Raising the Standard Episode 62

It’s no secret that West Michigan is having a slow start to spring with temperatures anywhere from 30 degrees and snowing to 70 degrees and sunny. It’s like Forest Gump says, “Michigan spring weather is like a box of chocolates…ya never know what you’re going to get!” Well, we are paraphrasing, but you get the gist! 

While spring temperatures can be all over the place, hot summer temperatures will be here before you know it so it’s important to schedule your spring air conditioner check-up this April and May before you turn it on for the first time. Nobody wants to be without air conditioning when you really need it once temperatures hit 80 degrees.

So without further adieu, here are a few tips on how to be proactive and get your air conditioner prepped and ready for summer weather!

Make Sure The Conditions are Right for Your AC Check-Up

It’s never fun to discover your air conditioner isn’t working on the first hot day of the year. This is why we recommend being proactive and scheduling your AC check-up before the first warm day. With that said, you may have heard it’s not recommended to start up your air conditioner and have it examined by a professional unless it’s 60 degrees or higher.  Due to the late start to spring here in West Michigan, where temperatures have been below 60s more often than not, we have a new innovative way to perform AC check-ups in cold weather. 

Currently, nobody else in the region is doing this, but we are using warming tents to safely perform AC check-ups currently so air conditioner units can be ready in time for summer. Essentially, we place a tent around your air conditioner and create a warm environment around your unit so we can test it without any issues in weather below 60 degrees. 

In these warming tents, our HVAC technicians can actually start your AC and do a full system exam. We make sure that it is running safely and properly and that mice didn’t move into it over the winter. From there if we find any issues, our professionals can make recommendations to ensure your AC will start up and run efficiently all summer long.

Schedule Your Spring AC Check-Up

You should schedule your air conditioner check-up this spring with your trusted HVAC company. So what should an AC check-up entail? Below is the most important list of items we examine during your AC check-up:

1. We make sure your unit’s wiring and the capacitors are in good shape. We check inside the control panel where all the wires are located and make sure mice haven’t eaten them, which is a common issue over the winter.  
2. We test the AC components and make sure it will start properly. 
3. Once it starts, we look at your disconnect on the wall outside to make sure that rodents haven’t moved into it or that nothing is going to ignite and start a fire. 
4. We will also put gauges on your unit to make sure you have enough refrigerant
5. We also will go inside to check your thermostat to make sure that it is functioning. 
6. We then look at your inside unit and your evaporator coil, which is the part on top of your furnace. We check to make sure that it’s not full of dust, dirt, and mold.
7. Next, we make sure that your drain line is clear. This ensures that it won’t leak all over the place or back up onto your floor. 
8. We even test your pump on the inside to make sure your water is going to drain properly.
9. We check your furnace because it doesn’t just turn your burners on to keep your home warm, it also pushes cool air throughout your home. This is why we check the fan motor, the blow motor, and your furnace overall. 
10. Lastly, we even check the refrigerant lines that go from your air conditioner to your furnace. We need to make sure that your wiring is destroyed by our rodent friends once again. 

Clean your Air Conditioning Unit 

While we can have our HVAC technicians come out and perform a full cleaning of your AC unit, homeowners are capable of doing it themselves.  All you need to do is use a garden hose to just spray it to wash all the dirt, debris, and cotton from cottonwood trees that shed this time of year. A garden hose is a completely safe method for cleaning your AC unit. However, do not use a high pressure hose because that can do some damage and bend the fins. All you need to do is lightly spray it to clean it off.

Make Sure Rodents Haven’t Inhabited Your AC unit

A common issue we discover during AC check-ups are that rodents have made your AC unit their home over the winter. You can check this yourself if you’re curious.  Simply open the top of your unit and look down below the fan with a flashlight to make sure you don’t see any vermin living there. You may not see anything except leaves, which is common after a long winter.

If you look inside and you can’t see all the way down to the bottom of it, because there’s so much debris in the way, then your air conditioner needs to be taken apart. This means you need to take the protective grate off of the top and then take the fan motor out to actually get in there and clean it out. However, if it’s just a few acorns or a leaf or two, there really isn’t a need to go to that length to clean it. 

How to Schedule Your BOSS AC Check-Up This Spring

If you’re a BOSS Total Home Care Club member, your spring AC check-up is free with your membership so all you need to do is call us and schedule it at a convenient time for you. In the spring, we perform member visits and do both an AC check-up and electrical check-up. In the fall, we perform a furnace check-up and plumbing check-up for members. So with your spring member check-up, we have a checklist for your air conditioning system and electrical system.

If you’re not a member, you can schedule a spring AC check-up and we will perform the same checklist members receive for their air conditioner check-ups, except we just won’t cover the electrical checklist along with it. If you’re interested in becoming a member, you can buy one online for $19.99 a month here: https://thebossservices.com/online-store/#/search?q=home%20care

We are booking AC check-ups for next week or even for 2-3 months down the road if that’s when you want to have it done so just call our office at 269-468-6682 to schedule yours today!

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