Taking care of your air conditioner unit is a way to ensure the efficiency and longevity of your system. Similar to your car, your air conditioning system is a big upfront investment, so it’s worth keeping on top of cleaning and maintaining it yourself as much as possible. This will help each part of the system last longer, saving you money, as well as making it a generally more effective tool to regulate the temperature of your home. The best time to perform maintenance on your air conditioner is generally a few months before you expect to be using it regularly. This gives you the chance to check for any issues that may need to be fixed or any parts that may need replacing, such as the AC Schrader valve or evaporator coils. When you do your yearly maintenance, the evaporator coils, as well as the filters, are one of the main things you should check. These are located in the main unit and are generally out of sight, so you may be more likely to forget about them. The evaporator coils can become dirty quite easily if they aren’t cleaned regularly, significantly reducing efficiency, and even leading to parts breaking and needing to be replaced.
The Purpose of Evaporator Coils
The evaporator coils are one of the most important parts of your air conditioner. The evaporator coils are needed to take the heat from the air in your home, leaving the system with cool air to be dispersed back into the room. You’ll find the evaporator coils in the main indoor unit, and then the condenser coils are found in the outdoor unit and release the hot air outside of the house. Evaporator coils also work to dehumidify the air passing through the system, as well as cool it down. If the evaporator coils get dusty and dirty, their ability to cool and dehumidify air becomes significantly compromised. If you notice that the efficiency of your air conditioner is declining, there’s a good chance that the issue is dirty evaporator coils. It’s easy for them to become dirty, too, as they are often damp from the dehumidifying process. This means that dust and dirt particulates easily stick on them. Your air conditioner will have filters around the system to reduce the amount of dust and dirt, but if these aren’t being maintained, then the amount of debris on your coils will increase significantly. When performing maintenance on your air conditioner, always make sure to replace or clean your filters and clean your coils.
When your evaporator coils become dirty, they will have a reduced ability to transfer heat to the cooling fluid which, in turn, will decrease its ability to cool air. In addition, that will lead to an increase in energy usage and higher bills to pay for it. This will also cause additional wear and tear that may lead to breakage. This will cost additional expenses to fix, making maintenance one of the best ways to save your money in the long run. Dirty coils can reduce efficiency by around 30% and increase the amount of energy used by up to 40%.
How to Clean Your Air Conditioner’s Evaporator Coils
Step 1. Getting started
To start with, you need to get a feel for how often your evaporator coils need cleaning. This will depend on the area you live in and how much dust and debris are in the air. If you live somewhere with a lot of flowering plants, for example, this may be sucked into the system. Check around once per month to start with, and if the coils don’t need cleaning this often, you can check less regularly.
Step 2. Getting inside
Once you have a schedule with how often you’ll check your coils, the next thing is to actually get inside so you can clean them. Before you do anything, make sure to turn the air conditioner off using the thermostat. The evaporator coils will be located in the indoor unit of your air conditioner. This will generally be located in the basement or a cupboard hidden away in the house. This will have a panel that you can remove with some basic tools, most likely a screwdriver, to reveal the coil itself. If you have any issues, then check the manual of your air conditioner to show you where exactly it is.
Step 3: Cleaning
Now that you’re inside, you can start cleaning the coils. One of the best ways to do this is to use compressed air. This can blow any dust or debris off the coils without having to touch them. If the coils aren’t too dirty, then this will be able to blow off a lot of the initial dust quickly and effectively. As you’re cleaning, try to blow air from the inside out, so you don’t end up blowing dirt further into the coil.
Using a Brush to Clean Your Evaporator Coils
If using compressed air isn’t enough, you may want to clean them with a brush instead. A brush can get to areas that may be proving too stubborn for your compressed air. Use a relatively soft brush and start by sweeping the dust off, being careful to avoid damaging the fins. You may also want to use a cleaning product to help things along. There are products made specifically for cleaning coils and are generally foam-based. Make sure that the product is going to be safe for your coils and apply for a few minutes before wiping clean. If you don’t have a coil cleaning product to hand, then a combination of detergent and warm water will also do. If needed, you may need to apply and clean a few times. A great hack for this is to put your warm water and detergent into a spray bottle.
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