Derek Cole runs through nine AC maintenance steps for summer: keep the outdoor unit clear, check filters monthly, seal ductwork leaks that can waste 20-30% of cooling, and clear the condensate drain. Most are DIY, but older units over 12-15 years should be budgeted for replacement.
The sun is getting higher in the sky, which means summer heat is on the way. Are you ready for the weather change? Are you ready for the summer heat? These are the 9 checklist items you can probably do yourself for your AC system. Number 1, exterior unit, check it. Check your outdoor unit. Make sure it's free from damage. Make sure nothing is covering it. Make sure there's no caps on it. If you have a heat pump, you probably don't have this problem, but you want to make sure it's clear of any kind of plants or weeds or debris. And you want that to be around a 2-foot radius of the outdoor unit. So So you got your outdoor unit, 2 feet on each side. You want it free of debris so that unit can breathe and the coals can breathe. You— that's very important. You want the coals to be able to have airflow, and to have airflow, you want to have that 2-foot radius around the unit clean of debris, including weeds grass clippings, sticks, plants, anything in the way. Make sure it's clean. Number 2, outdoor unit cleanup. Now, now that the outdoor unit is, you know, 2-foot clearance around it, it's clean. It's important to clean the outdoor unit itself, the fins, the coils around it. It's vital to have those clean. Simple to do. Just take a water hose, spray it down, make sure everything's out of there, all the dirt and debris. You don't want to use a power wash. You want to be very careful, very careful, because those fins can bend if it's under too much pressure. So be careful with that. Make sure you don't damage those fins. So be gentle. Um, but you want to clean up any grass clippings, gunk, uh, anything that's built up on the outdoor coil. So again, kind of like number 1, we want it to be able to breathe. And number 2, when you get number 2, we also want that coil to breathe because any dirt and debris covering it acts like an insulator, heating in there, or Yeah, heating and air, or in this case air conditioning, it's all about heat transfer. So in the AC season, you're trying to take the heat that's in the house, remove it, and put it outside where it doesn't matter. So you're not, you're not creating cold air. Everything is a degree of heat. You're taking the heat that's inside and pushing it outside So that condensing unit is important to have it clean. Number 3, your filters. Air filter check and replacement, something very important. If you've seen any video before, you know I love air filters because it's something simple, something you can do, you can check, something you can take care of. So if that filter has not been changed in a while You might want to do that. Check or change your filter. Check it every month, change it at least every 3 months. If your filter is not getting dirty and your unit is running, that could be a problem. If your filter is getting too dirty, that's also a problem. So there's a give and take there with how dirty and clean you need your filter to be. So So check it every month, make sure you're good to go, and if it doesn't need to be replaced, at least replace it every 3 months. Number 4, the thermostat. It is that time of year, switch it over. I like to always keep my thermostat on auto. Some folks like to keep it on cool, like to keep it on heat. Make sure that thermostat is switched over for the right season. Go a step further and look at a smart thermostat or a Wi-Fi thermostat. That way you can control the temperature on your tablet, on your phone. Uh, makes life a little easier. Uh, you don't have to get to a thermostat to change that temperature since your phone is right there with you. For most people, you can change it from your phone and you actually don't have to go to the thermostat. Number 5, check your ductwork for leaks and any obstructions. Your duct is very important. It circulates all the air in your home. Studies show leaky ducts can affect your efficiency 20 to 30— 20 to 30%. So check your duct system. Uh, they, they make mastic. They even have duct sealing, uh, which we do quite a bit of, uh, available because you cannot seal everywhere air is going to flow. So you need a computer and a machine. AirSeal can take care of that for you, but you can check your duct yourself, get some mastic, seal up anything you feel needs to be taken care of. Number 6, minor electrical components. Minor, very minor. Be careful with this. Safety first. Make sure the power for the unit is off before doing any work. Inspect the electrical lines and make sure the connections are tight and make sure you're good to go. Those kind of quick checks can make all the difference this summer to make sure you don't have a failure. So make sure the connections are tight, uh, but turn the power off to the unit before doing anything with the electrical. Number 7: clean the condensate drain line. This is always a big problem. First really hot spell really hot week, we have a lot of water problems because drain lines are clogged. Drain lines haven't been used for the winter, so make sure those drains are clear. Go upstairs, go, go in the crawl space, make sure— we're going to pour some water in the drain, make sure it drains out, make sure it's clear. If it needs to be cleaned out, you can take care of it. Number 8, professional checkup. Now obviously this is something you can do, but the more extensive items of the AC system— I talk about the electrical, the condensate— those things really are better handled by a professional that has the tools, the knowledge, the equipment, the expertise to take care of it. So. You might want to look at that to make sure you make it through the summer with no problems. Number 9, plan for the future. If you have an older AC unit in this area, our system that lasts about 12 to 15 years nowadays, depending on maintenance and depending on how well it's upkept. So if you have an older system Just know time is not on your side. Go ahead and start budgeting for replacement. Start thinking about replacement. We actually have a tool on simmons1air.com. You can actually look at the quote, no charge. You don't have to meet anybody out there. Uh, 60 seconds, you can take care of it, see it, see what the investment is. Plan for the future. Obviously, prices are not going down, they're going up. So you might— it might be time to look at something with a risk-free 10-year parts and labor guarantee if you have those repair bills stacking up over time. So those are my top 9 tips for AC maintenance and tips for your AC If you need anything, be glad to help you. Simmons1Hour.com. And if you need that professional tune-up, we do have our Summer Cool Spectacular right now. Just go to Simmons1Hour.com, you'll see the free estimate guide. You can also buy filters. If you go down a little more, you can see the Summer Cool Spectacular offer. Take advantage of it, have a breakdown-free summer. So you can enjoy the nice cool air inside the house when it's the hot and
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