When air conditioners stop working, majority of homeowners rush to call AC repair professionals. What most of them don’t know is that there are a number of things that they can do and fix their appliances without spending money hiring the contractors. To save money and time here are some of the things that you should try before you take the phone to call the contractor:

Check the AC settings

If your AC isn’t cooling the house as it should the problem could be as simple as having the wrong AC settings. To fix the problem you should take a look at the thermostat and ensure that it’s set at a temperature that is lower than the ambient air temperature of the room. Also ensure that the switch is set at the “cool” position and not at the “fan only” position.

Check AC condenser coils and air filters

Dirty or blocked condenser coils and air filters can make your air conditioner function inefficiently. All you have to do to fix the problem is clean or replace the air filters if they are too dirty to worn out to be cleaned. If the condenser coils are dirty, clean them by spraying them with a garden hose. You should also take a look at the outside of the coils and clear any leaves, objects and plants that might block free air movement.

When cleaning, remember that the coils located on the inside of the air conditioner are usually sensitive; therefore, you should be cautious that you don’t destroy them. If you have the budget, hire an AC contractor to clean them for you. In addition to the contractor protecting the coils from damage, he/she also uses special liquid acid that gets rid of grime that might have built up on the coils. This gives the coils a better look.

Thaw the ACs frozen coils

If you have cleaned the condenser coils, replaced air filters and set the thermostat and still you can’t see any changes, the reason for the problem is probably that your unit is freezing up. For it to continue working normally you have to thaw the coils by shutting off the compressor to the system and let the fan run for a few hours.

Conclusion

These are some of the things that you should do before hiring a HVAC company. If you have tried all of the above and still can’t get your air conditioner to work, you should go ahead and contact the repair company.