By: Jes­si­ca Bright, Mar­ket­ing Man­ag­er

For mul­ti­fam­i­ly, in-unit air con­di­tion­ing con­tin­ues to be a top ameni­ty for prospec­tive and exist­ing res­i­dents. Accord­ing to RentPrep.com, Air Con­di­tion­ing is still the num­ber two ameni­ty, sec­ond only to in-unit laun­dry.

As we start to come into the Spring sea­son, it is the per­fect time to make sure your units are ready for the warmer months to come. RepairClinic.com, a DIY resource, has pro­vid­ed some sim­ple tips to clean your win­dow or through-the-wall air con­di­tion­er units. When these tips are done reg­u­lar­ly, it helps your units to work at their peak. If AC’s are work­ing at their best, it should save you on ener­gy bills as well as unex­pect­ed repair or replace­ment costs, accord­ing to ApartmentTherapy.com.

1. Check­ing for insect/animal nests
This is espe­cial­ly impor­tant if the air con­di­tion­er was left uncov­ered in the win­dow or wall over the win­ter. If this is an issue, it can be avoid­ed in the future by stor­ing the unit in a pro­tect­ed area for the fol­low­ing year.

2. Clean the air fil­ter
Most mod­els allow for the air fil­ter to be eas­i­ly accessed
by remov­ing the front pan­el. Gen­tly remove the fil­ter and
clean with warm water and dish soap. Let the fil­ter air
dry before plac­ing it back in the unit. Those with pets or
aller­gies, it is rec­om­mend­ed to clean it more fre­quent­ly.

3. Clean the con­denser coils
Over time, dust and dirt can build up, caus­ing the air
con­di­tion­er to work hard­er to remove heat, con­sum­ing
more ener­gy. Before the start of the cool­ing sea­son,
clean­ing the coils can be done by remov­ing the air
con­di­tion­er cab­i­net and blow­ing com­pressed air at
them.

4. Clean the water pan
To pre­vent the growth of mold and musty odor in the air,
warm water and dish deter­gent can be used to clean
the pan at the base of the unit. Usu­al­ly once or twice a
cool­ing sea­son is good.