Posted on May 20th, 2025

Air Conditioning

To keep your air conditioning running at peak efficiency there are a few super easy things that you can do to keep running at top efficiency and preventing breakdowns. A lot of this involves using a shop vac or the hose attachment on your carpet vacuum. The things you want vacuum at least twice a year include:

1.) The thermostat. Make sure all vents are clear, and your feeling industrious, remove the snap-off cover and give it quick clean underneath. You want to make sure it is quickly sensing the room temperature.

2.) The heat registers and intakes. Be sure to vacuum all of them around the house. Make sure none of are completely blocked by furniture or what have you, unless you want them to be. And, be sure not to forget those intake grills which could be on the ceiling. They are easy to overlook during the year’s hectic life.

3.) Furnace Filters: This seems obvious but it is often forgotten. Furnace filters should be replaced (as needed) at the beginning of the warm weather and again in the fall for the winter heating season. Note: High efficiency filters will clog must faster than the standard ones. Id you have and indoor dog or cat, it is usually better to use a lower efficiency filter. These will catch the dander just fine.

Important Air Conditioner Maintenance:

4.) Outdoor Condenser Unit: That is that big metal box next to the house with the large fan blowing out the top or the front. If you see any moss starting to grow any where in the unit spray it with 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water. Moss clogs those fins you see behind in all around slits around the outside and on the back of the unit. This moss not only clogs those fins which are essential to the cooling of the indoors, it also encourages corrosion of the components in the unit.

And while you are outside watering your garden or washing the car, take a few moments to spray the fins and rinse off collected dust, pollen and whatever. Do not brush or use too much pressure when doing this as you do not want to damage (bend) the fins. If you have accidentally bent a few, not a problem. Just lighten up and continue. And, you can hose the unit while it is running. It gets rained on, right?

If you look closely and notice you can hardly see the fins through the slits due to a collection of lint, pollen and other dirt, please give us a call ((503)780-2376) to come out and clean them for you from the inside out. It is inexpensive and will noticeably increase the cooling inside your home. This cleaning will also increase the life of your entire air conditioning system and reduce the possibility of breakdowns, which seem to happen on the hottest days of the year.

These few simple maintenance tips will keep cool all summer long while you relax indoors. These tips will also keep you warmer in the winter while it is freezing outside.