Cleaning the Coils 101

We’ve depended on our air-conditioning systems to give us a relaxed, comfortable, and convenient home. Like other machines and equipment, its optimal performance will depend on how much proper care is delivered to your system. Your air-conditioning may stop working the way you want it to because the coils are dirty and need cleaning.

Regular maintenance is needed to keep your HVAC system working great. Cleaning the coils is a quick and easy process that you can do to make it run more efficiently, and you will know when it’s time to clean your system when your energy costs are stepping up, and dust, pet hair, or debris are accumulating in the coils or ducts.

What happens when the coils are dirty?

Dirty coils reduce your system’s capability to cool or heat the environment, and the system has to work harder than intended, thus, shortening its lifespan.

When your coils get too dirty, it can cause an increase in operating temperatures, less cooling efficiency, increased costs, more prone to system wear, reduced indoor air quality and ultimately, system breakdown or replacement.

There are three methods for cleaning the coils depending on how dirty the coils are:

– Cleaning with low-pressure compressed air for lightly dirty coils – this method will quickly remove surface dust and debris from the coil by blowing it away from the coils. This method is suitable for outdoor condensing coils.

– Scrubbing with water and mild detergent for moderately soiled coils – the water and detergent mixture is sprayed using a low-pressure sprayer, and the coils are allowed to dry as is or lightly rinsed.

– Spraying with commercial coil-cleaning solutions for heavily-soiled coils – there are commercially available coil cleaners – foaming ones for outdoor coils and self-rinsing cleaners for indoor coils. Use a special fin brush to clear away surface dirt before applying the cleaner, and rinse it properly by following the cleaner’s instructions and manual.

Overall, you might feel the need to do the coil cleaning by yourself, but the most recommended solution is to get a trusted HVAC professional to do the maintenance and cleaning for you. They can properly assess what is the best cleaning method and check for any other issues that might need repair or replacement. Make this a regular process to avoid more problems later on and get the benefits of clean coils such as energy savings, maximum heat transfer, longer system lifespan and improved air quality every time.