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Air Conditioner Service Tips

Posted: 5/17/2010 1:03:22 PM By Jenni Wiley | 4 comments | Transcript


Without regular maintenance from a heating and cooling company, an air conditioner loses about five percent of its original efficiency for each year of operation.

Finding potential problems before they arise will keep you from having an unexpected failure in the middle of a heat wave, will save you emergency repair bills and will help avoid costly repairs down the road.

Comments
Nick
"Maintenance" usually consists of cleaning and checking the refrigerant charge.

When the outdoor coil is dirty, efficiency is lost and the compressor may run hot and trip its internal overload.

When the refrigerant charge is low, the system runs longer or may never cool down the space. The refrigerant also cools the compressor. When the compressor motor constantly runs hot, it can break-down the insulation of the motor windings, causing compressor failure eventually.

A dirty filter, or dirt on the blower wheel, will reduce efficiency. A plugged filter will restrict airflow enough to cause the indoor coil to freeze up and a block of ice to form. This can result in liquid freon to enter the compressor. Liquid cannot be compressed, resulting in the breaking of the valves, and compressor replacement.

You may luck out, and none of these things may happen to you. But you are taking a gamble. And, you are definitely paying more for electricity.

Regular maintenance is very important to extend the life of your a/c system, and to pay less in electric bills.
8/2/2010 6:53:23 PM
Leo
What should I expect to be done & what is the estimated cost of the servicing?
5/21/2010 12:58:28 PM
Mary
what about air duct cleaning
5/21/2010 7:55:41 AM
George
Pretty basic ! What is being done to the A.C during "maintenance". i.e, a list of things performed on the apparatus would give me confidence in the reality of the efficiency loss claimed.
5/20/2010 4:45:08 PM
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