Air Conditioners

Air Conditioners have two main parts. An evaporator coil inside and a condenser unit outside. For the unit to operate efficiently both must be kept clean. Cleaning the inside coil must be done by a servic3e technician but you can help keep it clean by changing filters on a monthly basis. The best filters to use are pleated ones The spun fiberglass ones just don't work very well. Below is a photo of a pleated filter .

photo of filter

The inside unit dehumidifies the air in the house while running. The water that condensed drains from the unit via a drain line either to the outside or into the drain of a bathroom sink. In hot warm weather algae can grow in this line and clog it up. This can cause the water to back up and overflow into the house causing damage. In order to prevent this pout a cup or two of Clorox into the drain every month or two. The drain is located at the inside AC unit. It is normally white PVC but sometimes black plastic pipe.  Here is a photo showing it coming out of an AC.

photo of AC drain

Sometimes the tube to pour the Clorox in is here and sometimes it is a small distance away as in this photo. As in the photo below where it goes across this unit and  then down.

photo of AC drain

In any case just pour some clorox in and it will save a potential problem. If the AC is in the attic there will usually be a second line to prevent the ceiling from flooding if the first gets clogged. It normally empties out over a window or door. That is so it will be noticed if it starts dripping and you know that there is a problem.

The outside unit (below)  has fins like a radiator. Keeping them clean and unobstructed is important. Do not let weeds and grass grow into them. They need goo air flow through them in order for the AC to operate best. To clean them just use a hose. Don't use any cleaners. Rinsing the dust and dirt out is the best thing you can do.

photo of AC condenser

Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict Valid CSS!