Making sure your condenser unit is running at peak efficiency is one great way to reduce your overall energy bills. When you run your air conditioner, the condenser unit uses the majority of the electricity. So, if there is a problem with your unit, your energy bills will be unnecessarily high. This article explains one simple way to clean your condenser unit. This simple DIY project could end up saving you money on a monthly basis.

The Importance of Clean Coils

The condenser coils are the most important and vulnerable part of a typical central AC system. The condenser has to be on the outside of the house where is exposed to the elements. It sucks in air from the environment and pumps it into your ducts. It also has vital coils on the outside walls that help to cool off the fan. The coils are on the outside of the condenser unit, so they are the first thing to get dirty. But your coils are bound to get dirty no matter what. Wind and rain can blow dust, dirt, and leaves into the coils. The only thing you can really do about it is to clean your coils on a regular basis. It is a good idea to clean them once every year.

The coils are made out of aluminum. There are metal sheets with thin rows, called fins. The space in between each fin is where the dirt usually gets stuck. You can easily wash them with a hose, but you first need to shut down your condenser power. Since most condensers do not have a mounted on/off switch, you need to find a designated breaker to shut down the power. Once the power is turned off, it will be safe to work on your coils.

Cleaning the Coils with Cleaner and a Hose

Usually, you need to spray some sort of liquid cleaner onto your coils to help break down the dirt deep inside. In most cases, you don't want to actually brush or scrub the coils. You should definitely try to use just water at first. If this isn't working, then you can resort to some sort of scrubber. But you need to be very careful because the aluminum is fragile and bendable. If you scrub too hard, you could bend the coils, causing a more severe problem.

As you can see, cleaning your condenser coils is easy work. You can probably do it in less than an hour. This is definitely worth it if you want to make sure your system is always running at maximum efficiency. Click here to learn more about this topic.