Summers  in Dubai without a functioning AC are comparable to camping in Antarctica without warm clothes or a heater. Both situations would leave you in extreme weather conditions without any respite. This is why it’s so important to maintain your AC and general HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioner). It’s the first step to avoiding huge expenses in the long run. 

Following an AC maintenance guide can keep your AC going for several years, offering help with initial checks that prevent deeper problems from arising. While this guide is useful, we suggest using it as a way to understand how your Air Conditioner works, eventually employing the help of a professional to do the actual maintenance for you. This way, you don’t have to repair your AC often and its performance is far better. 

Octopus AC maintenance expert’s guide on what needs to be checked:

How to take care of the external unit?

Your AC’s external unit includes the compressor, the most important part of your AC. It also features the condenser coil and a fan, which disperses the heat from your room to the outdoors. Most of the power consumed by your AC is used by the external unit.

The external unit is usually placed outside your house or on the roof. If you have plants or weeds growing around the area, make sure they are not blocking the unit.

Here are the basics of maintaining your external AC unit

Before attempting to clean the unit, ensure that the power is completely switched off. The condenser fan is very powerful and can cause damage and/or injury if it starts while you are cleaning it.

While a professional can carry out numerous checks and cleaning procedures on the external unit, you should be content with just cleaning the dust off the condenser coil, which may improve the performance of your AC and is relatively risk-free. 

The condenser coil comprises a grid of metal tubing passing through several layers of thin metal sheets. If there is a lot of dust and debris on the condenser coil, it can affect the cooling performance of your AC. You can clean the condenser coil by using an air blower, a paintbrush, or by using a water jet.

If you are using water to clean the coil, take extreme care not to let the water come into contact with any electrical components in the AC unit. If water enters any electrical contacts or components, short circuits may occur resulting in the need for very expensive repairs. It is best not to use water to clean the AC if you are not absolutely sure what you are doing.

If the external unit is making abnormally high noise, get a professional to look into it immediately.

How to handle the internal unit?

The internal unit comprises a cooling coil and a blower fan, protected by an air filter. As the air in the room is circulated by the AC through the cooling coil, most of the dust in the air settles onto the filter and the coil. To maintain the cooling capability of the AC, it is important to clean the filter and the coil periodically.

Here are the basics of AC maintenance your internal units:

Only trained professionals can clean the cooling coil and the blower fans. You can clean the air filter by yourself if you are a DIY person.

To clean the air filter, remove it from the air inlet of the AC unit and wash it with clean water if it is a reusable filter, or replace it if it is not a reusable filter. Most filters used here in the UAE are reusable unless clearly specified on the filter.

The filter removal method varies vastly from machine to machine. Some filters are secured by screws or brackets, while some are slid into place.

There is a water tray in every AC to collect water that condenses onto the cooling coil. It is very important to clean this tray periodically to avoid mold and slime build-up leading to the overflow of these trays. It is not easy and, in many cases, practically impossible for untrained people to clean the AC trays and flush the drain pipes. So hiring a trained professional to do this job is very important.

The importance of scheduled inspections and AC maintenance 

Trying to inspect your AC in full detail is a tough job, and it isn’t possible to do this on your own. Plus you have to keep your safety in mind and ensure that you don’t make anything within your AC worse than it already is. 

A trained AC technician will be able to do the necessary maintenance of your AC units. With their experience and training, they can note abnormalities in the machine much before they are obvious for our eyes, and take corrective actions to prevent failure of the AC units.

Furthermore, you need to ensure that your AC is thoroughly inspected at least twice a year, to stretch its longevity. Schedule it in your calendar and make it an important part of your annual maintenance checklist. 

So, to conclude, why should you schedule regular inspections? 

Because…

Your repair bills will eventually be far cheaper. If you take care of your air conditioner before a problem occurs, repairs will be minimal to none. Plus, you won’t have to spend on replacement costs every few years.

Regular maintenance means that your AC is more efficient and that your DEWA bills are lower. Spending smaller amounts of energy will help keep your monthly costs to a minimum.

Improving longevity, safety, and preventing breakdown. Checking on your AC often can stop anything untoward from happening, the worst of which is a complete breakdown. It’s also far safer if you inspect your AC promptly, to clean up loose wiring and maintain the integrity of your device.

Did you like our AC maintenance guide?

We hope you found this guide useful and that it will help you against the sweltering heat of Dubai. Remember, never leave your AC problems until the last minute because you never know how long they will take to fix. Doing a little bit of cleaning up by yourself won’t harm your AC, however for deeper issues, definitely look towards hiring a professional. Lastly, your AC needs regular inspection and maintenance by a professional to keep the utility bills at bay, prevent a breakdown, and improve longevity.
For further consultation or to hire a professional handyman, get in touch with Octopus. Call our toll-free number, 800 3993.