How Often Should You Maintain Your AC?

When summertime temperatures in Anaheim, CA, reach their highest, there are few things that feel better than walking into your cool, comfortable home. With that said, an air conditioner needs maintenance to be at its best, which is why you should schedule maintenance to keep it up to par. Many wonder how often you need to maintain an air conditioning system, which is why we created this guide to help.

Why Air Conditioners Need Regular Maintenance

Your air conditioner relies on a series of parts and pieces that all must work together to keep your home cool. When a single piece malfunctions, you’ll notice higher indoor temperatures and an increase in your monthly utility bills. Regular maintenance involves a licensed technician checking all of those components, ensuring that connections are tight, lubricating moving parts, and more.

At Associated Heating & Air, we suggest that homeowners schedule AC maintenance at least once a year, but for optimal performance, we recommend two visits per year. Having a tune-up performed during the spring helps ensure that your air conditioner is ready to combat the summer temperatures. If your AC works a lot throughout the summer, a second maintenance visit can help reduce the wear and tear that systems often experience while helping ensure that you’re ready to stay cool until Anaheim’s relatively mild heating season.

Common Problems With Poorly Maintained Air Conditioners

When your air conditioner isn’t kept to an annual or bi-annual maintenance schedule, you’ll start to see certain issues from time to time. The most common of these problems is higher energy bills. When an air conditioner’s filters and components aren’t cleaned, it’s harder for air to pass through the system, which leads to increased strain. That increased strain requires more energy and leads to higher monthly bills.

This also means lower indoor air quality. If there’s accumulated dust and debris on the inside of your system, you can expect that debris will also end up in the air that you breathe. Common debris and allergens that recirculate in your home will include:

• Dust
• Pet dander
• Building materials
• Mold and mildew
• Chemicals
• Secondhand smoke

Maintaining Once a Year

For an air conditioning system, we recommend that you schedule professional maintenance at least once a year in the spring. When you have one of our professional technicians come in for a maintenance session this time of year, you prepare your system for the summer. The worst possible time for an air conditioner breakdown is in the warmer months, so getting upkeep during the spring heads off any issues before they can crop up. One of our technicians at Associated Heating & Air will check and clean components and let you know of any impending issues, should there be any.

Maintaining Twice a Year

Now, while many consider once-a-year air conditioning maintenance to be satisfactory, we suggest two visits per year. This is because our goal is to keep your system running at its best, so we utilize a 32-point maintenance procedure in the spring and autumn. This not only ensures your system is ready to go in the summer but also prepares it for the temperature and precipitation changes of the winter.

How Long a Maintenance Session Takes

When we’re putting your system through our 32-point maintenance procedures, it’ll typically take between one and two hours. This ensures that our team has the time to examine, clean, and maintain all of the components.

What Happens During a Maintenance Session?

We utilize a fairly complex system when we’re performing a maintenance session. Here are a few of the essentials we engage in to ensure that your air conditioner is ready for the season.

Air Filter Cleaning or Replacement

This is the most vital part of a professional upkeep session because if you maintain an air filter poorly, it will quickly cause problems for your air conditioner. When dust, debris, and detritus form on the air filters, the system strains, air quality dips, and the evaporator freezes. This is because there is not enough airflow in the air conditioner to keep the system warm.

When one of our licensed technicians visits your home, turn off the HVAC system and locate the filter. We’ll remove it from the housing and check for airflow. If air flows easily, they’ll clean the component. If it’s washable, they’ll place it back into the air conditioner. If the filter is damaged or simply too dirty, we will replace it with a brand-new one.

Electrical Connection Maintenance

With its wide array of moving components, an air conditioner can actually start to loosen its internal electrical components. This is a critical job for an HVAC technician because loose electrical components can be a safety issue. Once the technician turns the air conditioner off, they will then check to see if all internal connections are secure.

Thermostat Calibration

When your thermostat is experiencing problems, it’ll throw off the operation of your entire cooling system. In many cases, a malfunctioning thermostat will have a simple fix, like a changed battery, but sometimes, these components break down. Additionally, if the thermostat is set incorrectly, it can cause short cycling, which will see your system turning on and off periodically. This will cost you more money on your energy bills.

During a maintenance session, our technician will check the display of your thermostat to ensure battery and connection health. If the display is fine but the displayed temperature is far off the room’s norm, this may indicate a fault. Then, we will check the temperature settings and, if necessary, replace the thermostat.

Component Lubrication

Air conditioning units have many moving parts that need to be lubricated for optimal functionality. Our team will lubricate these elements, saving the system from wasted energy, which means higher utility bills.

Refrigerant Level Checks

If you’re experiencing an air conditioner unit that’s pumping out war air, low refrigerant levels are one potential cause. These levels deplete over time, but sudden drops typically are an indicator of an ongoing leak. Our air conditioner specialists will use their training to shore up these leaks and correct refrigerant levels if needed.

Visual Inspection of Components

Wear and tear are natural in an air conditioner, which is why our technicians check for worn or damaged components during their maintenance sessions. These components are very likely to damage the system and make it more inefficient. If parts like this are found, the technician will recommend their repair or replacement.

Maintain Your HVAC Unit With Our Maintenance Plan

Keeping up with your professional maintenance sessions is absolutely essential. At Associated Heating & Air, we offer a convenient maintenance plan that comes with a one-year membership. During that time, we will provide you with a semi-annual tune-up for your heating and air conditioning system. With this membership, you’ll also save 10% on repairs. We are proud to offer heating and cooling installation, repair, and maintenance services.

At Associated Heating & Air, we are a top HVAC company in Anaheim. Call us today to learn more!