In this solo walkthrough, HVAC contractor Derek Cole takes viewers to the back of his shop where retired outdoor units are stored. He explains how the refrigerant is safely pumped down, units are cleaned, and recyclable components are reclaimed before disposal. By showing two example coils—one heavily soiled and one moderately dirty—Cole illustrates how dirt buildup on the outdoor coil impedes heat transfer, forces the system to work harder, accelerates wear, and shortens equipment life. Citing EPA and Energy Star data, he notes that just 1/20th of an inch of dirt can cut efficiency by up to 21%. He stresses the importance of regular coil cleaning, tune‑ups, and pre‑summer maintenance to avoid performance loss, especially given the region’s hot, humid climate. Finally, he encourages viewers to check out his “Summer Cool Spectacular” service link for professional maintenance, positioning proper upkeep as the way to keep units out of the graveyard.
Chapters
What's up? Hope you're enjoying this beautiful day, uh, before it gets warm again. It's nice and just be like, what, 75 today? But, uh, I wanted to bring you to the back of our shop. So when we install a new system, uh, the homeowner can either keep the old system or or we can take it away. Most of the times we take it away, so put it in the back of our, uh, property, and we, you know, make sure the refrigerant's pumped down and all is clean, and then we recycle what we can recycle. Um, but, uh, with the units we've changed out recently, uh, some of them are back here, and I wanted to show you what these older systems look like. That way it gives you an idea of what your system may look like. Um, so if we come to this first one right here, um, as you can see, the dirt has built up pretty good on that coil, which is not good. Um, so again, we replace this unit with a brand new system. But the outdoor coil— one of the biggest killers of your HVAC system is dirt. Dirt is one of the biggest killers. So the harder it is for heat to transfer through these coils inside or outside this is the outdoor coil. The harder the system has to work and the more wear and tear you have on that system. So the harder it has to work, the quicker it's going to break down, the shorter the life's going to be because the system has to work so hard. This is another outdoor coil. Um, it's not as bad as that one, but as you can see, it's a little dirty as well. According to the EPA and Energy Star, 1/20th of an inch of dirt can affect your efficiency up to 21%. It's unbelievable. You see how, see how thin these coils are? Imagine 1/20th of an inch of dirt affecting your efficiency. See a little bit of dirt right there? I mean, so, so fragile, so fragile. So important to get, to get your system cleaned, tuned up, and ready for the summer because the AC is fixing to run a marathon. It's fixing to run a marathon with this weather. As usual, this, this part of the country is going to be hot, it's going to be humid, it's going to be nasty. So I would encourage you to go ahead and take a look at the summer cool spectacular if you have not yet. I'll put the link in the comments, but, uh, Yeah, very important to keep it maintained, keep it checked. Otherwise, this system will end up in the old, old unit graveyard.
