Problems With Your AC? Here Are 6 Things Everyone Can Try
Air conditioning (AC) makes many parts of the country comfortable to live in. It would be hard to imagine living in states from Florida to Arizona or in most of the United States without the benefit of air conditioning. For this reason, more than two-thirds of all homes in the country rely on air conditioning services to keep us cool and comfortable for the hot times of the year. The problem is that from time to time, our systems fail us and when that happens we often have to bring in air conditioning repair services to get things working the way we want them to.
The good news is that there are things that people can do before they call in the air conditioning repair services cavalry. Here are some things anyone can do:
- Make sure you did not trip a breaker. This is one of the most common reasons people’s air conditioners stop working. It is also the easiest thing to check and the easiest thing to fix. From time to time, we overload the circuits in our homes inadvertently. If you have recently plugged in something new, it can overload the circuit and *poof* the breaker trips and the air conditioner shuts off. Before you panic, check the breaker system and see if anything has been tripped.
- Take a look at your thermostat. There are a few ways your thermostat can work against you. In the first place, if it is next to something that puts out cold or hot air, it will give a false reading for the temperature in your home and prevent your thermostat from doing its job. Secondly, if your thermostat has a battery, they eventually die and that can stop your thermostat from shutting on your air conditioning unit. Of course, you may not realize that your unit is set for a temperature that is warmer than you want your home to be. Check this after your check your breakers.
- Check out your filter. Any expert at any air conditioning will tell you that you should make it a habit to check your air filters from time to time. This is one of the easiest ways to avoid needing the air conditioning repair services come to your home. You should check your filters once every 30 days (more if you have a lot of pets or live in a very dusty area). When you see that they have become clogged or dirty, you should change them out. It is much cheaper to change out an air filter than to have a new air conditioning system put in. When the filters are clogged or dirty, they make the air conditioner work harder and that can burn out the motor.
- Have your ducts cleaned. You can do this yourself or you can have air conditioning repair services experts come out and do this for you. If you see that your filters are getting clogged and dirty more often than you think they should, it may be time to have the ducts cleaned out. When they get clogged with dirt and dust, they can cause the same problems that clogged filters can cause. It is also possible that somewhere in your system a register has been closed. That is another good reason to have them checked from time to time.
- Clean the unit itself. Before you call in the air conditioning company you should take some time to clean your air conditioning unit itself. First, you need to make sure that there is no debris such as leaves or branches blocking the air flow into the unit. You can also clean the blades and get any debris that has gotten into the unit out. Make sure you shut off the power to the unit before you do anything to be safe when you are cleaning it.
- Remove any ice. If for some reason, you have ice on your unit, that can cause it to not work. Take care to remove all of it to get the system working again.
If your air conditioner stops working, the good news is that there are steps you can take to fix it without calling an HVAC services company.