While Ann Arbor, MI doesn’t get nearly as hot as other parts of the country, pre-summer AC prep is still essential. Keeping up with the necessary maintenance and seasonal checks can make a major difference in how well your cooling system maintains your desired temperature, how efficiently it cools, how much energy it uses and how long it lasts before you need to replace it. We’ll look at the steps you need to take to ensure your AC is ready for summer and how to keep it running efficiently throughout the season.
Before turning your air conditioning on for the first time, you should always replace the air filter. Unless you’ve replaced the filter fairly recently, it’s almost certainly dirty and starting to clog from your heating system running all winter. A dirty filter can significantly contribute to decreased cooling efficiency and performance since it restricts the amount of air the blower can pull into the indoor unit.
An AC system with restricted airflow can’t cool as quickly or as efficiently as it should. This results in longer cooling cycles that lead to higher energy bills. You will probably see issues with weak airflow in some rooms, resulting in uneven cooling and hot spots around the house.
Replacing the air filter at the start of the season is important, but you also need to regularly check and replace it as necessary throughout the summer. Filters typically don’t last for more than 90 days without developing clogs. When your AC starts running much more, you may need to replace the filter every month or two. Pet hair and excessive dust in the house can also cause a filter to clog much sooner than average.
The outdoor condenser unit needs air to flow through consistently for the AC system to cool your house efficiently. The air that the fan draws through the unit enables the system to disperse the heat that the refrigerant removes from the house.
Leaves and debris piled around the condenser or stuck in the grilles on its sides reduce the amount of air the fan can pull in, so the system will consume excess energy while cooling the house less effectively. This is why you must keep the area around the outdoor unit clean and free of debris. You should also keep nearby grass, weeds, bushes and trees trimmed back to allow at least 2 to 3 feet of clearance around it.
The next step, before turning your AC on, is to go through the house and check the return and supply vents and registers. Specifically, you want to make sure that they’re all open and free of clogs or obstructions like furniture or drapes.
There’s a common belief that closing some of the supply vents helps an AC system to cool more efficiently by using less energy, but this isn’t the case. If closed, clogged or obstructed vents block off the airflow, it results in decreased efficiency and cooling performance. That’s because cooled air continually builds within the supply ducts, creating increased resistance that makes it difficult for the system to circulate air throughout the house. If all vents are open and unobstructed, your AC system will cool your house more evenly and use less energy overall.
The biggest factor in how effectively and efficiently an air conditioning system performs is whether it received proper service at the start of the season. Annual air conditioner maintenance is hugely important for ensuring effective performance and avoiding problems that can lead to a sudden breakdown.
Other than replacing filters and keeping the area around the outdoor unit clean, you should leave essential maintenance tasks to a trained technician. Cleaning the coils and blower, inspecting the wiring and electrical components, testing the motors and checking the refrigerant level are all vital parts of maintaining your cooling system so that everything works as it should.
At Koch & White Heating and Cooling, we’ve been providing dependable home services throughout the Ann Arbor area for more than 90 years and have what it takes to ensure you stay comfortable all summer long. We offer the full range of air conditioning services and can quickly and reliably see to all of your needs.
For AC repair and maintenance you can trust, contact the experts at Koch & White today.
