Welcome back to Southwest Florida Snowbirds! Now that you’ve come back to your Florida home, it’s a good time to make sure your air conditioner system is ready for you. This will ensure that it is working at top energy efficiency. Let’s face it, although it is warm here during the winter season, the weather can fluctuate greatly in terms of temperatures, so you still ask a lot of your air conditioning and heating system during these months. Making sure to maintain your systems will ensure your comfort and your energy efficiency, saving you money, while keeping you cool. You may not have experienced the heat of the summer here in SWFL, but your house certainly did.

Your air conditioner should have been running throughout the months you were gone to ensure no mold was introduced to your home, which means it’s time to do a check-up on your HVAC system. Let me be clear, these are things you can certainly DIY, but if you are not that kind of person, please call us at At Your Service Air Conditioning and Heading, to let us do a tune-up when you get back into town. Our maintenance contracts are so worth the value. Here’s what you should do, if you want to do it yourself though:

  1. Change your air conditioner’s filter. An accumulation of dirt, plus the summer heat and humidity can lead to mildew and mold growth, which can spread through the house. So first thing to do when you get to your second home is to change the filter. Then, be sure to change it monthly during your stay. When your filters are dirty and clogged, air cannot move through your home effectively. This results in higher energy bills since your system isn’t working efficiently, and it can also cause damage to your HVAC system 
  2. Change your thermostat batteries. Switch out the old batteries in the thermostat with fresh, new ones. 
  3. Check your thermostat. Make sure that your thermostat is set to “COOL” and the fan is set to “AUTO.” Set the temperature a few degrees cooler than current room temperature and wait 3-5 minutes to see if the unit comes back on. If it doesn’t, give us a call. 
  4. Inspect your ductwork. You should visually inspect your home’s ductwork for any leaks.  If you are able to access your attic with ease, there are some important things to check for. Check and see if there are any tears in the protective coating of the ductwork. Note any kinks or flattened areas that you see, as well as exposed insulation. If nothing turns up during your visual inspection and you still hear sounds coming from your attic it may be something else. Rattling or banging noises could indicate loose connections or poor sealing. However, if you continue to hear undetermined noises or have other cooling issues we suggest you give us a call. 
  5. Go outside and inspect the condenser. The condenser is the outside component of your air conditioning system. You need to inspect it to make sure it is free of anything that it can pull into it to harm it.  This includes leaves, dirt, and other debris that can get caught in the condenser fins. The condenser fins are the metallic blades that surround the unit. These fins frequently get dirty and debris can block the airflow, reducing the unit’s full cooling capability. Be sure that shrubs and landscaping are kept at least 2-3 feet away from the condenser to lessen the chance of the build up of debris. You can clean the outside of the condenser and free it from dirt and debris simply by spraying it down with a garden hose. Before doing any maintenance to your condenser, make sure that the power supply is disconnected. 
  6. Have your air conditioner tuned up. Yearly maintenance of your unit ensures that it is in good shape and ready to be used for the season. At Your Service Air Conditioning and Heating provides a thorough inspection of your HVAC system, including checking all of its components. We clean your coils, pans and pipes, and replace any fluids that are low.

By maintaining your system on a yearly basis, you can avoid large, costly AC repairs, because we can fix small issues before they become major ones. So if you notice any issues once you start using your HVAC system, give us a call at 239-565-9433. And definitely consider signing up for a yearly maintenance contract with us, so we can keep your unit working well.