Is your air conditioner ready for the hot days ahead. A central air conditioning system is only as good as the maintenance you provide it. Just like your car you need tune it up on a regular basis so it will run properly when you really need it. Let's take a look at a few things you need to have done by a qualified service repairman. And a few things you can do yourself.

How important is regular maintenance? An air conditioner loses about 5% of it's efficiency for every year it is running. This means that the 12 SEER unit that you bought just a few years ago may be functioning like a 9 SEER unit today! The good news is that you can recover most of that lost efficiency through regular maintenance. Studies show that with regular tune-ups a unit will maintain up to 95% of it's original efficiency. This means that the cost of having your unit serviced every year can be recovered very quickly in savings on your monthly electric bill and future repairs.

Many local air conditioning firms offer pre-season clean and checks in the spring. Some of them may offer annual service agreements that help remind you it's time to service your unit at the beginning of the cooling and heating seasons.

The service check should include

- cleaning the condensing unit coils

- checking the amp draw of the compressor

- oiling the fan motors

- checking that belts are well adjusted,

- checking the system operating pressures and temperatures against the manufacturer specifications.

- check is the freon level in the air conditioner.

A system that is only 10% low on coolant will cost about 20% more to operate.

If your unit is low on coolant, and more must be added, there are new laws governing its use. Freon is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) that will damage the Earths protective ozone layer if released into the atmosphere. The laws governing CFC's now do not allow your air conditioner contractor to add Freon to a leaky system. They are first required to find and fix the leak in the system. They can loose their license if the do not first fix the leak.

There are some things in addition to yearly tune-ups that you can do to help ensure a high level of comfort and proper system operation.

- Use a good quality air filter and change it on a regular basis depending how dirty it is.

- Trim buses and shrubs away from you air conditioner.

- Do not block off any supply registers or return air registers.

- Set your thermostat at 78 degrees and leave it. Over the summer this will save you money.

Today's air conditioning units are built to last a long time and are very reliable. To have it ready to keep you cool when you need it most follow the above suggestions to maximize it's performance and save you money in the long run.