Knowing When Is The Right Time To Service Your Air Conditioning System
Throughout the year, there are several different times that an AC service should inspect your air condition system and repairs or adjustments made to the system. Waiting until the system is not working correctly is not a good idea. Instead, you can anticipate repairs by having your unit regularly serviced.
Spring Inspection
An AC service should inspect the air conditioning system in your home at the beginning of the season, so plan for a service call in the spring before the AC service company gets too busy. If you wait until the weather gets hot, the service company can be extremely busy, and you may have to wait for an appointment.
If you plan to have the service company come out when the air is still cool, and people are not thinking about summer yet, you can usually get a service appointment right away, and you may even save some money because the season has not started yet. Once the cooling season starts, the rates will likely go up, and you may find yourself paying more for the service when they finally get to you.
What Should Be Checked
When the technician from the AC service arrives at your home, they will need to access the AC unit inside the home, as well as the heat exchanger outside. The technician will pull the filters out of the system and clean the ducts where the air comes in. They are to remove dust and debris that has settled in the system over the winter months and ensure that everything runs properly when you turn the unit on for the summer.
The technician will check the belts, the motors in the AC unit, and the fan motor assemblies, along with the filters. If anything seems off, they will test it for you and determine if there is a need to replace any parts in the air conditioning system.
The technician will also check all the wiring and the filters and belts in the air handler outside your home. Often, the heat exchangers inside that unit will need to be cleaned, to remove debris from the fins so air can pass easily through them. If the exchangers are dirty, the system will not function properly, and the exchangers can freeze up because there is no warm air moving through them.
Once the system is inspected and cleaned, the technician will recommend a time to come back and change the filters again for you. If you schedule this second call in the fall, you will be ahead of the game in the spring, and the spring inspection will be far easier. The fall inspection is not required, but it is an excellent time to look at the unit after it has run all summer.