During the hottest days of an Indianapolis summer, life can get uncomfortable without air conditioning. To make sure you don’t find yourself in that situation, make time for a little basic HVAC cleaning to keep your cooling system reliable.
Tidy up Outdoors
Even if it’s covered, your outdoor condenser unit can pick up a lot of dirt and debris over the spring. All that garden waste and grime impair airflow and cut your system’s efficiency, so thorough HVAC cleaning here is essential. Before you start cleaning, cut back any shrubbery or tree limbs to at least 18 inches away from the unit.
Then use a plastic-bristled brush to remove leaves, dirt, and other debris from the unit’s aluminum fins. Check for bent fins, which also impair airflow, and straighten them with a fin comb or butter knife. Next, remove the top of the unit. Using a gentle stream of water from a garden hose, clean the fins by spraying into the unit and toward the exterior.
Get Your Indoor Unit in Shape
Even a fine layer of dust on your evaporator coil drags down the energy efficiency of your whole system. To remove a little dust, use a foaming coil cleaner. A coil with a heavy layer of dust or any rust should be left to a professional, though.
To prevent algae clogs from forming in the condensate drain under your evaporator coil, pour a cup of vinegar into the drain every four to six weeks. If the drain clogs, you can usually clear it by using an adapter to attach a wet-dry vacuum to the outdoor end of the condensate line and running the vacuum for several minutes.
When you’re done cleaning, take a look at your system’s air filter. If you find a layer of dust on it, put in a clean filter. Inspect the filter every month throughout the cooling and heating seasons.
To keep your system at maximum efficiency, schedule a professional HVAC cleaning for your air conditioner in spring and your furnace in fall every year.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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