If you don’t have a beach in your backyard, now is the time to be thinking about getting your AC up and running.  It’s going to be 27 degrees celsius today in the Bolton, Caledon and Greater Toronto Area today and even hotter tomorrow!

Before starting up your central air conditioning for the first time this season, here are some do-it-yourself maintenance tips:

Cold air falls and hot air rises, so the second floor of most homes is the hardest to cool. To increase cool air upstairs, close all the vents in the basement, including the return air vents. You want to draw the heat from the first and second floors to condition it. Drawing from the basement doesn’t help distribute cool air throughout the home, like some people think. The whole volume of air from the entire house has to pass through the coil in the furnace 3 times before it’s fully dehumidified and conditioned.

If you perform all of these central air conditioning maintenance steps and you’re still not getting enough cooling power, your A/C unit should be looked at by a professional. Central air conditioners don’t normally need much professional maintenance, but sometimes they’ll lose refrigerant over the winter, or a rodent may have done some damage to the wiring outside. And there can be other, unforeseen issues that require professional maintenance or repair.

If you make a point of following these central A/C maintenance tips every spring, your summers will be a lot more comfortable!