Save on Cooling Costs - Avoid Losing Your Cool This Summer During an Arizona summer, the average air conditioning unit runs the equivalent of a car engine driving 45,000 miles. This is four times more than an air conditioning unit in Michigan or Colorado. These excessive demands are why the typical unit in Arizona has a life expectancy of between 8 and 12 years.
With the heat of summer just around the corner, it is the perfect time for an air conditioner check-up. Regular maintenance is the most effective way to ensure a unit is running efficiency and offers the best opportunity for extending its life, to ultimately save money.
Regular maintenance of your air conditioning unit provides significant benefits:
• Catch problems early to prevent them from becoming bigger and more costly
• Improve your cooling ability in the hot summer months
• Keep your air conditioning unit running smoothly for optimal performance
Spring maintenance check-up includes:
• Check the refrigerant levels – ensuring that you have the correct refrigerant levels is critical. Low levels are an indication of a leak, which can burn out your compressor, and result in a costly repair.
• Test electrical controls and check components – verify they are working properly by testing starting capabilities, disconnect switch, compressor amp draw, measure performance of electrical motor, voltage connections, control wiring, and main switch relay.
• Calibrate Thermostat and measure for proper air temperature readings –helps to prevent your air conditioning unit from working overtime.
• Lubricate motor as needed.
• Check and regularly replace filters, verify correct size – filters should be replaced every 30 – 120 days, particularly during the hot summer months when the unit is running most frequently.
• Clean condenser coils – a key factor in energy efficiency and the cooling capacity of the unit.
• Check the Condenser and Line – identify possible problems and ensure that the line is clear.
• Check air flow and inspect duct connections at unit.
• Check outdoor fan motor bearing for wear.
• Test safety controls.
Signals that there is trouble: There are no reliable signals that your air conditioning unit may be about to fail. It typically just goes into failure.
While regular maintenance helps to preserve a unit, once it has been functioning in Arizona for between 8 and 12 years, it is expected to be at the end of its life expectancy.
