On a hot summer day nothing feels better than the wave of cool air that hits you when you walk through the door of your home. But what if that doesn’t happen? What if the air that hits you is warm and stuffy? In the heat of the summer with a broken air conditioner, your home will become unbearably hot very fast. You may be miserable for hours or even days before you can get your air conditioner repaired or even longer if it needs to be replaced. If this happens to you, most likely you will wonder if there’s anything you could have done to prevent it. The answer is yes.

You can save yourself a lot of hassle and discomfort by having your air conditioner checked, cleaned, and repaired before the onset of hot weather. Most importantly you can save yourself a lot of money. The majority of things that go wrong with air conditioners can be prevented with routine maintenance. More often than not, a simple cleaning of the system is all that needs to be done. In some cases parts need to be replaced or other repairs are necessary. A routine maintenance call with small repairs are generally much less expensive than repairs on a completely broken down system, and significantly less expensive than replacing your entire system.

The most common problem that occurs with air conditioners is dirty evaporator coils. The evaporator coil absorbs the heat while turning out cool air by converting refrigerant into a gas. If the evaporator coil becomes dirty it is not able to absorb heat and create cool air. By changing your filters often, especially during the summer, you can keep a lot of the dirt off of the evaporator coil. But even so, over time some dirt will get through and build up. A professional technician can clean the coil for you and make sure it will be able to do its job when air conditioning is needed.

There are many other parts that are checked during routine maintenance. The refrigerant level will be checked and refilled if necessary. Lack of refrigerant will prevent the system from cooling properly. The technician will make sure all parts are properly lubricated so that the system can run smoothly. Without lubrication, the moving parts of an air conditioner will wear out from friction. The condensate drains will also be checked to make sure that moisture is properly draining from the system. If moisture is not able to drain out it can cause excess humidity in the home. All electrical connections will be checked and tightened, including the starting mechanisms. The blower components will be checked to ensure good airflow throughout the system and ductwork. Even the thermostat settings will be checked to ensure that the system is running as efficiently as possible.

Before summer heat sets in, have your AC repaired by a professional HVAC company. Patterson Heating and Air Conditioning offers their Comfort Guard Protection Plan to keep your air conditioner in top shape. Don’t wait until your air conditioner breaks down – prevent future problems with regular maintenance.