How to Prep Your AC Unit for Summer

Hey, first-time homeowners, if you want your home’s cooling system to keep cooling your home, you need to perform spring maintenance on your outdoor condenser unit. Oh, also … your home’s cooling system … has an outdoor condenser unit.
Don’t look so guilty. Your parents … probably didn’t do this either. But to keep your AC condenser working effectively and efficiently in its job of releasing heat from your home, you really should be doing these key chores and checkups when you go to reactivate your cooling system for the warmer months.
And if we can do it, you can do it.
Here’s how…
0:31 1. Uncover Your Unit
If you choose to cover your condenser unit for the colder months, now’s the time to take it off and let it breathe.
0:40 2. Do Away With Debris
Clear all that crud that accumulated on and around your outdoor condenser unit during the winter months, such as dirt, leaves, sticks, rocks, acorns and critter corpses.
0:50 3. Fend Off Flora
Trim back invading vegetation around your condenser unit - such as trees, shrubbery and other landscaping - to ensure the offending foliage isn’t interfering with the functionality of your condenser unit.
1:03 4. Look at the Lines
Inspect the various coolant lines - tubes, pipes, hoses, etc. - running from the outside condenser to your indoor unit, checking for obvious signs of leaks or potentially harmful wear and tear.
1:16 5. Cater to the Base
Your condenser unit likely sits on a concrete pad that keeps it high and dry, and insulated against vibration noise. Check the slab for cracks, and use a level to ensure that it hasn’t sunken and become imbalanced.
1:32 6. Clean the Coils
Shut off power to the unit at the breaker box and, without opening the unit, use a garden hose to gently spray down the condenser coils inside the unit through the louvered sides. Take this opportunity to spray down the exterior of the unit, too, to remove dirt and dust from sitting all winter.
1:50 7. And, Finally, Make Sure Everything’s Cool
Restore power at the breaker box, set your thermostat to cool and lower the household temperature a few degrees below the current setting to ensure that your AC system is functioning properly.
And there ya have it. Your AC condenser is all set for summer - and your conscience is clean.
#diy #cooling #hvac #summer

[@adamcicciarelli5686]

And feel the suction line if it’s cold and check your filter

[@GrabberBlue5.2]

nice. i didnt know we could hose it down. is that completely safe? i guess so since it's exposed to rain at times. thanks and liked.

[@matthewjschmitz]

Correct! It's constantly exposed to the elements, but safety and preventing damage is why we recommend cutting the power and hosing it down gently. 🤘

[@aaronorr5586]

Gently is putting it mildly, those fins are sensitive (which is why there is a thicker shell on newer units over the fins to protect them from hail, icicles, rocks from mowers, and the trimmer string from a weed eater).

[@aspinthereddragon9302]

what about the evap coil?

[@matthewjschmitz]

Stay tuned... 😉