It is vital to keep your air conditioner is kept in good working order. The air conditioning filters are key components in an air conditioner, they keep the coils and heat exchanges clean while also regulating the air in your home. Air conditioning repair and maintenance services are available to make sure your system is fully functional in reducing the impact of indoor pollutions.

Indoor air quality can be affected by the levels of humidity indoors. Air conditioners are intended to lower realtive humidity to between 30-60%, an ideal humidity range for humans according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). High levels of humidity can be a key factor in the growth of mold, funguses, dust mites and other pests. High humidity can aggravate astham and respiratory problems. A Toshiba air conditioning system reduces moisture in the air and can make live bearable on a humid day. In fact, recent research by the Academy of Pediatrics show that clean and serviced air conditioners can actually benefit hayfever sufferers. Research into how air conditioning can affect your health is nothing new.  Back in 1910, much as you’d expect, the New York State Commission on Ventilation concluded that human performance in a working environment was not affected by heat stress. Several decades later, researchers obtained an opposite finding when they carried out performance tests under conditions with and without moderate heat stress.

Case in point.  I’m out working on the lawn yesterday and one of my neighbors was out and we started chatting.  Being the air conditioner guy for the neighborhood, the conversations always tend to turn in that direction, so we were discussing our electricity bills and his was more than DOUBLE what mine was for about the same square footage.  Now, you just can not attribute all of your energy consumption issues to air conditioning, but I was interested in learning why he was experiencing such a disparity with his bill and if this is something that occured year round.

We compared our elecricity bills and his only showed the spike that was causing concern in the summer months even though he was running higher that me for the rest of the year also.  We then looked around his place and there were some very obvious problems with very cheap fixes.

• Insulation around the doors and windows were worn out.  You could feel the cool air flowing freely from around the closed doors and windows from the outside.  This can be remedied for less than $5 per door and window.
• The AC filter in the return duct looked like a giant dust ball.  He claims that he replaces the filter quarterly, but I doubt it.  Even if he did, quarterly is not enough in my opinion.  I replace mine monthly to insure that the air is flowing freely.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is experiencing some freezing in his line because the AC unit is having to work overtime to compensate for the lack of air flow.  A simple $2 per month will save on a costly air conditioner service call if the line freezes over.
• Looking at the compressor on the side of the house, I see grass growing up into the coils on the bottom, hedge limbs poking into the coils on the side, and pine needles covering the casing on top.  He (and apparently a lot of home owners) don’t understand that the function of these coils is to channel the heat out of the home.  The fan blow air over the coils to cool them down and dispurse the heat.  That’s why when the unit is running and you put you hand over the top you feel hot air.  When the coils are obstructed, the air can not pass over them to get cool which means you are not efficiently pumping the heat out of your home.  Keep the coils clear and unobstructed.  In addition when you air conditioner is NOT RUNNING, take your garden hose and with low water pressure rinse off the coils of accumulated dirts and debris.  This wont cost you anything and will make a world of difference with your electricty bill.