Air Conditioning Simple Fixes

A central air conditioner that is located outside should be cleaned before the beginning of summer.  You can remove debris and leaves from around the outside unit.  You can do a lot of cleaning and maintenance by yourself, but also you should call in the services of a professional air conditioning repair company every year.  If the unit is properly maintained, it will use less energy than an air conditioning unit that is not maintained.

There can be different kinds of problems that arise with an air conditioner.  It may not work at all or it may work, but do a poor job of cooling the house or business.  It may make noises.  It may drip or leak water.  Do what you can on your own to maintain the unit, but if it is beyond the realm of your knowledge to fix, then call in a qualified air conditionining repair person.

First of all, as you are switching from winter to summer, if the unit is not coming on, make sure the thermostat is set on the “cool” setting.  Or, if the unit stops working suddenly, make sure someone has not hit the setting accidentally to “heat” or “off”.  If the thermostat is set to cool, make sure the temperature setting is correct.  If it still doesn’t work, then the thermostat may not be working properly.  If the thermostat has batteries, make sure the batteries are replaced if necessary.  If the unit is not working, check for a blown fuse.  You can fix that by resetting the breaker or replacing the fuse.   

If the unit is not cooling properly, it may be a problem with air flow.  In this case, the air filter needs to be cleaned.  Before cleaning, turn off the power to the air conditioner.  If it is a window unit, open the door that holds the filter, remove the filter, and clean it.  When the filter is clean and dry, replace it into the unit.  Some kinds of units may have filters that are simply replaced rather than needing to being cleaned.

When air conditioners work properly, they remove moisture from the air.  There is usually a drain pipe that comes out from the air conditioner.  Algae can grow and block this pipe and then the air conditioner will not work.  Some units have a safety switch that goes off when the drain pipe is clogged and backed up with water.  When the switch goes off, it is time to clean it the pipe.

When it comes to lubrication or difficult repairs of the unit, and to the yearly inspection cycle, be sure to hire your local ac repair service.