It is Important to Maintain Your Air Conditioning System

Did you know that one year of run time on an air conditioner is equivalent to 100,000 miles on your car. Would you neglect maintenance on your car for 100,000 miles? Without an oil change every 3,000 miles, your car will surely require very expensive repairs. Your air conditioner is no different. Without annual maintenance, a dirty air conditioner runs hot, consumes more electricity, and sustains irreparable damage to the compressor and fan motor. For this reason, all a/c manufacturers require annual maintenance to keep the factory warranty in effect.

What’s involved in an air conditioner tune-up? The most important part of annual a/c maintenance is a coil cleaning. All summer long, the condenser fan moves air through the condenser coil to cool your home. This coil acts like a big air filter, catching pollen, bugs, grass clippings, dirt, cottonwood and dandelion seeds, and much more. A thorough coil cleaning is needed every year to return the system to full capacity and maximum efficiency.

Many a/c manufacturers including Trane, Carrier, and Lennox protect their air conditioner coils with full wrap-around cabinets. These cabinets must be disassembled to properly clean the coil. It’s not a bad idea to watch your technician to be sure they disassemble and thoroughly clean the entire coil, not just the cabinet.

In addition to cleaning the outdoor coil, an a/c tune-up should include

• Lubricate the fan motor
• Testing the capacitors
• Inspect the evaporator
• Check the contactor
• Tighten electrical connections
• Adjust refrigerant charge
• Monitor expansion valve operation

If you take care of your air conditioner, it will return the favor with years of reliable, efficient operation. Neglect your a/c and you can expect high electric bills, burnt fan motors, and early compressor failure.

This information provided by Watkins Heating & Cooling a Dayton HVAC Contractor.

Proper and Simple Home Drainage can Prevent a Wet Basement and Costly Repairs

When there’s extra moisture or flooding in the basement of your home, it can cause structural damage and harmful mold growth. You can prevent wet basements by making sure there’s proper drainage around your home. Here are a few ways to ensure that the water is draining away from your house and not into your basement.

Use Gutters and Keep them Clean

If you don’t have gutters or a drainage system in place, you’ve probably noticed that the rainwater coming off of your roof collects around the foundation of the house in small trenches. The ground around your foundation will eventually become saturated if the water has nowhere to go. This can cause cracks and shifts in the foundation, particularly in homes with basement walls made of porous material.

Gutters can help tremendously with directing the water away from the house. You can also reuse the water for a garden or house plants by positioning the gutter spouts to empty into a rain barrel. However, installing a gutter may not always be possible for some homes, or during periods of heavy rain, the gutters might not be enough.

Slope Your Landscape

Every homeowner should make sure that the ground around the house slopes away from the foundation or basement walls. Using clean fill or gravel is one way to build a slope, but you’ll need to make sure it is not a permeable material. Otherwise, it will only absorb the water instead of letting it drain away from the house. Even if you have gutters, taking this extra precaution could prevent a wet basement or potential structural damage.

Homeowners with particularly wet basements might want to consider installing a sump pump or an underground drainage system. These can be pricey, but well worth the cost if your basement floods consistently due to weather or the location of your home.

Preventing water from collecting around your home can be easy if you know what to do. By investing in a drainage system that works for your home, you are protecting your foundation and helping to prevent major repair costs.

Our sincere gratitude goes out to this week’ guest writer. Please contact Mr. HVAC if you would like to be a guest writer.

This information is from Boulden’ One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, a Greater Wilmington & Dover, DE area HVAC contractor. Visit their website for more home improvement tips.