Why Maintaining Your AC is Important

Are you wondering if regular AC maintenance is worth it? Many homeowners often ask us if scheduling annual AC maintenance really benefits them in the long run.

Our answer is simple: Scheduling regular AC maintenance saves you a lot of money (and headache) in the long run.

You see, regular AC maintenance helps:

In this blog, we’ll explain each of those AC maintenance benefits in more detail. Plus, we’ll share one essential DIY tip to follow between maintenance visits.

Your air conditioner is there to keep you cool and comfortable. But when your AC isn’t regularly maintained, dirt and debris will build up on critical components. Other issues can also go unchecked—such as insufficient lubrication, or worse, minor problems turning into full-blown expensive repairs.

In short, when your AC isn’t regularly maintained, it becomes less and less efficient and will have to run longer and harder to cool your home. And the longer and harder it runs, the more energy it consumes throughout the day, causing your energy bills to increase.

During an AC maintenance visit, a professional will perform various tasks to reduce the amount of energy your AC consumes. For example, replacing a dirty air filter and adding lubrication to critical components ensures smoother and shorter run times for your AC.

During an AC maintenance visit, a professional will check all critical components of your AC system for minor issues and will either correct them on the spot or let you know if a repair is necessary. The goal here is to check and fix minor issues before they become more significant issues that can eventually result in a complete breakdown.

Over the years, we’ve responded to many unfortunate calls where the homeowner neglected to maintain their AC year after year. Their AC will show signs of trouble inevitably, and they call our team for what they think will be a simple repair. However, in many cases, the AC needs extensive work, or worse, the system needs complete replacement.

AC systems typically last anywhere from 10-12 years. However, an AC that gets regular maintenance almost always lives longer than a system that is neglected.

As we mentioned above, AC maintenance seeks to correct small issues before they get worse. This ensures all the system’s components stay in good working condition and reduces wear and tear on the system’s most hard-working parts.

Not only does regular maintenance prevent premature system failure, but it also ensures that your AC system maintains higher efficiency levels throughout its later years of life.

For example, a neglected 9-year-old AC system likely has deficient performance compared to its performance when first installed. While efficiency loss is inevitable even for a well-maintained system, the amount of efficiency that the system loses every year is greatly reduced if the AC has been maintained.

First off, we highly recommend scheduling AC maintenance right before the cooling season hits. In between these maintenance visits, though, we always suggest that homeowners regularly check and change their air filters. Waiting for maintenance visits to change the filter can be a costly mistake.

When an air filter is dirty and clogged, it dramatically reduces the amount of unconditioned air the system can “breathe” in. And the less warm, humid air it can breathe in, the less cool air it blows out, resulting in longer run times and higher energy bills.

A dirty air filter that is not timely replaced does a lot more than run up your energy bills, though. Over time, a clogged filter will put unnecessary strain and wear and tear on significant components, such as the intake fan motor and the evaporator coil. And when larger, more critical components face unnecessary stress, there’s a much higher risk of a costly AC repair or breakdown.

Our suggestion is to check your air filter at least once every 3 months (especially during the summer months). Once you see a thin layer of dirt and dust on the filter, replace it.