I recently found a great article at 1800AnyTime that had some helpful information on Air Conditioner Maintenance.
Annual air conditioner check up should never be left out of the (endless) to-do list of maintenance chores of the responsible homeowner.
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Central Air Conditioner Check List
1. Physically inspect the surroundings of the air conditioning unit. Cut down shrubs and weeds, along with other plants that have sprung up around the unit. This essential step ensures that the unit will manage to suck in sufficient amounts of outside air to cool and blow inside the house.
2. Turn on the air conditioning unit on the first day that the temperature hits 70 degrees in March or April, and let it run for about 60 minutes. Detecting problems and scheduling proper air conditioning repairs and even replacing a faulty unit will be painless when it is still relatively cool outside and HVAC companies are not running around from house to house tackling emergency calls.
3. Check the air filter, and change it if necessary. Some air filters may need to be replaced every year, whereas permanent air filters only require annual cleaning for optimal performance. In either case, dirty filters can create a multitude of problems for an air conditioner; the unit’s energy usage will increase, while the evaporator may even ice over when a filter is allowed to accumulate too much dirt. In addition to making sure the filter is changed or cleaned, go around the unit, picking out obstructions such as leaves or debris that may be blocking parts.
