If you are worried about incurring huge cooling bills during the hot months of the year, here's how to get your air conditioner ready for summer.

1. How to Get Your Air
Conditioner Ready for
Summer

2. If you are worried about incurring huge
cooling bills during the hot months of the
year, here's how to get your air
conditioner ready for summer. While
some people always expect their utility
bills to increase during summer, this
does not always have to be the case.

3. By preparing your AC unit for summer,
you will be able to:
- Reduce your utility bills
- Make your home comfortably warm and
healthy to live in
- Prevent frequent breakdowns when you
need the AC most
- Extend the lifespan of your HVAC
system

4. Air conditioners have three components;
the outdoor unit, wall-mounted indoor
unit and the air ducts. All these need to
be checked and serviced while preparing
for summer. As you prepare for a season
change, be sure to do the following:

5. 1. Inspect and Change Air Filters in
the AC
In addition to regulating room
temperatures, air conditioners also filter-
out dust, pollen and any other type of
debris. The air filters are responsible for
this task.
As you wait for summer, it is important
that you check the condition of the filters
in your air conditioner and replace them
if necessary.

6. Clogged filters can reduce the efficiency
of the AC machine, and this may lead to
higher utility bills. It is therefore
important that you replace the air filters.
If you cannot do this on your own, you
may want to consider hiring an expert
HVAC technician to lend you a hand.
New filters will prevent allergens, dust,
pollen, airborne pathogens and many
other types of impurities from getting
into the air supply system of your house.

7. 2. Inspect the Ductwork
Be sure to check the ductwork as well as
the entire air delivery system of the
building before summer. Watch out for
leaks, obstructions and debris in the
ductwork. You may want to inspect
joints, because that's where most leaks
occur. If you find any leak, you can use
silver-aluminium foil tape instead of
traditional duct tape.

8. The latter usually breaks down easily
over time. If you notice any sign of mold
growing in the ductwork, you may want
to get in touch with a reputable duct-
cleaning company and hire them to clean
the whole system.
Mold can cause serious health problems,
so you do not want them growing in your
HVAC system.

9. 3. Consider Installing a
Programmable Thermostat
Studies have shown that a
programmable thermostat can increase
the efficiency of an air conditioning
system. A setback thermostat is
affordable, easy to install, and can help
you save over $100 annually. This unit
will ensure that the temperatures do not
drop or increase beyond the desired
room temperature thereby reducing
energy wastage.

10. 4. Get Rid of Debris From the
Exterior Unit
To ensure unrestricted air-flow into the
exterior unit, you must remove all
obstructions and debris from the
surrounding areas. Ideally, there should
be at least 2 feet of free space around
the outdoor unit.

11. 5. Inspect the Condensate Removal
System
A condensate is usually formed when
warm air passes through the cooling coil.
The condensate is usually removed in a
number of ways, and this may vary from
one manufacturer to another. For
instance, the liquid may flow freely into a
drain. It may also flow into a pan below
the blower unit. Most pans are usually
fitted with a float switch that turns on a
pump responsible for draining the liquid.

12. Other systems may have a kill switch
that shuts down the system when the
pan is full to prevent the liquid from
overflowing. Be sure to test these
switches when preparing the air
conditioning system for summer.

13. That's how to get your AC system ready
for summer. If you need help with these
tasks, you may want to consider hiring
an AC expert to perform the necessary
maintenance checks on your system for
you.
http://www.theairconditionerguide.com