INDIANAPOLIS — We know that more hot weather is coming and we are crossing our fingers in the hope our air conditioners can keep up.
On 13Sunrise, Pat Sullivan from Sullivan Hardware and Garden walked us through some steps to maintain the HVAC system and keep the cool air flowing even during record heat.
Starting outside with the air conditioner, Sullivan said it's important to keep the coils clean and free of debris. Using a coil cleaner to loosen built-up dirt first, Sullivan sprayed down an air conditioner unit using a garden hose. To be safe, you can turn off the electrical breaker for the unit before you introduce water.
Once you spray the coils with cleaner, "you let it sit for a while, and then we're going to flush it from the inside out," said Sullivan, adding that you could spray the coils from both sides. "If you look on the bottom, you'll start to see dirty water."
Cleaning the coils on your air conditioner is important, Sullivan said, adding, "Two or three times a year is not an unreasonable amount of time."
Inside the house, keeping window shades down during the day will deflect the sun's heat and help maintain cooler rooms.
Just as clearing the air conditioner coils of debris outside contributes to better airflow, changing furnace filters inside does the same, allowing your system to perform more efficiently.
Sullivan said regardless of what temperature you set on your thermostat, you should set the fan to run all the time.
"If you run the fan 24 hours a day - now it sounds like, 'that's really bad,' but you run the fan to kind of even out the cool air in the house," Sullivan said.
Watch Sullivan's full Sunrise segment in the video player.