Your air conditioner consists of several parts that work together to provide your home with a comfortable degree of cooling. One of the critical components of your outdoor unit is the condenser coil system. The condenser coil cools air from inside the home through a series of pipes and returns it to the indoor unit to be pushed through the vents and cool your home.
Your regularly scheduled HVAC maintenance technician will clean the condenser coils as part of their services. Because the fins on the coils are fragile, they can be damaged easily. So how often should condenser coils be cleaned? Let a professional service technician clean any dirty coils during maintenance at least once per year before summer.
What Are Condenser Coils?
There is an indoor and outdoor unit in a standard split-system HVAC system. The indoor unit consists of a furnace and either evaporator coils or fan coils. The outdoor unit includes the condenser coils, often made of copper tubing. The condenser coil runs through thin aluminum fins, which assists in heat transfer away from the air inside the tubing.
The system works by extracting air from inside the home through the evaporator coil and into the outdoor unit through the condensing coil. The condensing coil loops through the unit multiple times to create a long pathway where heat can transfer from the air in the coils to the air outside the home. Once the air is cooled, it is replaced through your vents to keep your home cool and comfortable.
Why Is It Important to Keep Condenser Coils Clean?
The aluminum fins outside of the copper tubing of your HVAC unit’s condenser coils help distribute heat from inside the coil out into the air around the unit. If dirt and debris have built up on the surfaces of the pipes or the fins, that’s less space for the heat transfer to occur. Keeping your coils clean will help your air conditioning unit keep your home cool during the hottest parts of summer.
You should have a professional clean your condenser coils as part of your standard A/C maintenance. Be sure to hire a certified HVAC company to regularly perform maintenance on your air conditioning unit. Maintenance can extend the life of your system, reduce your energy consumption, and improve the effectiveness of your home cooling system.
Condenser Coils Will Be Cleaned as Part of Regular Maintenance
When you choose an HVAC Company / Contractor, like SM Mechanical in Hartford, CT to complete your regular air conditioning maintenance, you’re investing in lower costs for your home comfort. Maintenance of your HVAC systems will ensure your air conditioning and heating systems are able to keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter without inflating your energy bill each season.
As part of their maintenance visits, your HVAC company’s technician will clean your air conditioning unit’s condenser coils. Your condenser coils should be cleaned at least once per year before summer temperatures start making your home stuffy.
Your skilled HVAC technician will:
- Remove the outer casing and top of your outdoor unit if necessary to access the coils in your particular model unit.
- Inspect your condenser coils and determine the best method for cleaning, making a note of any bent condenser fins.
- Clean the coils with compressed air to blow out debris straight through the valley in-between, so no fins are bent.
- Vacuum with a professional-grade Shop-Vac or similar model to remove loose dirt and debris from the unit.
- Clean built-up debris from the coils using a commercial coil cleaning solution that’s safe for the materials in your unit.
- Use a special fin-straightening tool to fix any bent fins once the coils are clean.
Once finished, your technician will reassemble any panels or covers that were removed, and your cooling system will work like new.
What You Can Do Between Maintenance Visits
You can do a few things yourself to maintain your air quality between maintenance visits. Be sure to replace the filters in your home as recommended by your HVAC company or your unit’s manufacturer instructions. Additionally, you should clear yard waste and other debris away from your outdoor unit as necessary.
You may notice a decline in your system’s performance over time that indicates your system is due for another maintenance visit. Some signs that your coils may be dirty include:
- Higher operating temperatures for system components as they work harder to maintain your comfortable thermostat settings.
- Ineffective cooling compared to right after installation or your last service.
- Higher inside humidity, air that isn’t cool, or a musty smell coming from your vents as your system runs.
- Higher energy bills as your system works harder to cool the air in your home.
Contact your local HVAC maintenance company for a consultation if you notice any of these warning signs or if it’s been a while since you last had your system checked.
Should You Clean the Condenser Coils Yourself?
Never clean the condenser coils yourself. The aluminum fins that transfer heat and conduct airflow over the condenser coils are easily bent, which can interrupt airflow and decrease the efficiency of your cooling system. Contact a professional HVAC company to assess your air conditioning system and inquire about a maintenance plan to keep your system performing at its best.
How Often Should Condenser Coils Be Cleaned in Hartford, CT?
Learn more about basic HVAC maintenance for your home. Be sure to schedule maintenance visits with a certified HVAC company to keep your system running like new. Your technician can advise you about any adjustments or repairs that may be necessary. Ideally, your condenser coils should be cleaned at least once per year before the start of summer as part of your regular maintenance.
SM Mechanical Services is a fully licensed and insured HVAC company serving Hartford and Glastonbury, CT. Call SM Mechanical Services to learn more about our maintenance plans at 860-296-5100.