in the sales and installations of new air conditioning solutions, but they provide some of the industries leading technicians and maintenance experts.

Commercial, residential, industrial, no job is too big or too small for the team at right price who are there to keep you cool.

Where some other companies may sell you an air conditioner and simply walk away Jim's Heating & Cooling will go the extra mile in ensuring that you understand how you can upkeep your home conditioner, as well as clearly outlining where you responsibilities finished and where their expertise can ensure safe, clean, temperature controlled air all year around.

If you're interested in finding out more about how to manage the upkeep of your air conditioning system speak to the dedicated service team today from Jim's Heating & Cooling. Our team are available to help customers to work out how they can ensure your air is as good as it should be. We provide maintenance and upkeep steps upon all of our installations to ensure you're getting the most out of your air conditioner.