 | Alden Allen has sold and serviced appliances for Heidrick's customers since 1984. He is a graduate of Pittsburg State and has lived in and around Girard his entire life. For more information call 620-724-4123 . |
Appliances
2011-08-01 00:00:00
Efficient air conditioning - series - part 1
Answer: The first and easiest thing to do is keep your air filters clean. If your air conditioner is either a central air unit or a window air conditioner, you have filters that need cleaning. These filters protect the interior coils that the air in the house is drawn through so the heat can be removed from the air. A dirty filter reduces the amount of hot air that can get to these coils, thus reducing your air conditioners efficiency. Window air conditioners have filters that are located behind the front cover and in front of these coils. Most of these filters can be cleaned by rinsing in a sink or spraying with a garden hose. Central air conditioner filters are located in the air handler and have many different types of filtering material. The blue spun fiberglass filters need to be changed every thirty days. Pleated paper filters are another type. These have a 60 to 90 day life expectancy but should only be used in newer units, less than twenty five years old. The older units don’t have a fan system powerful enough to pull air through the denser pleated filters. All air conditioners have two coils that must be kept clean. The other coil resides outdoors. This coils’ job is to get rid of the heat captured by the interior coil. You can see if it is plugged with dirt it makes the compressor work harder and is a major cause of compressor failure. The outdoor coils do not have filters to clean but they do have fins that get plugged up with dirt, leaves and trash. If you live on a gravel road your coil will need to be cleaned every two or three months. Cleaning these coils generally requires a commercial cleaning agent to remove the dirt that gets trapped deeper in the coil. Next time, we’ll discuss how to clean coils in small to large window units, as well as cleaning the coils in your central air conditioners.
