Your AC’s coils are an important part of your air conditioning unit. While they may not be at the forefront of a homeowner’s mind, they play an extremely important part in your energy bills, AC efficiency and your AC system’s lifespan.
With your AC coils being such an important part of your quality of life, it’s important to clean them and take care of them, but how often? For more information on when you should clean your AC coils to maintain superior efficiency, read below!
AC Coil Cleaning: Why You Should Care
Your air conditioner’s coils are a vital part of your system. There are two types of coils in an air conditioning system: evaporator coils and condenser coils. Evaporator coils absorb the heat and humidity from the air inside your home. Condenser coils take the heat outside of your home.
In order for your AC coils to transfer heat effectively, they need to be clean. If your condenser coils are caked with dirt and grime, heat gets trapped inside and it can’t be effectively released. Condenser coils are part of the outdoor unit, so they are exposed to all sorts of pollution and dirt in the air.
When your evaporator coil gets dirty, it can’t remove as much heat or humidity from the air inside your home. Your evaporator coil is located indoors, but it’s still exposed to all of the dust and air particles in your home. It gets even dirtier if you forget to change your air filters regularly. It’s surprisingly easy for airborne particles to clog up your evaporator coil which makes it less effective at cooling.
To learn the importance of a clean AC and air filter, click on our blog:
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Negative Effects of Skipping AC Coil Cleaning
It’s important to keep your AC coils, and air filters clean. It does contribute to the air you breathe all day long. Learn more about indoor air quality with some of our blogs:
Signs You Have Poor Indoor Air Quality
20 Indoor Air Quality Facts You Need to Know
Here are a few negative effects of having dirty AC coils:
- High Energy Bills: When you have dirty coils, your system works harder and runs longer. It uses significantly more electricity just trying to keep your home cool. When you start cleaning your AC coils, you’ll see a drop in your electricity bill.
- More Breakdowns: If your AC is running longer and working harder, it puts more strain on your system. This causes your air conditioning parts to wear out faster and inevitably run down your system.
- Shorter AC Lifespan: Overtime, the dirty coils increase the wear and tear on your air conditioning system. This will shorten the expected lifespan of your AC unit.
How Often You Should Clean Your AC Coils
The real question is how much dirt is too much dirt? When does everyday grit become a problem for your AC? Generally, you should clean your AC coils at least twice a year. Check out these other factors that contribute to AC coil maintenance:
- Age and condition of AC equipment: Older AC equipment collects dust and dirt faster.
- AC usage: How often and how many hours a day your AC runs will contribute to more dirt in your system. The more you use your AC, the more often you will need to do AC coil cleaning.
- Location: Is your unit subject to dust and debris from construction work outside your home? Is it near businesses or restaurants where it will be exposed to exhaust? If so, then you will need to clean your AC coils more often.
You can use a brush to clean the evaporator coils as well as the surrounding pipes. This will get the debris and dirt off of your system.
