Four Air Conditioning Maintenance Tips

If you have AC in your home, you have to know what you can do to take care of it. Otherwise, you will find that your energy bills are higher and your home isn't staying as cool as it should. Here are four air conditioning maintenance tips to stay on top of the efficiency of your AC:

1. Hire Professionals to Clean the Condenser: Before the start of the summer season, it's best to hire professionals to clean the condenser of all debris that could clog the AC and cause it to run less efficiently as soon as you start it up. Although you can clean it on your own, keep in mind that the professionals will know what parts need to be cleaned and how to clean them efficiently. This will ensure that the condenser is cleaned as thoroughly as possible without taking any time out of your own day. 
2. Keep Lights Off: Be sure that you are turning all the lights off in your home when they are not in use. This also includes turning off all other electronics not being used. This way, your AC does not have to work as hard to keep your home cool, since these electronics create a great deal of heat in the house. In fact, you should also keep electronics away from the thermostat so that the condenser doesn't think that it has to work harder to cool your home. The electronics will create heat near the thermostat, making it think that your home is hotter than it is. 
3. Keep AC at Comfortable Temperature: It's a common misconception that the air conditioning will cool down your home faster if you set the thermostat at a cooler temperature. It won't cool your home any faster. In fact, this will just make your AC work too hard and lead to higher energy bills. Instead, keep the AC at a temperature that you are comfortable with so that you don't have to keep turning it up or down throughout the day. 
4. Change the Filters: Every month, you should replace the filters in the AC to ensure that it has proper air flow. Otherwise, the AC will have to work harder to push the air through. 

When you consider these four air conditioning maintenance tips, you can be sure that your AC is worker smarter, not harder. This will save you money on energy bills and repairs-- not to mention the long-term costs of saving your AC from breaking down and needing replacing sooner rather than later.