How to Clean Your A/C Unit By Yourself
As a homeowner, you have a lot of maintenance that you'll need to perform throughout the year. One of the most essential is cleaning your air conditioning unit to get it ready for the summertime. You'll need a professional to handle components like air condition refrigerants. But, there are some DIY steps that you can perform yourself to save some money.
Start With The HVAC Air Filter
Every home air condition unit will have at least one air filter. It's recommended that you should change the HVAC filter once every three months. HVAC professionals say to change your air filter when doing your spring maintenance. You can replace your existing filter with fiberglass, pleated, washable, or HEPA filters. Make sure you get the model number off your existing filter. This helps you buy the right size for your HVAC replacement filter.
Clean The Outdoor Unit
Before you dive into cleaning your outdoor air condition unit, kill the power at the breaker box. You don't want your air condition unit to be on while you're cleaning it. The breaker should have a label like HVAC, air condition, or something similar.
Take a look around the outdoor unit and remove any debris that is within a couple of feet of it. Next, unscrew the AC grill cover. Unhook any wiring that is necessary to get the cover completely off the air condition unit. Use a hose to remove any excess debris that is inside the unit.
You'll need to buy a specialized condenser coil cleaner at your local hardware store. This is a caustic solution that works great to remove stuck-on debris from the coils. Make sure that you use your hose to clean off any debris that is present on the metal fins. If any fins are now bent, it is time to use thin pliers or a fin comb to straighten them back out. Make sure you put the AC cover back in place and reconnect any wiring that you had to disconnect before.
Clean The Indoor Unit
Start by removing the access panel to your indoor HVAC unit. Clean off the evaporator coils first. You can do this with a specialized cleaning solution. A 50/50 bleach and water solution is all that you need to clean out the drain pipe and the drain. This solution will remove any hard water scaling that is inside your air condition unit.
Call An HVAC Professional Today
If you're ready for your springtime AC maintenance, call our HVAC professionals. Our HVAC professionals are ready to get your air conditioner prepped for the summer.
