Maintaining your air conditioning during Jacksonville summertime is essential unless you feel like roasting alive. But maintaining your air conditioning during the wintertime is just essential. That is, if you want to ensure that it will remain in tip-top condition for the next summer as well.
Give Your Outdoor Condensing Unit Space to Breath:
This means removing unnecessary grass and weeds that can block the air unit. Your outdoor condensing unit cannot cool the air inside your house if it cannot draw air inside from outside. While it may be tempting to cover it thinking that it needs to be protected from outdoor winter elements, the fact is that this is not necessary. The name says it all—outdoor condensing unit. Perhaps it was actually designed to survive outside.
Clean That Air Filter:
Having a dirty filter is a big no-no. It will destroy your unit’s efficiency, and in wintertime, can cause the evaporator to ice over. Keeping the filter clean can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by 5%–15%. Now, while some types of filters need to cleaned, others are replaced. Whatever the case, make sure you either replace or clean your air conditioning filters every one to two months during winter.
Don’t Forget the Coils:
Just like your air conditioner, filters need to be cleaned and so do your coils. Granted, a clean filter will help the evaporator coils from acquiring dirt too quickly, it will still acquire a certain amount of dirt. If it continues to acquire a large amount of dirt, it will lose its ability to absorb heat. Make sure you check and clean it every year. Also, don’t forget to remove any debris or leaves that may be splattered within at least 2 feet.
Sealing your Window Frame:
Before wintertime starts, make sure the seal between the air conditioner and the window frame is in complete contact with the unit’s metal case. Because this seal can be damaged by something as simple as moisture, you want to avoid having cool air to escape from your house.
Giving Good ol’ Professionals a Call:
While most of the items on this checklist sound like common sense, there is always the probability of coming across a teensy detail that may be unfamiliar to you. There’s nothing wrong about knowing your own limitations. If you come across any problem regarding your air conditioning system that you can’t figure out on your own, giving a professional a call can be both life and time saving.