English
Spanish
Maintenance is one of our favorite topics. We often talk on this blog about how critical maintenance is for both heating and air conditioning systems. This time of year, you should be thinking about having your air conditioner professionally maintained before the cooling season starts, so we’ll focus on that. We like to emphasize just how many benefits there are to having maintenance done annually. The flip side of the benefits of maintenance is the risk of not having it done. Today, we’re going to explore that.
Here are some of the things you should expect to encounter if you don’t have your annual air conditioner maintenance done.
Decreased Efficiency
Every year, your air conditioner’s efficiency decreases by about 5%. That means that your utility bills will increase, and your environmental impact will increase, just to try to maintain the same level of comfort.
Increased Wear and Tear
When your air conditioner has to work harder to overcome its struggle with efficiency to keep your house at the same temperature as you kept it last summer, it strains the system. All the components spend more time running to achieve the same effect. Also, one of the critical aspects of maintenance is lubrication. Moving parts like the motor and fan need to spin smoothly, and the compressor requires adequate levels of oil to keep from overheating. Without having parts lubricated, there is more friction, and more wear and tear, causing damage to components.
Increased Repair Needs
All this inefficiency and wear and tear can cause components to fail. Motors can burn out, fans can be damaged, belts can snap, and much more. Without annual maintenance, you can expect to have frequent AC repair needs. With annual maintenance, 85% of those repair needs will not be encountered. Your technician’s care can ensure smooth operation of the air conditioner, and if there are minor issues starting to develop, maintenance can resolve them before they develop into real problems.
Decreased AC Life Expectancy
Without maintenance, you will need to replace your air conditioner much sooner. While regularly-maintained AC units can live ten or more years, your unmaintained air conditioner will struggle to function for more than five or six years. If you think you’re saving money by not scheduling regular maintenance, set that money aside now. It’s still only a small fraction of what you’ll need when it’s time to replace your air conditioner, and that time will come all too soon.
Voided Warranty
Most air conditioner warranty agreements require that the unit have annual maintenance performed by a qualified technician. When you don’t meet that requirement, your AC unit will no longer be covered by its warranty. This ensures that you will have to pay for parts or even replacement, even if the manufacturer would have covered it under your circumstances, for example, if a part fails unexpectedly early.
We hope this helps you to understand just how unpleasant, inconvenient, and expensive it can be to leave your air conditioner unmaintained. And when you do need AC maintenance in Celco, we’re happy to be of service.
