We all know that taking care of an air conditioner during the summer months is personal care and official summer is just around the corner. Before things get really hot and we all start impressing each other with our conversational skills ( Is it hot enough for you? ) and your social media feed is full of pictures of car thermometers, you might be wondering, "What can I do? " to take care of the air conditioning in my house?" "We are here to help!
As a homeowner, there are a few things you can do to maintain your air conditioner and make it run more efficiently this summer. The best tip for air conditioning maintenance this summer? Keep clean.
AC Maintenance Tip #1: Clean the air vents
If you're not very familiar with your air conditioning system, there are generally three types of air vents in your home: supply, return, and exhaust. The large vent you see on the left is a return air vent. The air flows through the return air vents to the air conditioner to cool down. The cool air is then fed back into the house through the ventilation openings. The really tired air flows through the exhaust vent. (Just kidding, but it's true: Stale air from your attic or other vents is blown out of your house through vents.)
At right is a close-up of this rear vent. Can you see all the dust and dirt that has accumulated on the ventilation flaps and inside the duct? You can unscrew the vent cap, clean and disinfect it, and use a feather duster to remove as much dust and dirt from the interior as possible. This clears the way and prevents all of that debris from getting into the filter, clogging the lines and/or getting into the air you breathe.
If your vent covers show signs of rust , replace them with moisture-resistant resin covers.
AC Maintenance Tip #2 - Change your AC drip tray
The drip tray is designed to catch moisture that occurs naturally from condensation that forms when the air is cooled by the air conditioner. If the water stays in the pan long enough to rust, the condensate line may be clogged. See the next section for help, but it could be just one problem among others . If the pan rusts, you need to replace it. You can do this yourself for around $200-$600 depending on the device, or you can hire a professional. You should always check your warranty first to see if it is covered.
In the meantime, DO NOT look around your kitchen for something that could replace your air conditioner drip tray. Or do it, but don't forget it and leave it there forever.
AC Maintenance Tip #3: Clean your condensate line
If you've never seen a spot this white and don't immediately know what it is, here's what happens when a leak occurs behind a drywall ceiling. Before it breaks and water leaks everywhere. I wish whoever took this photo (it was me) would have put something next to the white spot for reference so you can tell how big it is. But if they had taken a measurement there, you could have seen that the white spot is as long as one measurement.
In either case, the main condensate line drains the water that collects in the drain pan to a siphon in the house, usually a bathroom sink. (The most common place to find it is in one of the bathtubs in the house. Do you have a bathroom sink where you hear a weird dripping sound even when there's no running water? That's it.) If the line is clogged, it can Water in the pan nowhere. The tray filled up and spilled into, in my case, the attic, seeped through the attic patio to the ceiling below, and sadly, shortly after this photo was taken, onto the entire carpet as well.
You know the saying that the shoemaker's sons had no shoes? Even home inspectors make mistakes. What we should have done at home, you can now do. Run some diluted bleach, vinegar or Nuline AC Line Cleaner through the main condensate line to prevent clogging.
Unfortunately, we're just starting to cover up the dirt in our air conditioners, so at next week's inspection we'll share a few more tips on how to keep them clean this summer. You should keep them busy until then!
If you have general questions about your air conditioner, how it works, how long it will last, and how best to maintain it, you can always ask a licensed home inspector to perform a seasonal inspection of your home.
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