Maintenance and service of your home reverse cycle, split system and ducted system, air conditioner, air con or A/C.
It is said that, like a car, air conditioners need regular tune-ups to run properly.
Without regular maintenance an air conditioner loses about 5% of it’s original efficiency for each year of operation.
The good news is that you can recover most of that lost efficiency through regular maintenance. Studies show that with regular tune-ups a unit will regain up to 95% of it’s original efficiency. This means that the cost of an annual tune-up is recovered very quickly in savings on your monthly electricity bill and reduced repair costs. A properly serviced air conditioner will also do a better job of dehumidifying, cooling or heating our home.
For a standard home reverse cycle split system air conditioner a once a year maintenance schedule should be maintained.
To maintain or service yourself you should;
- Clean the return air filter/s,to do this on wall mounted or window mounted units, remove the front cover on your unit, remove the cloth or mesh filter and clean with either a brush, vacuum, compressed air, by hand or by washing and leaving to dry, before replacing in reverse order. Ducted units, you will have an air intake vent in the ceiling, floor or wall, remove cover and remove filter and clean as above.
- Wipe down dust and dirt inside unit that is accessible, wipe or brush down the cover in and around the inside unit and the foil grill, being careful not to bend any of the foil as this will reduce the efficiency of the unit if large amounts have been bent.
- Check ducting, for ducted units only, if you are able and being careful, weather your ducting is in your ceiling or under the house, check that all the ducting is still serviceable, make sure all joints are still attached and have not come apart and that all are in good order.
- Check outside condenser, make sure that there are no plants growing up and around your condenser, move any material and debris from around the unit. Clean the grill (condenser) using a brush or compressed air.
Larger systems require a licensed trade person to perform preventative maintenance and repairs.