Air Conditioning Repair Strategies For Ongoing AC Care And Reviving Neglected AC Units | Katy, TX
At Mr. Reliable Heating & Air, we keep air conditioning systems in Katy, TX running reliably with careful, regular maintenance and expert repairs. We can help you plan your AC care from year to year to keep your energy costs down and your system serving you as long as possible. If you’ve inherited an AC unit with your home that hasn’t seen maintenance or any air conditioner repair in quite a while, we can also tend to your older or neglected system, inspect it, and make a difference in its reliability, energy efficiency, and service life, often with the parts we have on hand in our well-stocked vehicles. You’ll be glad for our reliable, ongoing air conditioner repair and maintenance for your AC system, and if your system has been struggling, you’ll wish you called us sooner! You deserve to be comfortable with a reliable, efficient AC cooling your home.
Preventive Maintenance and Repairs Before Summer Cooling Season
When your AC system has a chance to rest for a while, that’s a great time to perform maintenance and air conditioner repair tasks, or revive an older unit that’s either inactive or running poorly and in need of attention. Our Katy, TX customer support team can schedule a convenient time for the visit, and let you know what it will involve, how long it is likely to take, and answer any other questions you might have. If you’re a new customer, you’re in for a pleasant experience since we hire the best, treat them well and keep them trained in the latest techniques and technologies, and supply them with the equipment and parts in their vehicle to take care of your air conditioner repair needs on the spot. As you get to know the way we operate, which is based on our values and a purposeful intention to be the best at what we do, you’ll be able to relax and expect the best when you need AC service. Here are a few of the many ways we can keep your AC system out of trouble and performing well, or revive your older system so it can do its best for you, more reliable and demanding less from your energy budget. Of course, we’re also here for you when it’s time to replace instead of repair, with well-thought-out options designed to meet your needs and budget.
Outdoor AC Unit Cleaning for Reliability and Efficiency
An awful lot of air conditioner repair calls result from starting up the AC unit after a long winter, during which the outdoor AC components have been exposed to windblown dust, dirt, sand, landscaping materials, tree branches, and everything else. Even the tiniest opening in the enclosure can let in small animals such as rodents seeking a quiet, safe place to build a nest, and they can be quite enthusiastic in appropriating your system’s wiring and other materials to make that nest. Sometimes, more exotic creatures also find their way in, and if your unit has been dormant for some time, our air conditioning repair team may find insect nests that require careful attention to remove. It’s all in a day’s work for us, and when we get down to cleaning the coils, fixing up the electrical components like the contactor and capacitor, testing the fan motor, and checking the compressor, we get a good idea of how your AC unit is doing, boost the efficiency by letting the coils do their work without a coating of dust, and make note of any air conditioner repairs that we recommend for components that are showing signs of wear, so you can approve any necessary work and get it done quickly.
Checking Electrical Components
Our Katy, TX air conditioner repair team checks each of your AC’s systems, and the electrical components play a critical role in controlling your AC’s operation and keeping it protected. From the circuit breakers that control the power to the thermostat wiring and control board, fan motors and wiring indoors and in the outdoor unit, and compressor starting gear, we not only check that they’re in good shape and working well, we can also measure their performance and tell if they are nearing the end of their service life. All your electrical connections need to be solid, safe, and free from corrosion to make sure that each time your thermostat says it’s time to cool down, your AC system gets to work on it without delay.
Thermostat Testing and Replacement
Sometimes an air conditioner repair visit turns out to be caused by a thermostat problem, so it’s worth checking to make sure your thermostat is working well, wired correctly if there’s any concern, and accurate so you can set it to the desired temperature and know that’s what you’ll get. These days, long before the original thermostat wears out, we usually wind up replacing it with one that helps save energy with basic night and day temperature settings for automatic operation, or more advanced intelligent thermostat features that adapt to your family’s lifestyles and save energy where it makes sense to do so. Smart home-connected thermostats are also popular, and some can be challenging to wire correctly. We’re glad to provide our expertise so your thermostat works correctly with all its features, and also to help avoid miswiring that can damage the control circuits of your AC that supply thermostat power. Our air conditioner repair team is also your trusted advisor for getting the most comfort out of your AC system with the most energy savings as well.
Compressor and Refrigerant Service
Even small holes in the condenser and evaporator coils outside and in your home can let refrigerant leak and slowly, or sometimes quickly, degrade your AC’s operation. Our air conditioner repair team has the equipment to test refrigerant levels and replace any that has escaped, after finding and correcting the problem that released it in the first place. Efficiency and effective cooling degradation are the first ways you might notice there’s a problem and call us for air conditioning repair, but if you start to hear compressor noises, especially a loud squeal, it’s time to hustle to get it fixed. Low refrigerant can damage the compressor.
Keeping the Cover Intact to Avoid Nesting
While your outdoor AC unit needs good airflow around it to disperse the heat from inside your house, it also needs a tight enclosure to avoid nesting. In the off-season in Katy, TX, our air conditioner repair experts can recommend ways to cover your unit, but when it’s operating just keeping the screws tight and repairing any damage to the cover should do the job. Considering the damage that nesting creatures can do to the insides of your AC unit, it’s well worth checking from time to time as well.
Checking Refrigerant Lines to Your House
One of the vulnerabilities of your outside cooling equipment is the lines that run to and from your home. Up north, homeowners sometimes experience ice forming on the edge of their roof that drop and damage the lines, and here there are plenty of ways that the lines can be disrupted as well, such as storing tools in the space between the AC and the house. The lines should also be insulated, to avoid the loss of part of the cooling as the refrigerant travels into the house. Our air conditioner repair team will check for issues like these during maintenance visits, or call us if you notice there’s a need for attention.
Inside, the Evaporator and Air Handling System
How many times has an air conditioner repair technician asked about how often you replace your air filter? That question can get old, but there’s a good reason for it: blocked airflow can cause a number of tough problems that require an air conditioner repair visit to correct. For one, the air handling equipment, especially the fan motor and drive belt, works extra hard when your filter is clogged. Low airflow also makes the rest of your system work harder, costing you energy and wear on components as you turn down the thermostat because you’re not cooling off, and the AC system is saying, “I’m trying, but I can’t get the cool to flow because of the clogged air filter!” If you’re not sure how to replace the filter, or what kind to use, our air conditioner repair team will be glad to show you.
Keeping Condensate from Making a Mess
Another indoor equipment issue for your AC system is the condensate drain. Normally, our air conditioner repair technicians will clean it out during a maintenance visit, but if it’s left for a while, the drain can get blocked, water starts to gather, and algae grows. It doesn’t smell great, and if it spills onto the floor, it can make a mess. When your AC evaporator and air handling unit are installed in an attic, you’ll even find stains on the ceiling of the floor below. It’s good to discuss any odors you experience around your AC equipment with us.
Icing on the Coils, Fixing It, and Avoiding a Repeat
Condensate sometimes freezes to the condenser coils, causing icing of your system and blocked airflow, followed by a lack of cooling because the system can’t spread cool air to your rooms. The typical reason for icing is a lack of warm air flowing through to defrost the evaporator coils, a great design that usually fails for a reason we’ve already mentioned: a clogged air filter. When the filter blocks the warm airflow, the evaporator just cools, as usual, condensing water out of the air as usual which is part of the cooling process, and since there’s no warm air defrost, it ices up. Our air conditioner repair experts can take care of it, fixing the cause and defrosting the coils carefully to avoid damage.
Extra Equipment for Indoor Air Quality
People who love great indoor air or have medical conditions that require a bit extra care love humidity control, HEPA air filters, air purifiers, and even germicidal UV lamp systems installed on their AC system. Our air conditioner repair pros can maintain all of these, or install them if you don’t already have them. It’s wonderful when your home air is low dust, low pollen, low pathogen even, and has the same moisture level year-round, which is great for your skin and also wood, books, plants, and other moisture-sensitive occupants of your home.
Duct Service and Cleaning
What’s in your ducts besides air? You’d be surprised. After a couple of years, all that’s airborne in your home, which includes all that dust that you wipe from your furniture, all the airborne chemicals that you smell when you clean, even the grease that smells great when you cook, all gather and line your ducts. Oh, and pollen usually finds its way in as well, along with pet dander and other allergens. They can add up to quite a lining, which looks something like felt. Our duct cleaning service gets these materials out of your ducts so they don’t keep releasing back into your air, and so your ducts are wider if there was a lot in there. We recommend this service every few years in most cases, ask us about it!
Your Air Conditioner Repair Team Going the Extra Mile in Katy, TX
At Mr. Reliable Heating & Air, our air conditioner repair team has answers and solutions for you to keep your Katy, TX AC system performing at its best as long as possible. We’re also great at getting your struggling unit back in shape to work hard for you. When the time comes to look at new models, our customer support team can make a real difference as they help our technicians balance the right technologies to save you on energy and keep you cool, with budget-friendly solutions to keep staying comfortably affordable. Give us a call, we’re very reliable!
Photo By CatLane at istock
