It’s Getting HOT!

Will your Air Conditioner Keep You Cool This Summer? 5 Tips to Keep Your A/C chillin’One of the best feelings on a hot, humid summer day is coming inside to a cool, fresh air conditioned house or office.Give your air conditioner a fighting chance to survive this summer by doing these simple air conditioner maintenance moves: Clean your furnace filters. Check and clean your furnace filters monthly. Dirty filters reduce efficiency considerably and make all your equipment work harder. We don’t recommend ‘air purifying’ or HEPA filters because they can dramatically reduce airflow in your system which can cause your indoor coil to freeze. Clean away debris. After turning off the power to your air conditioner, open the top grate of the unit and clear away grass, dirt and leaves from around the condenser coils. Give your Air Conditioner room to breathe. Trim up foliage that’s close to the unit, making sure bushes, branches and plants are at least two feet away from your compressor. Clean and straighten the Air Conditioner fins. After turning off the power, use a garden hose (NOT a pressure washer) to spray through the fins from the inside out to blast out any built up gunk. Use fin cleaning spray from your hardware store if necessary. Carefully straighten any bent fins using a butter knife or fin-straightening tool. Keep the drain line clean. The drain is usually a one-inch PVC pipe or tube that runs from your furnace to a drain. It’s a favorite hideout for mold and gunk. Follow the drain line to the end where it drains out and seal a wet/dry vacuum to the end with duct tape or just hold the end tight to it with a rag. Turn the vacuum on for 2-3 minutes to clear the drain of any growing biological matter. It’s best to remove the paper filter from the wet/dry vacuum so you don’t ruin the filter. Keep the insulation intact. Check the insulation around your ducts. Bolstering the insulation and sealing leaks can help prevent as much as 40-percent energy loss. Call a professional. Once a year, have your unit cleaned and checked out by a professional who will go through a multiple point checklist including checking the refrigerant and all the mechanical components.If you’re in the market to replace your air-conditioning system, don’t sweat it. Finken Plumbing, Heating and Cooling offers award-winning high efficiency Bryant air conditioners and heat pump products, one of the top recommended brands by Consumer Reports. Choosing a dependable brand and a reputable installer can boost your chances of keeping your cool for years to come.To find out more about air conditioning options or service from Finken, give us a call! (320) 258-2005 or check us out at www.finkens.com.