Air Conditioning Maintenance: Spring Cleaning Checklist

Air Conditioning Maintenance: Spring Cleaning Checklist

Spring cleaning is not a new term. It is something that is done once a year where your home goes through a thorough cleaning your home from top to bottom. But have you ever thought how air conditioning maintenance plays into your Spring-cleaning regime?

Spring Cleaning Should Start with Your HVAC System

Since many are preparing to begin or are in the midst of Spring-cleaning routines, we thought you might benefit from a checklist for Spring cleaning techniques to assist y our family with breathing healthier, cleaner air. Most homeowners do not realize that Spring cleaning should being with your HVAC system.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission states, “In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the corridor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.”

WOW! That is quite a statement. We want you to be able to keep your family and home as clean as possible. Here are some tips to keep your home’s air clean and your lungs breathing clean air.

Bedrooms

Your bedding and pillows are sponges to allergens and dust mites. These two are leading causes of asthma and allergies. Even the cleanest of homes have these pests lingering around. To reduce the presence of these contaminants, we suggest washing your linens weekly. Your HVAC system can reduce these allergens by using HVAC filters that are rated to reduce allergen concentrations.

Restrooms

The main culprit in restrooms is going to be mold. Humidity and condensation settling on porous surfaces such as grout and tile combined with the regular wear and tear dirty and debris can lead to quite the mold breeding ground. Although the build up of mold in grout and the corners of your restroom is inevitable, we can reduce the build-up of these harmful contaminants.

Thoroughly cleaning your exhaust fan is an easy way to reduce allergen build-up and circulation in restrooms. After unplugging the fan or turning the power supply off, remove the fan cover and any debris build-up.

You can us a soapy water solution to give the fan a thorough scrubbing. In addition to regularly cleaning the exhaust fan, we recommend using the exhaust fan for 10-15 minutes after baths or showering to remove condensation and humidity from settling into group or other surfaces.

Kitchen & Dining Room

The kitchen is the hub your home that see a lot of foot traffic. Preparing meals, eating meals, homework, social gatherings, entertaining, are just a few of the activities taking place in your kitchen and dining room. Activity and foot traffic and dirt go hand in hand. The small corners, behind appliances, under cabinets are ideal places for potential allergens to collect. The more you clean the more you are doing to reduce any health issue that could possibly develop.

Utility, Laundry and Mud Room

Most of these rooms are out of the routine traffic flow of your home. That does not mean that it is not a haven for airborne debris that can cause health issues. Debris from the dryer, entry from outdoors/garages, pet dander are very common in utility, laundry and mud rooms.

Clean your exhaust fan regularly by following the same steps as in restroom section. To further reduce airborne particles, you can run your exhaust fan while running your dryer to remove lint and its build up over time. Cleaning your dryer vent is not a recommendation it is an absolute must! Lint is highly combustible and one of the leading cause of fires in the home.

Controlling Humidity

Your HVAC system needs proper air conditioning maintenance to adequately remove humidity and moisture in your home. Improperly installed HVAC systems and inadequate ductwork design can also lead to unnecessary moisture in your home. During our regular air conditioning maintenance appointments, we inspect ductwork and the A/C system to confirm proper installation and configuration.

If you notice your system running longer than usual, inefficient cooling throughout your home, or unusual noises coming from you system, call us immediately to schedule an A/C repair or air conditioning maintenance appointment.

Outside A/C Unit

Spring cleaning your home is not limited to indoor cleaning. Making sure that your outdoor A/C unit is clean and free of any debris is crucial in keeping it in top working order. Clean the around your condenser and remove leaves, branches or any other debris to ensure proper operation.

Spring Clean and Stay Cool

We have provided a great starting point to keeping your A/C system in top working order. We must stress that cleaning is a great preventative, but we cannot emphasize the importance of regularly scheduled air conditioning system maintenance.

With cleaning your A/C system and its components added to properly maintaining your HVAC system can add years to the life of your system. In addition, we strongly suggest scheduling your maintenance or repair from Doctor Cool & Professor Heat appointments long before the heat of the Texas Gulf Coast and appointment times become booked.