Averting Emergency AC Repair With Regular Air Conditioner Maintenance | Fort Worth, TX
The last thing a homeowner wants is to have an air conditioner that breaks on a humid and hot summer day. This is about the time when your air conditioning unit should be running at the highest efficiency. It is that season when the air conditioner is used the most. Hence, it is most likely the time the AC unit might break down, prompting a need for an AC repair service.
You could always depend on professional air conditioning repair companies for assistance. A professional company should promptly respond to your request and resolve the problem within no time. Using their professional training and experience alongside the modern tools, the air conditioner repair professionals are the best option to address any HVAC issue at your Fort Worth, TX home. But is there anything you could do to avert a need for an emergency air conditioner repair service?
Measures to Avoid Emergency Air Conditioning Repair
Changing the Air Filters Frequently
Cleaning and changing the air filters are also a part of the regular maintenance from a professional air conditioner repair service. You should enlist a professional air conditioning repair service to routinely clean or change your unit’s filters whenever they become dirty. This is particularly important for the homeowners that have pets. The air conditioner’s evaporator coils should receive a consistent warm air supply. Otherwise, they’ll start freezing over.
Dirty and blocked air filters usually restrict that airflow, making the coils freeze and the AC unit shut down. When this happens quite often, the air conditioning unit will malfunction and require the services of an AC repair technician. If the air filters are dirty, you will have more dirt and dust particles enter your home. This will reduce your home’s air quality.
Regularly Cleaning the Condenser & Cooling Fins
The cooling fins and the condenser are usually located outside your house and are often covered with grime and dirt from pollutants in the air. The layers of dirt and debris typically reduce the rate at which the heat from your indoor space at your home is moved to the outside. The issue will worsen if weeds and moss grow on the cooling fins and condenser.
A professional will remove the materials and dirt during a regular maintenance visit to your home. You should also cautiously remove the grime and dirt yourself whenever you notice the buildup. Leaving or ignoring these materials results in overheating the condenser, making it break down and prompt a need for AC repair.
Clean the Air Conditioner Drain Line
The moisture condenses and is deposited in a drain pan when the warm air within your Fort Worth, TX home is cooled. That water flows outside or into your plumbing through an air conditioner drain line. The moisture then promotes algae and moss growth, which might block the AC drain line and the drain pan. The two need regular cleaning to counteract any blockages.
Again, the AC repair professional does this during a regular maintenance visit. You most likely don’t know that your air conditioning unit might shut down when the AC drain lines are blocked by leaves and dirt covering the drains outside. Removing the debris and dirt is also something that you could do yourself during the general cleanup of your yard.
Checking Your Air Ducts Regularly
How often do you have a professional inspector check the ductwork? Regular duct inspection and maintenance can mean a lot of difference to your Fort Worth, TX home. However, this is one of those things to leave to a professional. They will remove any dirt within the ductwork and close the gaps between its joints. This is because air can escape into the crawl spaces through the gaps. The air conditioner repair technician will carry leak detectors to inspect the air ducts for any leaks. This ensures that you don’t spend money paying for cooling that never happens. If there are leaks or blockages, the air conditioner might have to work harder to ensure a comfortable home.
Check Your Thermostats
Many homeowners still use the older dial-type thermostats and are less reliable than the modern programmable thermostats. The older dial-type thermostats need regular calibration. Otherwise, they can drive up the energy bills. If the thermostat is badly positioned, it will also raise the energy bills at your home. If you position the thermostat near an open door or window or under direct sunlight, the thermostat will record the temperatures incorrectly. Hence, you won’t have the desired cool temperatures at your home.
Regular Maintenance
Regular AC repair and maintenance by a professional company will ensure that the air conditioner is efficient and correctly and resolve any underlying defects. The best time for scheduling a maintenance service is during the early months of spring before the summer starts. A properly maintained air conditioning unit can save you a significant amount of money down the line while using less energy. Hence, it will have better efficiency and extended service life. You’ll have greater peace of mind knowing that the unit is safe and less likely to malfunction and prompt a need for an air conditioning repair.
Improve the Insulation at Your Home
Insulating your home better will help keep your entire home cooler. Check how well your attic is insulated. In this case, more is good. Improving your home will reduce the heating or cooling bills during winter and summer. The air conditioning unit will be working less to ensure that your home is comfortable. Place extra insulation in the spaces in your windows. This ensures that the conditioned air doesn’t escape from your home. Besides having lower energy utility bills, you also don’t have to be calling an AC repair technician. The unit will not be straining to cool or warm your home, so its component doesn’t frequently break down. The air conditioner will also have a longer service life.
Shut the Curtains and Blinds During the Daytime
Do your windows directly face the sun during the daytime? If so, shut the curtains and blinds to reduce the solar energy rate that heats your home. Allowing the solar energy to heat your home might mean that the air conditioner is struggling to keep it cool. However, the unit will operate optimally when you shut the blinds or curtains, minimizing the energy utility bills and needing an AC repair.
Factors to Consider Before Hiring an Air Conditioning Repair Company
However, you have to look for an air conditioner installation service that meets certain criteria to address the air conditioner repair emergencies that might arise. Remember, if you are a resident of Fort Worth, TX, an air conditioning unit is a critical appliance to have. As we’ve already established, an air conditioner’s primary role is to ensure comfort in your home. It does this by either heating the air during winter or cooling the indoor air in the summer. Hence, the unit helps you comfortably pass through the extreme weather conditions of the two seasons.
But as stated above, the air conditioner will break down, just like any other appliance. The unit might break down with aging, failing to achieve its goals. Because of how important the air conditioners are in ensuring that your family feels comfortable at home, a malfunction might result in serious inconveniences at your home.
However, regardless of how an AC malfunction can be upsetting, never try to fix it on your own. Rather, you should have a professional come in to repair the air conditioning unit issue. Finding one might prove daunting if you don’t have an AC service company yet. You should sample several air conditioning repair companies near you. Then do some due diligence to select the best one to install at your home. Consider the factors below when searching for a repair company.
Warranty
When looking for an AC repair service, ensure that you pick a company that guarantees the quality of its job. Here is where the problem lies; almost all the air conditioning repair companies that you’ll find usually promise that they will provide a high-quality job. However, only a small section of them have the resources or experience to deliver this.
Good AC repair companies distinguish themselves by using their money to back their words. This means that they offer warranties for their qualified air conditioning services. Whenever your air conditioner repair company extends a warranty for a specific air conditioning repair, you’ll not have to pay for the repairs again if issues earlier repaired reoccur in some stipulated time.
Conversely, without the warranty, you’ll not have the ability to hold the air conditioner repair company accountable in case of a substandard service. Hence, regardless of how skilled an AC service may seem, never hire them if they don’t provide guarantees to the quality of their work or extend a warranty for the job done.
Licensing
The air conditioning unit is a sensitive electrical appliance and might significantly impact the immediate environment. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that the air conditioning & heating industry is highly regulated. All the AC repair service companies must be licensed. The professionals should undergo several years of training and pass several examinations to get their licenses.
Because having a certification or a license is a requirement by law if you hire an unlicensed air conditioning repair company may have several ramifications. For example, if you hire an unlicensed air conditioning repair company, you could see your warranty become void. This could also result in problems between you and your Fort Worth, TX, home insurance providers. Hence, a good AC repair company should be licensed to operate in your state. Therefore, never trust them to repair your air conditioning unit when the air conditioning service isn’t willing to show proof that they are licensed.
Insurance
Like any other technically demanding job, air conditioner repairs involve some risks. For instance, the individual doing it might suffer electrical shocks or even sustain fall injuries. Additionally, given the sensitive nature of the repair job, the AC itself may suffer more damage on a repair job.
Furthermore, it isn’t unusual for an AC repair job to leave your Fort Worth, TX home with several damages. Fortunately, you could pick the right air conditioning repair job company instead of doing the job yourself. This means that you wouldn’t have to worry about these issues. A good air conditioning company ensures its employees against the risks or injuries they might experience while at work. The insurance company covers the medical costs of the personal injuries or damage to your property when the AC repair technician works at your home.
Availability
The AC might break up over time, especially if it is approaching the end of its service life. If the unit breaks out in the summer, your home might become uncomfortable and virtually uninhabitable. You’ll have to call in a professional for an emergency air conditioning repair service when this happens. This means that you should have a phone number of a professional AC repair company that offers emergency service. Otherwise, you may be forced to stay at an uncomfortable home. Pick an AC repair company that offers emergency services. Further, the professionals must also have a good response time.
Experience
AC professionals get better at their work with every passing day. Hence, the AC repair expert with the highest experience will resolve your air conditioning repair job efficiently and decisively. If you mistakenly hire an unlicensed air conditioning repair company, you may be surprised that the professional doesn’t know some AC issues you might be facing.
Further, it will be challenging for you to verify the HVAC company’s credibility if they haven’t been around for some time. On the contrary, the professionals who have been working on AC repair issues for several years most likely have the credibility to complete the job. They also most likely know any AC repair issue you may face at your home. Hence, even when an air conditioning repair company seems to have all the required credentials, you shouldn’t consider hiring them if they do not have adequate experience.
An air conditioning unit is a critical unit in your home. Hence, you must take the necessary measures to maintain the unit regularly. Fortunately, you can retain the services of a professional AC repair company to be doing the maintenance on your behalf. If you need such services in Fort Worth, TX, call our professionals at One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth.
