Your air conditioner might just be one of the most important appliances during the summer months. Ensuring it’s ready to go can make all the difference in minimizing its risk of an unfortunate breakdown. Below, we’ll go over necessary pre-season maintenance to keep your air conditioner in tip-top condition and your family cool and comfortable all season long.
How Heat and Humidity Affect Your AC System
Georgia experiences some seriously hot, humid summers, and this weather tends to increase your air conditioner’s workload, forcing it to cycle on and off longer. These longer cycles put a lot of stress on an air conditioner and can damage aging components, leading to system breakdowns.
Worse, the high humidity can make you feel warmer and less comfortable, leading you to turn the thermostat lower to overcome that stuffy feeling, further straining your air conditioner. Preparing your air conditioner for the summer season can ensure all its components are ready for the heat and humidity and you won’t have to suffer a breakdown at the worst possible moment.
Homeowner vs. Professional Maintenance
Your air conditioner needs two types of maintenance to stay in good working condition. The first is professional maintenance, which needs to be done annually. We recommend scheduling this in the early spring to prep your air conditioner for the upcoming season. The second type of maintenance is maintenance you provide as a homeowner.
Homeowner maintenance is important for providing ongoing care to your AC unit to ensure it’s operating as efficiently as possible. Your tasks include routinely changing the AC filter, clearing the space around your outdoor condenser unit, and ensuring all your air vents are free from obstructions.
Benefits of Professional Maintenance
Apart from homeowner maintenance, professional maintenance will prepare your air conditioner for the long summer season. One of our technicians will clean, inspect, and test every internal component of your AC unit to ensure that it is working correctly. This allows us to detect any potential problems your system may have, like a worn-out component.
By identifying these problems before the summer, we can repair them and greatly minimize your risk of experiencing a breakdown. This can go a long way in giving you peace of mind about the functioning of your AC unit and ensuring that you’re not overpaying for excessive energy bills.
Furthermore, professional maintenance is typically a requirement to sustain the warranty coverage on your unit so that you’re not stuck paying out of pocket for future repair bills. What’s more, our technicians offer a workmanship guarantee on every service we perform.
When we perform maintenance on your system, we calibrate your thermostat to ensure it’s reading correctly. This helps provide adequate indoor comfort alongside optimal system efficiency. Our maintenance service is great for extending your air conditioner’s lifespan and boosting your indoor air quality level. It can also give you peace of mind that your system is operating safely and is ready to take on the summer season.
Key Signs It May Be Time for an AC Upgrade
On average, central air conditioners have a useful lifespan of about 15 to 20 years. Heat pumps and ductless mini-splits typically last for 10 to 15 years. If your air conditioner is getting up there in age, be mindful of the signs that it’s nearing the end of its useful lifespan.
If you need to replace your air conditioner, the best time to do that is before the summer season. When your air conditioner breaks down in the middle of summer, you could find yourself not just without the cooling you need for comfort and well-being, but you could also find yourself waiting for critical service during peak cooling season. Common signs that your outdated AC unit needs an upgrade include excessively high energy bills, high indoor humidity, frequent repairs, and inconsistent cooling.
As a general rule of thumb, never invest more than one-half the cost of a new air conditioning system in repairing your existing system. Our team can help you to determine if your existing unit is due for an upgrade.
Helpful AC Maintenance Service
All American Services of Georgia offers helpful AC maintenance service for the Madison, GA area. We can also help with all your cooling system installation, replacement, and repair needs. Call us today to book your next service appointment with one of our professional AC technicians.
