By MyPros Staff

Like everybody else who lives in one of the world’s warmer climes, you will want your air conditioner to last as long as possible. Whether it is a central home-cooling unit, a window-mounted one or even one of the new, free-standing a/c devices, these appliances can be expensive to replace, so proper maintenance is required.

If you just maintain your air conditioner correctly, you will lengthen its productive lifespan and keep it working for as long as possible. Treating all of your major appliances this way can potentially save you hundreds, possibly even thousands, of dollars over your lifetime.

To keep your air conditioning unit in top condition and extend its life, there are five key tips that you will want to follow:

1. Check all of the air conditioner’s hoses for leaks, and do so at least twice each year. The logical times to do this are (a) before you start using the air conditioning for the summer, and (b) just before you start preparing to turn it off for the fall and/or winter. Leaky hoses are a major source of a/c malfunctioning, so this simple biannual inspection can stop breakdowns before they occur.

2. For home (central) units, it is important to keep any outside components, such as the compressor, as clean as you can. Naturally, it will get dirty from natural conditions, weather and other environmental factors, but you can keep it looking and acting like new for longer than you might think by simply hosing off the housings, grates and other exposed parts.

3. The corollary for window or free-standing units would be cleaning their intakes and exhaust areas. A buildup of dust and dirt not only threatens to pollute the cooled air, it can coat electrical and electronic components, causing them to overheat and possibly malfunction.

4. Have the ductwork in your central air conditioning cleaned professionally at least every two years. This particular maintenance step may not seem especially important, but it can measurably extend the life of you’re a/c unit by keeping it from working too hard and preventing overheating.

5. During fall, winter and/or spring – any months that get precipitation in your neck of the woods – you should definitely keep the compressor covered. This will protect the compressor from cold weather, rain, snow and sleet. When buying an air conditioner, ask the seller or installer if they stock covers for the unit you are considering. (If yes, buy it right on the spot.) If you cannot find a cover made for your a/c device, you can order or make a custom-fitted cover from tarpaulin or plastic sheeting.

There are other things you can do to extend the life of your air conditioner. These common sense tasks will help you keep all of your appliances in top working condition, frankly.

These basic appliance maintenance considerations include using grounded plugs when necessary – and never “defeat” the grounding with a plug adapter or (heaven forbid) by removing the ground plug. Make sure the home circuit you plug into has sufficient juice for all the items it will need to supply.

Additional common sense tips: keep the area around appliances uncluttered and swept clean of pet hair, dirt and dust; do not plug appliances into extension cords made for lamps; keep moisture away from sensitive electrical, electronic and electromechanical components; and unplug any appliance before you work on it in any way.

A good range of basic maintenance tasks, coupled with appliance-specific preventative care and proper operation, is a recipe for a long, productive life for today’s appliances. Washers, dryers, air conditioners and refrigerators will all give many solid years of service when treated right, kept in good shape and maintained in proper operating condition.