The summer is in full swing. Have you had professional AC maintenance done yet? If not, do you still need to do it? Many people wonder if they’ve missed the window for maintenance, if it can only be done in the spring, or if they should put it off until next year.
No! Neglecting your air conditioner can have serious consequences. If you haven’t had AC maintenance yet this year, schedule it now. Here’s why.
Wear and Tear Adds Up
The use your air conditioner experienced last year, and through the start of this summer, causes wear and tear. What does that mean? Well, air conditioners have a lot of moving parts. As they move, they rub together. If they’re not thoroughly cleaned and properly lubricated, they just forcefully scrape grit against one another. Yikes!
Friction Causes Overheating
Another issue caused by these moving parts, especially when they’re dirty and their lubricant has long since worn off, is heat. Friction creates heat, just the way your hands warm up when you rub them briskly together. This heat builds up in the air conditioner. It will either shut down out of self-preservation or, if the limit switch is not triggered for some reason, the motor will get so hot the wiring fuses together and shorts out.
Dust Acts as Insulation
Further contributing to the overheating problem, blankets of last year’s dust coat the inner workings of the air conditioner. This traps the heat from the friction, further overheating the motor. After automatically shutting down, the unit will cool off just enough for the system to try starting up again, and the cycle will repeat, over and over, on and off.
The Compressor Gets Strained
The startup is the part of the air conditioner’s cycle which puts the most strain on the compressor. It’s only meant to do this a few times each hour. If it is doing it every few minutes instead, the compressor will experience levels of overheating and friction that would otherwise take a very long time to accumulate. If this continues, the compressor will fail, and if that happens, you’ll probably need a whole new AC system.
Your Electric Bill Skyrockets
Another thing about the startup portion of the cooling cycle is that it uses far more energy than the rest of the cycle. This means that when it is happening five or ten times as often, your electric bill will suddenly be much, much higher.
Avoid All These Problems
Don’t pay sky-high electric bills! Don’t replace your air conditioner prematurely! Don’t allow major problems to occur, requiring expensive and inconvenient repairs! That would be awful, and it’s so easy to avoid all those problems.
Simply schedule AC maintenance in Sterling, VA now, and once every year. The dust will be cleaned away, lubricant will be applied, and every component will be carefully inspected. Minor problems will be caught before they worsen, efficiency and effectiveness will be maximized, and the life of your air conditioner will be prolonged.
AllTech Services, Inc. is your trusted resource for all your air conditioner concerns. Contact us today!