Preparing Your A/C For Summer Use

Q: What’s on the addenda for getting my A/C started up?

A: Well giving your A/C unit a great big human hug is probably out of the question. The sheer diameter of the unit would only get you halfway round. In this situation, I would suggest doing your best by not just walking by the unit like yet another weary traveler at the airport terminal but stopping and taking a look like you really care. Take a look inside the unit and take note of the piles of leaves and sticks, dirt and the occasional dead critter. Look outside the unit for dents and dings and just how pleasant or unpleasant it appears. Take a gander at the wiring and piping as it leaves the machine heading inside, all gnarled up by numerous weed-wacker attacks. Step back and look around, or are there too many bushes and bicycles in the way? I don’t know what rule it is but A/C condensers naturally attract foreign objects in, on and around. Even sheets of plywood, little kid wading pools, old hot tub covers and especially gardening tools. Despite their convenient size and height, they are NOT tables!

Now that your outside condenser has your attention, let’s make that baby shine. At AirWorks, we obviously are well in tune to the slings and arrows confronted by heating and cooling equipment because that’s all we do. We prefer to stay on the purely technical side of things like making sure the refrigerant charge is correct, the electrical components, compressor and motors are functioning properly, and the heat transfer is occurring as per the manufacturers’ design. That’s the fun part, but it’s usually only an annual occurrence. It’s on the homeowner the other 364 days of the year. I could really bore you (like that’s not already occurring) with manufacturers’ requirements however if you want that cool cat to purr you need to give it some room. Bushes, plants, fences, trees and old hot tub covers need to be at least two feet away in every direction. “Don’t Fence Me In” is a great song by a great man and it applies to A/C units as well.

The outdoor unit has certainly more moving parts but it would not function without a properly operating indoor coil and air-moving device (furnace or heat-pump air handler). This also needs to be coupled with an airflow distribution system that is effective on both the supply and return side. It should go without saying that dirty filters, incorrect filters or no filter at all create a scenario for ineffective cooling, both robbing efficiency and shortening the life of the system. Make sure all is a go in that department in both heating and cooling. The indoor coil must also be kept clean as it is much more difficult to access. These coils are constructed in a rather tight sheet-metal “coil case” and do not lend themselves to quick and easy maintenance. The cleanliness of the outdoor coils is also a serious concern as dust and dirt get impacted between the fins and thus poor airflow and diminished heat transfer. Remember, there are no filters on the outside unit so dirt will naturally accumulate. We have environmentally friendly chemicals to properly deep-clean both indoor and outdoor coils. While we would like to attend your awesome Fourth of July party while getting your A/C back on line, we would prefer to maintenance it long before the event. So, give AirWorks a call at (406) 257-1341 for that summer tune-up as warmer days are ahead!