When you have a central air conditioning system in your home, you will have a set of evaporator coils located in the mechanical room of your home. The purpose of these coils is to extract heat from the air flowing into your home. The air thus cooled will cool down the rest of your home. Over time, these evaporator coils can get dirty, and when they do, they will decrease the efficiency of your AC system. Thus, you need to clean them whenever necessary.
How Evaporator Coils Get Dirty
Your AC unit will have a filter to extract particles from the air in your home. Unfortunately, this filter will not extract all the dust in the air. The reason for this is that, in order to extract all particles, the holes in the filter would have to be so small that they would restrict airflow and thus decrease the efficiency of your AC unit. The standard filter will remove most contaminants, but the smallest dust particles will flow through your filter and can then gunk up your evaporator.
Problems Caused by a Dirty Evaporator
As more and more dust accumulates on your evaporator, it will restrict the flow of air through your AC unit more and more until it cuts off the airflow altogether. Not only will thus lead to higher cooling costs, but it can cause your evaporator to ice over. The problem is that the air that flows through coils is not only cooled by the coils, but it also warms them at the same time. Without enough air flow to maintain the temperature of the coils, they can get so cold that they freeze any moisture present in the air around them. To avoid icing, to maintain the efficiency of your system, and to reduce wear and tear on your system, you should clean your coils from time to time.
How to Clean Coils
To clean your coils, you will first have to remove the access panel to your evaporator unit. You can then spray a coil cleaner on the coils. Make sure you give the solvents in the cleaner time to break down the stuck-on grime that coats your coils. You can then clean them with a stiff-bristle brush. Once you are done, replace the access panel.
Cleaning coils is not a highly complicated job, but that doesn't make it any less necessary. You can hire an AC technician to clean your coils, but in many cases, you can do the job yourself and save a little money. For tips, contact a company like Plumbing And Heating Solution LLC.
Share7 August 2015
While sitting in my living room on a hot summer day, I could feel the heat coming through the ceiling out of my attic and making the house warm up more than it should. I crawled up into the attic one evening to find out that the roof vents weren't working any longer because they were clogged with all sorts of debris. Did you know that when this happens, your home's temperature can rise to very uncomfortable levels? Did you know that your home could actually be damaged if the attic isn't well vented? This blog will show you all about attic ventilation.