Prepare Your Air Conditioner for a Heatwave

Hot weather comes and goes with the seasons, but if your air conditioner hasn’t been properly maintained it may not be ready for the sudden onslaught of a heatwave. Read more on how to prepare your air conditioner for a heatwave below.

Replace the Air Filter

An air filter is imperative for air to easily flow through your system and home without problems. If you’re trying to operate your air conditioner and your HVAC system is being forced to run air through a dirty filter, you’ll have a harder and less efficient time trying to cool your home to the desired temperature.

Clean Your Condenser Coils

Condenser coils are located in the external part of your HVAC unit, and it helps to disperse heat that it has removed from your home. When the coil is dirty, it keeps the warm air trapped inside, while the rest of your system tries to reach the temperature on your thermostat. If your system is overworking itself in both directions like this, it can be prone to overheating.

Check Refrigerant Levels

Checking your refrigerant levels is an easy way to assess whether something could be wrong with your system. Always hire a professional to come out and handle refrigerant checks for you as the chemical is highly toxic and an environmental hazard--your HVAC tech has a special license to handle it.

Your refrigerant should never be “low” (anyone who tried to tell you otherwise is scamming you). Your refrigerant is within a closed-loop system that feeds back into itself after being used. If your refrigerant is low, that means you have a leak. Finding and fixing that leak before excessive heat causes you to crank up your AC is imperative to the health of your system.

Clear Fan

This one is a simple DIY job you can do yourself. Clean the fan on your external compressor regularly to prevent dirt, dust, and other debris from making the fan too heavy to operate.