Have You Been Disinfecting Your Air Conditioner?

Dusting, sweeping and mopping are just a few of the household chores we do to keep our homes tidy and to eliminate germs and bacteria. But one area you may not be cleaning is your air conditioner, and that’s an issue.

Cleaning an AC unit is essential to remove the built-up bacteria, mold, dust and other contaminants in the system. Failing to disinfect the unit allows all of those microbes to be blown into your air each time the system kicks on. Continue reading to learn a bit more about cleaning your AC unit.

How often should you disinfect your AC?

Unless you live in a particularly dusty, dirty or windy area, you should only need to disinfect your AC once a year. That said, you should replace or clean your air filters every 30 to 60 days, depending on your manufacturer’s recommendations. Swapping out the filters ensures you’ll have good air quality, and it helps prevent issues with your HVAC system.

What are the steps for disinfecting your AC?

We typically recommend hiring a professional to clean an AC system. However, disinfecting an air conditioner can be a DIY chore. Follow these steps, and your air will be as fresh as can be:

• Turn off the unit: Never perform any AC work before both the indoor unit and outdoor unit are completely off. Skipping this step could lead to severe injuries. Switch the thermostat to “off” to shut down the indoor unit. Then, flip the breaker switch on the outdoor condenser to power down the outdoor unit.
• Clean the filters: If your AC filters are washable instead of disposable, now’s the time to clean them off. All you need to do is rinse them down with a garden hose and then spray them with a cleaning solution or bleach. Leave the cleaner on for about 30 minutes, rinse them off and set them out to dry.
• Remove the housing: The next step in cleaning an AC unit is taking off the housing. After carefully taking off the housing, use a vacuum or an air duster to get rid of all the built-up dust and dirt. Be careful not to damage the evaporator or condenser coil while doing this step.
• Clean the coils: You’ll now want to spray the coils on the evaporator and condenser with a bleach solution. Let the solution soak for about 20 minutes, and then rinse the coils off with your hose. You may need to scrub them with a soft brush to remove stuck-on grime.
• Replace everything: Once all of the components are nice and dry, you can reassemble everything and power your unit back up.

Call our team to disinfect your air conditioner

Instead of disinfecting an air conditioner by yourself, just hire our team at Kenny’s Air Conditioning & Heating Services, Inc. We’ll have your unit spick-and-span in no time, so your air and your home will be as clean as can be. Give us a call today to set up an appointment with our pros.

Categorised in: AC Tune-Up