With Triple-Digit Temperatures, Air Conditioning Care is Self Care This Summer

After one of the hottest Junes on record in Dallas-Fort Worth, and forecasters saying more to come, we recommend showing your air conditioner a little extra love this year. 

Maintenance 101

Inspector Alex walks us through a few things you can do at home to give your AC some TLC: like cleaning the outdoor compressor with a hose, changing the filter, and dripping bleach (or some recommend Nuline AC line cleaner or vinegar) down the primary condensate line to keep it from getting clogged or backing up the sink where it drains.

Really, Actually Change The Filter

No, really. Go do it now. And get the correct size filter. Also, put it in correctly. Look for the little arrow on the side.

Make Sure Your System Makes Sense

Did you have a grown-up in your life tell you to “Shut the door, we’re not paying to air-condition the whole neighborhood,” or something similar? You’d be surprised how many of you are still doing that.

Like the AC is on in the front but all the windows are open in the back. In this video, you can see that everything is set up fine from the front, but the back of the AC unit is completely exposed. So it’s pulling in filtered air from the front but dust and everything else from the back. Plus the coils are exposed, and all of this will shorten the life of the unit by a lot.

Learn From Past Mistakes

Here we have a house that was built in 1999 with two compressors. One is from 2006, one from 2008. From this, we can learn that the original owners of the house did not take good care of the AC system, because they had to replace both of them in 7 and 9 years — an expensive lesson. As of 2022, both units (now 16 and 14 years old) are still in good condition. 

Also of note here is that the 2006 unit is using R22 coolant, the older, less efficient, and now out-of-production (and thus more expensive) type of coolant; while the 2008 unit is using 410A coolant. This would all be good information for the new homeowner to have. Read more about what you can learn from your compressor label here.

So go ahead, give your thermostat a name, and tell it thanks when you pass it by. Give your compressor a friendly pat once in a while. But most of all, do some basic AC maintenance so it can run efficiently and keep you cool during the hellfires of this crazy hot summer.