Air conditioning maintenance in St. Paul, MN

What a tune-up covers

A Krinkie's tune-up is a precision tune-up, a professional cleaning of your air conditioner and a safety check. We clean, adjust and replace worn parts so the system runs at peak performance. If a part needs replacing, we tell you what it is and why before we install it.

The visit follows the items on the ENERGY STAR heating and cooling maintenance checklist. We clean the evaporator and condenser coils, check the refrigerant level and clean and adjust the blower. We also tighten electrical connections, measure motor voltage and current, and test the controls through startup and shutdown.

Each of these steps protects how well the system cools your home. ENERGY STAR notes that dirty coils reduce the system's ability to cool your home. It also says airflow problems can reduce efficiency by up to 15 percent, and both too much and too little refrigerant lower efficiency.

Best time to schedule

Schedule maintenance during cooling season, ideally in early spring before the first heat wave. ENERGY STAR recommends pre-season checkups, with cooling in the spring and heating in the fall. Contractors get busy once summer arrives, so an early visit is easier to book. It also gives us time to fix problems before you need the system every day.

Krinkie's Club members get this visit automatically each cooling season. The plan includes two tune-ups a year, one for cooling and one for heating, plus up to a 20% discount on most repairs and priority service. Your fall visit is covered by our furnace maintenance and tune-up service.

What you can do between visits

Check your air filter once a month, as ENERGY STAR recommends, and replace it when it looks dirty. The Department of Energy's air conditioner maintenance guide says a clean filter can lower energy use by 5% to 15%. Check more often if you have pets or the system runs constantly.

Keep the outdoor unit clear of leaves, grass clippings and plants. The Department of Energy recommends at least 2 feet of clearance around the condenser so it can move air freely. Trim shrubs and tall grass back each spring, and keep stored items away from the unit.

Watch the condensate drain line near your furnace during the summer. A clogged drain stops the system from removing humidity and can cause water damage. If you see water pooling, turn the system off and call us. We inspect the drain during every cooling tune-up.

Leave these jobs to a technician

Do not open the outdoor unit's electrical panel or remove its cover. The unit runs on a high-voltage circuit, so turn off power at the disconnect before you clear debris from around it. Coil cleaning inside the cabinet is part of our visit.

Never add refrigerant yourself or loosen the refrigerant line fittings. The EPA's refrigerant FAQ for homeowners says it is illegal to intentionally release refrigerant while servicing equipment. It also advises having leaks located and repaired instead of topping off the system.

Gas furnaces share the ductwork with your air conditioner, so safety applies year-round. If your carbon monoxide alarm ever sounds, get everyone outside and call 911. If you smell gas, leave the house and call 911 or your gas utility from outside.

Why regular maintenance pays off

A clean, well-adjusted air conditioner uses less electricity to cool the same house. It also runs with less strain on the compressor and fan motors over the summer. The ENERGY STAR checklist also notes that lubricating moving parts reduces friction in motors and the electricity they use.

Small problems found in April are cheaper to fix than a breakdown in July. A worn part or a slow leak caught during a tune-up can be repaired on your schedule. If we find something, we explain it and give you the cost before any air conditioning repair.

Why it matters

• Lower energy bills from a cleaner, better-tuned system
• Fewer surprise breakdowns
• A longer-lasting system
• Problems caught while they’re still small
• Leaks found and repaired instead of topped off

Common questions

Sources

• ENERGY STAR — Maintenance checklist for heating and cooling
• U.S. Department of Energy — Maintaining your air conditioner
• U.S. EPA — Homeowners and consumers FAQ on the R-22 (HCFC-22) phaseout