With the coming of autumn comes cooler temperatures. And with that, your air conditioning is likely going to be put out to pasture until the spring comes around once more. We rarely have need for air conditioners during the cold winter months here in Ohio, and indeed you should never even turn your air conditioner on if the temperature drops below 65°F. (It could cause a lot of damage.) If you’re facing an air conditioning repair issue, the question becomes when to schedule it. Should you do it as soon as possible and get it out of the way? Or wait until spring? The answer depends on you.
Before leaving the system unused for several months, homeowners should also know how to prepare an air conditioner for the off-season.
Has the System Been Serviced?
An easy way to determine what kind of issues your air conditioner is facing is to schedule regular maintenance before and in addition to any repairs. This gives the technician a chance to look the system over and check for any specific damage that may have occurred. Maintenance also entails small repairs of the kind that wouldn’t merit a repair call on their own: things like bolts that have worn loose and cause the components to rattle in their housings or clogged filters which can slow down the flow of air through the system. As a result, the air conditioner will function more effectively after maintenance—cutting down on bills—and if further repairs are needed, maintenance can detect those issues, allowing you to set up repairs when you like.
If you haven’t had your air conditioner professionally maintained in the past twelve months, it might be a good idea to do so now. That gives you the most amount of time to handle any potential repairs that come up. If you’ve had your system maintained, but you think there might be something wrong, it’s probably a good idea as well. (“Something wrong” translates to anything out of the ordinary in your system’s functioning: anything from a strange noise to a lack of cooling power.)
Waiting Might Make More Sense
Generally speaking, the sooner you get on repair issues, the better. If your system needs repairs, you’d do well to schedule them now, when you have the entire fall and winter to find a date that is most conducive to your schedule.
The main benefit to waiting, especially if the repair issue isn’t severe, is that you won’t have to deal with any side issues caused by months of non-use. The system can then be fired up and used without any concerns. The downside to doing so is that it may limit the time you have to get it fixed, and if an early summer hits, you may need to scramble to get it fixed quickly. (That’s another reason why timely maintenance is a good idea. If you schedule maintenance for the beginning of summer this year, you can likely wait to deal with repairs. If you haven’t, now is probably the best time to act.)
For quality AC maintenance and repair in the Avon, OH area, call on Westland Heating & Air Conditioning today!
