Take these simple steps to keep your room air conditioner clean and safe

When the temperatures are soaring and humidity increases to make the weather uncomfortable, one needs the air conditioner to perform at its best and make indoors bearable. While many people get the air conditioner serviced before the season begins and after the season ends to get good performance, there are a few simple things that we can follow at regular intervals to keep our ACs in a good shape, said Nilesh Shah, vice president, business planning and marketing, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd.

“As maintaining utmost hygiene and cleanliness has become the new norm of our homes, it is also very critical to keep our air conditioners clean for a safe and comfortable indoor environment. By doing simple things, we can keep our air conditioner in perfect shape to perform to its full capacity, cool efficiently, ensure long-lasting life of the machine and keep unnecessary electricity loads at bay. Along with it a good and effective air conditioning will give you clean air and keep you healthy,” he added.

Effective air conditioning will give you clean air and keep you healthy. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock)

Clean your air conditioner’s filters – Air conditioner filters remove bad particles such as dust particles, grease, pollen, etc. from the air it throws inside the room so that we get clean air. Cleaning the filters at regular intervals ensures that it works effectively and we keep getting clean air from our AC. Cleaning the filters is quite easy and hassle-free. To reduce hassle, one can also opt for an air conditioner that has an automatic cleaning filter cleaning feature which makes life much easier.

Unclog the condensate drains – Occasionally, check and unclog the air conditioner’s drain channel. Blocked and clogged drain channels hamper the air conditioner’s ability to reduce humidity in the air it throws into the room. The excess humidity in the air is bad for our health and is bad for our electronics, walls and carpets. Also, excess humidity may lead to bad odour in the room.

Upkeep coils for better performance – When dust and dirt settle down on evaporator coils, it reduces airflow making the air conditioner work harder. This weakens the cooling performance. While getting the air conditioner serviced, make sure that the person cleans these coils. And in intervals between servicing, try to reduce settling of dust over the coils. There are air conditioning models available in the market which have inbuilt features for automatic coil cleaning. This is an endogenous technology that makes sure that the air conditioner always performs to its best capacity and has a longer life.

Keep the outdoor condenser coils clean – Outdoor condenser coils tend to become very dirty especially in a dusty city environment. One can easily see the condenser coils and notice the dust on its fins. To avoid this, try to minimise the dirt and foreign particles around the coils. Try to keep the surrounding area clean. Also, keep the area around the unit free from any obstructions so that there is adequate airflow.

If you take care of your air conditioner, your unit will give you the best cooling experience according to its capacity and keep your indoor environment comfortable, healthy, and safe.