Keeping Your Cool: 5 Proven AC Maintenance Hacks for Energy Savings

Our air conditioners help keep us cool and comfortable, but they can only work properly when they undergo regular maintenance—something that many of us don’t take as seriously as we should. It’s easy to think that we can skip a few maintenance sessions here and there, especially when there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with our units, but this can actually be reducing your AC’s energy efficiency.

To avoid the rising utility bills and energy consumption every month, here are a few AC maintenance tips to help you get the most out of your unit!

Regularly Clean Internal Components

We all know that an air conditioner is made up of many different parts that allow it to cool down a given space, but some of these components can only function at their best when regularly checked and cleaned. Naturally, the interior of your air conditioner can accumulate a significant amount of dust, dirt, and debris, all of which can cling to certain parts of your AC and compromise its cooling performance and efficiency.

The two most important parts that you need to regularly check are the air filter and the condenser coils as they play crucial roles in the overall functioning of your air conditioner. Air filters remove all impurities from the air being circulated in your room, but that also means that they can get clogged fairly quickly, which can compromise the airflow inside your unit. Fortunately, air filters can be easily cleaned with some warm water and soap.

On the other hand, your condenser coils release all the heat produced by the cooling process, but they can also inadvertently collect a lot of dirt and grime. You can deal with this yourself by shutting down your unit and running a soft brush or vacuum cleaner over the coils, ending the cleaning by washing them with a gentle stream of water and leaving them to dry.

Start Using the Programmable Timer

Leaving your air conditioner running at all times is incredibly detrimental to your savings account. Not only does it use a significant amount of energy, but it can also increase the wear and tear that your unit experiences, which can increase the chances of breakage and damage. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to forego using your AC altogether.

Most units these days are now equipped with a programmable timer that you can use to align your air conditioner’s operations with your busy schedule and lifestyle. By only running your air conditioner when you’re actually able to enjoy it fully, you’ll be able to spend less on your utility bills, while also prolonging the longevity of your unit.

Choose an Appropriate Temperature

Many people think that setting their air conditioners to a much lower temperature will help cool down a space much more quickly, but that’s not really the case. Instead, you’re actually just pushing your air conditioner to its limits and forcing it to consume much more electricity than necessary. There’s also the fact that you’re much more likely to feel discomfort from this extremely low temperature and that your unit is probably struggling to accommodate it.

To promote both longevity and energy efficiency, it’s best to simply set your air conditioner thermostat to moderate temperature settings that help you stay cool and refreshed without overworking your unit.

Check Your Outdoor Unit

If you’ve noticed that your energy bills have been higher than usual lately, it might be worth checking up on your outdoor unit. Many factors can unknowingly push your outdoor unit to overwork itself, consequently consuming more electricity. 

An example of this is direct exposure to sunlight, which can overheat your outdoor unit and force it to work that much harder to maintain your preferred temperature. The same outcome can also occur when your outdoor unit is blocked by grass, leaves, branches, and twigs.

Have Your Unit Professionally Checked

While you may be starting to understand the importance of regular air conditioning maintenance, it might be hard to do it consistently when you’re on your own. Aside from the utter unpredictability of your busy schedule, you might also be faced with cooling issues that you may not necessarily know how to deal with. Instead of permanently damaging your unit by pushing onward yourself, it might be best to leave it to the professionals.

Air conditioning maintenance and servicing companies can send over professional HVAC technicians to inspect, clean, and repair your unit so that your air conditioner can stay cooler for longer without making a dent in your wallet. If you’re looking for affordable air conditioning maintenance and repair services, visit www.luceaircon.sg to learn more!