AC Service

 
 

LIST OF AREAS WE SERVE:

Arvada, Westminster, Aurora, Denver, Littleton, Centennial, Parker, Golden, Morrison, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Westminster, Englewood, Commerce City, Thornton, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Douglas, and Adams Counties - Colorado

 


 

Air Conditioning Clean and Inspect

Why is AC cleaning necessary?

There needs to be proper air flow to check the refrigerant charge. The system coils (indoor and outdoor) need to be clean to allow for proper airflow.

FYI - We use the term Freon to represent any type of refrigerant as most people have heard of it but most likely in your AC system at your house you will have either R-22 or R-410A sometimes called Puron. No body will actually have the refrigerant Freon in there system.

One of the most important reasons is to keep the indoor evaporator coil clean.

  • Keeping the coil clean improves the efficiency of the blower fan by allowing more air movement through the furnace and therefore the house. This will improve the life of your blower fan as it will have to work less to move the same amount of air due to less back pressure.
  • Keeping the coil clean allows better heat transfer between the cold freon and the warm house air improving the efficiency of the AC unit as a whole. IE the AC unit will need to run less thereby saving you money. If the freon doesn't have proper heat transfer the AC unit will freeze up and turn itself off until it thaws. In the mean time you are not going to get any cold air into your house.
  • By keeping the coil clean it minimizes the chances of growing mold and mildew inside the coil. Dust and dirt build up on the coil when the blower fan runs in the winter for heat and summer for the AC. The coil then gets wet when the moisture in the air condenses on it due to the extremely cold freon moving through it. This is beneficial as dry air feels cooler than moist air but it also allows mold & mildew to grow on the coil. So it is important that you get it cleaned at the start of the each cooling season.

uncased coilPicture of an AC evaporator coil

As you can see that coil is new and quite clean but all those lines are actually fins like the radiator in your car. The tan plastic piece at the bottom is the drain pan and needs be cleaned out each year. Something we also do at Hot 'n' Cold is add some algae tabs to the pan that will last all season so you don't get fungus and junk growing in the pan. The pan does have a drain but there is always standing water in it that can grow stuff in it if not properly cared for. We use a self-rinsing bio-degradable foaming agent to treat the evaporator coil with after cleaning it mechanically to kill and help prevent the mold & mildew from growing back for the season. The reason that you don't worry about mold and mildew in your ducts is that they are too dry to facilitate the growth of mold & mildew. Only the evaporator coil and drain pan should be consistently moist enough to worry about the growth. If you see water damage or notice that the furnace itself is getting wet then you have a problem and should call us immediately.

The other part of the AC system is the outdoor piece called a condenser. This piece also has radiator fins in it also that need to be cleaned off and kept free of debris.

condenserCut out of air conditioner condenser (the red part is the compressor)

You can see the wires in the condenser above. We will check these for you on a clean and inspect to ensure they are secure. A loose contact or wire is dangerous to both you and the equipment. We will clean out the inside which can get leaves and such inside, and also straitened any minor bent fins on the radiator. We don't clean the outside fins with the foaming cleaner like we do on the evaporator unless you request us to and this is the difference between the deep cleaning and regular cleaning. The reason for this is that it doesn't always need to be done each year and we prefer to leave the choice up to the technician and customer on a case by case basis. You don't have the mold & mildew issue here like the inside evaporator as the condenser doesn't get wet constantly in an enclosed dark area like the indoor evaporator.

The other major thing that is checked on a clean and inspect is your system's freon charge. Contrary to popular belief your system if operating properly and properly installed should never need additional freon charge. There are only two reasons you would need add refrigerant to your existing working system.

  1. You have a leak somewhere
  2. The system wasn't properly charged at installation or after a repair.

There are no other reasons that you would need a charge. Air conditioner systems do not need periodic top-offs or whatever you want to call them.

Again, the system needs to be clean to ensure proper air flow. Proper air flow is required to properly assess the refrigerant charge.

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For furnace repairs or problems call us at:
(720) 383-4468

 

 

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