Hello.
Summer is coming to an end, but the heat is still lingering, which means many people continue to use air conditioners to create comfortable conditions in their homes and apartments. You’d be surprised how many people sincerely believe that split systems, i.e. air conditioners consisting of an internal and external unit, are eternal and do not require any attention. You install it once and then use it until you’re stupefied, until the air conditioner breaks down.
We had a conversation with a neighbor, he spoke negatively about the Panasonic air conditioner, which he bought more than ten years ago. It barely works, almost does not cool, although it is only about thirty degrees outside. It barely achieves a difference of five degrees, and when it was hot, the air conditioner did not work at all even with the settings turned up to maximum. Moreover, several air conditioners that were installed during the renovation “died” at the same time, they failed synchronously. This remark alerted me, because of which I got the impression that the matter was not in planned obsolescence, as my neighbor said, but in something else. We went to look at the air conditioners just to clear our conscience.
The plastic of the case has already turned yellow, dust is visible on the case, and there is even more of it inside. The air conditioners have not been cleaned even once in these ten or more years. There is a suspicion that they were used much longer.
He advised me to find a company that services air conditioners and perform maintenance, clean all the filters, and do the same for the external unit. Considering that it is suspended on the outside wall of the building, doing it yourself and without insurance, to put it mildly, is not worth it. You should not skimp here, but find professionals who will do all this. In the end, everything worked out for the neighbor, they cleaned his air conditioners, and now they “work like new”, the cold returned to the apartment. I told this story as a joke in the company of friends, but I hesitated when I realized that they were listening to me too attentively, the topic was captivating. It turned out that none of us cleans air conditioners more or less constantly. My approach is to clean the filters, periodically turn on the cleaning and drying mode of the air conditioner. But here everything, of course, depends on what model you have and what it can do, be sure to read the instructions.
Most air conditioner manufacturers write in the instructions that maintenance should be done twice a year, in spring and autumn. That is, in fact, before and after the season of active use. Even those who take care of their air conditioners do it much less often, usually once every two years, and then on their own. There are very few who turn to professional air conditioner washing and cleaning.
I conducted a survey on our TG channel about how often our readers clean their air conditioners. You can find the survey here right here.
Despite the fact that our audience is quite handy and knows what and how to do with the devices, the percentage of those who never clean their air conditioners remains high. Some are surprised that they need to be cleaned at all.
There are some indirect signs that indicate that your air conditioner needs cleaning/washing:
- An unpleasant odor appears;
- Doesn’t cool well, temperature doesn’t change as quickly as when you bought it;
- Extraneous sounds and humming appeared;
- The air conditioner starts leaking into the room.
Various materials also indicate that you can find out that the air conditioner needs cleaning if the power consumption is increased. But I sincerely do not understand how to calculate it for individual electrical appliances, what to compare it with, and so on. My home is not that smart.
Before you start looking for someone who can service your air conditioner, you can and should remember what model you have, find the instructions and read what filters are used, how many there are and how to clean them. For example, I have Samsung air conditioners, the instructions recommend washing the filters every two weeks (the filters are in the indoor unit).
Since the filters are washable, they can be washed in warm water, including using cleaning agents (strong chemicals are not recommended). Ideally, you should leave the filter to dry for a day. Do not do this in direct sunlight or with a hot hair dryer, as it can deform the filter.
In my case, there is an indicator of filter contamination, the corresponding inscription on the body lights up. Also, in the model that I have, there are additional modes, in particular, drying the internal space of the block, combating unpleasant odors, and so on. Which does not at all cancel the need to clean the filters, although it increases the time between such cleanings.
I will give the sequence of actions that Samsung recommends for cleaning their air conditioners (other manufacturers do everything more or less the same):
- Disconnect the air conditioner from the power supply;
- Lay down some plastic to prevent dust from getting on the floor, otherwise you’ll have to vacuum it too;
- Put on a respirator and gloves to avoid breathing in or getting dirty with dust;
- Remove the air conditioner panel as described in the instructions;
- Carefully remove the filter;
- Vacuum it and/or wash it with a soft brush in warm soapy water. If the filter is very dirty, soak it for 30 minutes beforehand;
- Dry the filter in a ventilated room. Do not leave it on the radiator or in direct sunlight: excessive heating can deform the filter – you will have to buy a new one;
- When the filter is completely dry, place it back into the air conditioner. If your model has a filter cleaning reminder function, you will need to reset it.
For the external unit the instructions look more complicated:
- Turn off the power and completely remove the plastic housing of the air conditioner;
- Use polyethylene to isolate the electrical unit, the “brain” of the air conditioner, from splashes;
- Install a service bag under the air conditioner – a plastic bag for collecting dirty water, which will be drained from there through a hose into a container, such as a bucket or canister;
- Apply a professional cleaning solution to the radiator according to the instructions;
- Rinse the radiator with clean water from a spray bottle.
I think that this issue should be handled by professionals, or you should know for sure that you have golden hands and you can do everything yourself, without anyone’s help. So stop at cleaning the indoor unit, it is available to anyone, and you can handle it without difficulty.
If you do not have an unpleasant smell from the air conditioner, then there is no point in fighting bacteria, most likely, everything is fine with you. Those who wish can find special solutions that can be sprayed into the air conditioner (read the instructions carefully, look for descriptions on the Internet on how to do this for your air conditioner model). Please, never do anything if you are not sure of your abilities and what will come out. The probability of breaking the air conditioner is high, but the main thing is that you can suffer too.
This article will not contain any detailed advice, its task is to tell you that air conditioners need to be cleaned and this is a repeatable action. Many do not know about this or simply forget in the hustle and bustle. Considering that the quality of air in the apartment and your health depend on this, you should definitely not neglect air conditioner maintenance. And when choosing models, you should also pay attention not only to the size of the serviced area, but also to what filters are installed, how easy it is to clean them. I hope that this friendly reminder about the benefits of air conditioner maintenance will be useful to you.
Source: mobile-review.com
