Your air conditioner is a crucial component of how you manage and maintain your home during the blazing summer months. The thing is, a lot of homeowners don’t truly realize the importance of proper airflow.
It impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of any HVAC system, which is why you might have noticed some inconsistencies in your AC if you haven’t switched out your air filter in a while, or if you haven’t scheduled AC maintenance in Albuquerque, NM this year.
Let’s break down some of the basics and talk about how (and why) airflow is so important for your air conditioner all year long.
It Starts at the Intake
Somewhere in your home is a vent that sucks in air. It pulls it through your central AC system, then you get cool air through the vents scattered around your house. That’s everything in a nutshell, at least.
Behind the scenes, the air that gets pulled in is doing a lot more than you think. You need continuous, reliable airflow to keep the system working properly.
If your air conditioner isn’t receiving enough airflow, you run into problems. And we’re not just talking about minor upsets–these can lead to some massive damages.
Change Out Your Air Filters
We often think that air filters are there for our indoor air quality benefit, but that’s more of a byproduct. The reason that filter is there is to pull air into your air conditioner so it can run over the evaporator coils, but not bring in a ton of dust and coat the coils.
If your coils get covered in dust and debris, it can insulate them and make it nearly impossible for the incoming air to run over your coils. It interrupts the entire flow of operation, and your AC can even freeze as a result.
So what happens if your air filters are just full and clogged? You have to change them out. Every 30 days, like clockwork. When enough dust builds up, your AC has to work harder to suck air in, which can delay and impact the total runtime of your AC cycles.
Your Ductwork Needs Help, Too
When the air comes out of your air conditioner, it exits through the vents. But to get there, it has to travel through the ductwork. Over time, your ducts fill with dust and create a harder path for air to reach your rooms.
That’s called air resistance, and it impacts the efficiency of your AC no matter which way you swing it. You need a bit of TLC for all the airflow areas in your air conditioner.
Airflow Is Everything
Without airflow, you don’t have a functioning air conditioner. It’s not only important, but completely integral to make sure your air filters are changed out, your ductwork is cleaned every few years, and your maintenance plan includes cleaning the inside of your AC. Every little bit is important
Contact First Rate Plumbing Heating and Cooling Inc today to set up your next air conditioner repair or installation as soon as possible. Quality work, exuberant service.