Air conditioning maintenance

Find out why you need to have your air conditioning unit regularly serviced and how much maintenance checks cost.

Regular maintenance checks
are important for air con units

If you have an air conditioning unit, you’ll know how beneficial it can be on a boiling hot day. However, once installed your air con system will require regular maintenance to ensure that it meets government guidelines and runs as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.

These checks are not something you can carry out yourself, as Viki Beaney from ACS Air Conditioning Services in Surrey points out: “You may be able to clean a filter yourself but you will need to hire a properly trained air conditioning installer for your servicing needs because technical aspects, such as electrics, are involved.”

So here’s why you should schedule regular maintenance checks for your air conditioning system:

• To prevent refrigerant leaks – all air conditioning units use refrigerants, which can be damaging to the environment if leaked into the atmosphere. Certain types of refrigerant are now banned or being phased out, but according to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, it is not uncommon for air con units to leak between 10 and 30% of their refrigerant per year. Maintenance checks pick up on any leaks and minimise the risk of one occurring. A government report states that: if your air conditioning unit contains more than 3kg of f-gas then it must be inspected once a year, if it contains more than 30kg it should be checked once every six months and over 300kg require inspections once every three months.

• So your warranty isn’t invalidated – many air conditioning manufacturers offer a system warranty, as is common with most products. However, these warranties often come with conditions, as Viki explains: “Most companies offer a warranty but this can be invalidated if you don’t conduct regular maintenance checks.”

• To improve efficiency and save money – air conditioning maintenance checks will pick up on any system failures or things like blocked filters which can decrease the efficiency of the system, wasting money on your fuel bills. “A maintenance engineer will make sure the system is running smoothly,” says Viki, “if it ’s a very dusty environment then filters can get easily blocked and cause problems.”

• To increase longevity – regularly maintaining your air conditioning means that any problems can be spotted and prevented in advance or caught as early as possible. This can increase the longevity of the air con system as it runs more smoothly; no extra strain is put on damaged parts.

Cost of air conditioning maintenance

The price of air conditioning maintenance will vary depending on the size and type of your system. For example, large, centralised office air con will cost more to maintain then a household split air conditioning system. The manufacturer or air con installer may offer a deal on the price of regular maintenance checks when the system is first installed. However, you can find an independent company to service your air con system easily enough, make sure you get at least three quotes from a reputable air conditioning maintenance company.

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