Top Air Conditioner Maintenance and Cleaning Essentials During The Winter Season
Your air conditioning units at home bring comfort and convenience all year-round. Maintaining them is essential, especially during the winter. Doing so can ensure their long lifespan at your home. You may be rather surprised hearing about winter tips, especially when you live in Florida. However, the reality is that no matter how mild the weather is in the winter season, many people in Florida still need heating and experience lower winter type temperatures.
Proper maintenance can help you to you reap the benefits of an HVAC system without buying and installing a new one.
Mark Mendell, a scientist from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Indoor Environment Group states how air-conditioners can be a breeding ground for diseases. He explained that bacteria and microorganisms can thrive in air-conditioning units that are badly maintained. In this COVID threat, it is more important than ever to keep your system maintained.
According to Mendell, people who are exposed to these microorganisms in the air are exposed to a greater risk of asthma and allergic problems.
Some people are more prone to diseases when the temperatures get humid. You need to do maintenance checks on your air-conditioner to prevent these problems.
Here are ways on how to maintain your air-conditioner during the winter season.
Install a thermostat in your home
Use a thermostat to control the temperature in your home. This comes very handy during winter. A thermostat is a huge help in maintaining a cool temperature, as there are times when you tend to forget to adjust the settings. Thermostats do all the work for you – especially the newer smart thermostats.
Use a programmable thermostat so you can easily adjust settings. The ones sold in the market are mostly programmable, so it’s easy for you to find one that can fit your budget and preferences.
There are mobile apps available that allow you to control your thermostat remotely. These apps allow you to monitor the air temperature even when you’re not at home.
Check the exterior sections of your unit
Your air-conditioning unit has parts that aren’t inside your home. It uses a complicated system that uses a drain line, a condenser, and a compressor among other parts.
To ensure that your unit can run smoothly, you need to check the exterior parts that are located outside your house. During winter season, ensure that these parts aren’t left frozen in the cold. Frozen parts can affect the overall performance of your HVAC system.
Clean the outdoor space for your system’s exterior parts
Plants and branches can block the exterior parts of your HVAC system. Try to get rid of them to improve your air conditioner’s performance. You can do this even during summer before the colder weather arrives.
To ensure that no dirt can damage these parts, clean the area using a hose. The drain line might have excess moisture leaking from the condenser, so you need to check the condenser and next the drain line.
Clean the drain line by mixing a small amount of bleach and at least one cup of water. Flush the mixture along the drain line to prevent a buildup of molds and algae.
Check for pests such as termites, ants and others within your air conditioning unit and around it. You might be shocked to find that pests such as termites can cause a lot of damage to your system.
An Easy Air Conditioner Maintenance Tip: Change your air filters frequently!
The filters in your air-conditioner act as a barrier against pollutants that can damage your system. Such pollutants include dust and particles that can accumulate in your unit.
The filters get filthy as time passes by. It is important to change them from time to time. otherwise, your unit will suffer from icing, thus reducing system performance.
Too much ice on your system makes your air-conditioning unit to work more than necessary. Leaving air filters unchanged triggers ice and this can contribute to higher energy bills. Yes you can have frozen parts in Florida.
A good minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) rating for air-conditioners is a scale of 1-12. A high MERV rating is good. Nonetheless, experts say that in the long run, your unit gets a shorter lifespan. High MERV ratings mean that you get reduced airflow.
Hire an air-conditioning professional to do a maintenance check

A professional who specializes in checking and cleaning air-conditioning units has a lot of services to offer. Such services include the following:
- · To check refrigerants
- · To clean coils
- · To grease bearings
- · To replace air filters
- · To check blowers
Ideally, a maintenance check is done twice a year to make sure your air-conditioning unit can have a long lifespan. Scheduling a maintenance check before the cold and summer months can be a good decision. Armstrong Air and Heating ensures that your air conditioner works great even in winter season. This leaves you with a unit that is at its optimum health and also with lower energy bills. Schedule an appointment with Armstrong Air today.
Call 407-877-8090 to set up an appointment today!