This is a partnered guest post.
When it comes to air conditioning repair and maintenance, many people across the country are choosing to take care of problems themselves instead of hiring professionals. It’s easy to understand why this is. Not only is it a lot cheaper to fix a problem yourself, but many home appliances are now user-friendly enough to accommodate DIY repair and maintenance jobs. It’s also really easy to look up quick repair tutorials on Google.
We certainly live in a DIY society, but there are still some repairs that should only be attempted by professionals. It can be dangerous to take on certain projects without the proper training and equipment, and it’s all too easy to turn a minor issue into a serious problem that may cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to fix. As with most problems around the home, the trick for air conditioning repair is knowing when it’s safe to take care of the problem yourself and when to contact air conditioning repair professionals.
Proper Maintenance
Air conditioners require regular maintenance to operate efficiently. A good air conditioner can last for years, but not if its basic operating needs are ignored. Air filters need to be changed or replaced every couple of months, condenser and evaporator coils need to be cleaned every year, and drain channels need to be kept clear. These are all things that homeowners can and should do themselves.
Fixing Problems Yourself
Aside from performing regular maintenance, there are other things you can do to fix air conditioner problems without the help of repair professionals. If you have an outdoor unit and your furnace fan isn’t working, the contactor relay may not be working. The contactor relay switches the power to the condenser fan, and although it rarely fails it can get jammed with dirt, debris, and dead bugs that may have crawled into the unit. If this is the case, simply remove the access cover on your unit and get rid of the debris with some compressed air. If you cannot clean everything off, you can always buy a new contactor relay for about $30 and install it yourself. If this doesn’t fix the problem, you may need a new fan motor. This is also easy to install, and doing it yourself means that you only need to pay for a new motor instead of a service fee.
When to Call the Experts
There are some AC issues that will always require professional service, mostly because they are either too difficult or too dangerous for the average homeowner to fix. For example, you should always call a repair technician if you suspect that your unit is leaking refrigerant. Simply adding new refrigerant if you are running low won’t stop a leak and will waste refrigerant, possibly harming the environment in the process. A trained technician should be able to fix a leak and provide your unit with plenty of refrigerant to keep it running smoothly.
A homeowner should also never attempt to fix any electrical problems. If you suspect that your air conditioning problems are due to faulty wiring, call a service professional. Electricity can be very dangerous, especially for those who don’t have the proper training and equipment.
Luckily, Matt has his AC certification, so we are covered on this front, but when it comes to anything electrical, I call a pro without even thinking twice LOL.
Our unit is on our roof, so for us every repair needs an expert. It’s a good thing we have a home warranty or it’d be expensive!
I would never attempt to fix our AC myself!!
I am pretty good about the basics like changing the filter, but anything beyond that and I am calling an expert.
Oh no, I’m scared of trying to fix anything electric haha.
I have my fingers crossed that our upkeep will take care of our AC unit. Money is so tight but AC is something I can’t live without!
I’m all about calling an expert. That’s mainly why we live in Apartments and not a house. I like someone who will come fix things for them.
While DIY might be cheaper, it’s hot in Texas and going without AC is not an option. I’d definitely call someone to come out and fix it.
I have window ones, so when they croak, it’s buy a new one time.
I would probably call the experts each time LOL I know nothing about AC.
This definitely calls for an expert! 🙂
I luck out that my husband’s cousin is an AC guy!
Unfortunately, our AC doesn’t work and it’s going to cost over $1000 to fix it. Ugghh!
Great tips for new homeowners! We just had ours tuned!
My husband rarely calls anyone — he wants to do it al himself!
with large appliances I always call 1st I hate to break things
My husband is pretty good at fixing most things, but ac is not one of them.
Oh my gosh, I’d be scared to do anything myself, even install a new contactor
We don’t have an AC unit, but if we did and it broke my husband would definitely hire someone. He’s so not handy.
This reminds me I need to put a call in one of these days. I have to run mine with continuous fan because the auto switch doesn’t seem to trip on and off any more. At least it’s working though!
We try to do some stuff ourselves, but the AC is definitely not one of them. We leave that to the experts.
We have never had any AC problems once our heat went out this February COLD, we had a “campout” in
our room till it was fixed, the kids had so much fun!
We rent so it’s always a simple answer – call the landlord. lol.
I would definitely have to call an expert. I know nothing about air conditioners other than changing the thermostat and filters.