How to Put Less Wear and Tear on Your Home's Central Air Conditioner Unit

9 October 2015
 Categories: , Blog


Using your home's central air conditioning unit during summer months keeps your home cooler and can also cut down on humidity that settles in the home, protecting building materials from potential mold and mildew buildup. However, it can be rather costly to run the unit as often as you'd like, and the more you run it, the sooner it will burn out and fail since this means wear and tear on the motor, fan, and other parts.

There are a few simple things you can do to help this unit run more efficiently and to keep it working longer; you can even save money when you do this since you're using less electricity overall. Note the following suggestions.

1. Closing vents

For rooms that are not in use, close the vents. This will mean that the air conditioner will need to push out less air throughout your home, since it's only cooling certain rooms at one time and not your entire house. If you're home alone during the day and are only in the living room and kitchen, close the vents to all the bedrooms and upstairs bathroom. Keep the vent to the guest room closed if it's rarely in use. The more vents you close, the less your central air conditioner works. Make this part of everyone's morning routine if needed; make the bed, brush your teeth, close the vents, and then you're ready to leave for the day.

2. Replace the fuses

A central air conditioner will usually have fuses inside the front panel or what is called the disconnect box. You may want to have a professional replace these every year, but you can also do it yourself if you're comfortable removing that panel or the front of the disconnect box. When these fuses burn out, this puts added stress on the motor and blower since they will stop and start unnecessarily. Replacing them before they burn out can mean less stress on your unit.

3. Inspect the ductwork

Keeping the ducts in your home clean will mean less wear and tear on the central unit, since the motor and fan need to work harder to blow air through dust and debris. However, if there are leaks around connectors in the ductwork, holes from corrosion, and other such damage, this too allows air to leak out the ducts before it reaches the rooms to be cooled. In turn, the air conditioner works longer and harder to get rooms to the temperature set on the thermostat. Have the ductwork inspected every year for needed repairs and replacement so that your central unit works efficiently.

For more information about air conditioning repairs and maintenance, contact a local HVAC company. 


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