As the summer sun starts to mellow, It’s easy to forget about the appliance that worked so hard to keep you cool: Your Air Conditioner.
While you may be tempted to give your AC a break until next year, taking a few simple steps now can make a big difference for its long-term health and efficiency.
1. Change your air filter:
This is one of the easiest and most important tasks.
A clean filter ensures proper airflow, which helps your AC run more efficiently and improves your home’s air quality.
2. Clear the air around the Outdoor unit:
Take a few minutes to remove leaves, grass clippings and other debris that can block airflow and make your unit work harder than it needs to.
3. Listen to Odd Noises:
Before you turn your system off for the season, pay attention to any unusual sounds. Rattling, grinding or squealing noises can be an early warning sign of a problem that needs a professional’s attention.
Taking these small steps now can help prevent bigger issues down the line.
In our next post, we’ll dive deeper into the critical importance of the PRE-SEASON CHECK UP and why preparing your AC before the cold hits can save you time, money and a lot of headaches.
Key takeaways
- A humid Maryland summer leaves standing water and biofilm in the condensate pan and drain line.
- Run capacitors fade gradually, so a marginal one usually quits late in a hot season.
- A charge that keeps dropping means a leak; topping it off each August pays for it twice.
- September is an easier month than January to replace an aging system.
- Shut a cooling only system off at the thermostat, but never a heat pump.
What does a full cooling season do to your system by August?
By late August a Montgomery County air conditioner has run most days since early June, and the runtime shows up where you cannot see it. The outdoor coil collects a season of pollen, grass dust, and lint, which makes heat harder to reject and pushes pressures and compressor temperature up. Contactors, bearings, and capacitors have added hundreds of hours. None of it is visible until someone measures the unit and finds lost capacity and higher current draw.
Why do condensate drains and pans cause trouble after a humid summer?
A humid house sends gallons of water a day down one shallow pan and one narrow drain line. EPA mold and moisture guidance puts the task plainly: keep air conditioning drip pans clean and the drain lines unobstructed and flowing properly. Over a Maryland summer that line grows a film of algae and dust, then backs up, and with an attic air handler the overflow lands on a ceiling. Clearing it is routine central air conditioning service.
Why do capacitors so often fail at the end of a hot season?
The run capacitor is the cylinder in the outdoor cabinet that keeps the compressor and fan motors turning, and it is energized every minute the system runs. Capacitance drifts down with age, so one already marginal in June can fall below what the motors need by Labor Day. Watch for a fan that hums without starting, a compressor that tries and stops, or a bulged capacitor top. A weak one also makes the motor draw more current and run hotter.
What does a slowly declining refrigerant charge look like?
A low charge rarely announces itself. Cooling weakens each season, run times stretch out, and frost can appear on the suction line or the indoor coil as evaporator pressure falls. Federal rules prohibit venting refrigerant during service, but the leak repair requirements reach only appliances holding 50 pounds or more, which no house system does. Sealing it is still the right call: a leak will not close on its own, and a system running low sends back less cool vapor to cool the compressor.
Is late summer the right time to replace instead of repair?
Often yes. Choosing in September means you are not picking equipment in a heat wave or a cold snap, and there is time to size the replacement from a room by room load calculation instead of copying the old nameplate. A changeout now also gets the heating side started, tested, and adjusted before real cold arrives. If a large repair is on the table, weigh it against our guides to how long HVAC systems last and HVAC replacement costs in Maryland.
How do you shut an air conditioner down for the season?
Move the thermostat from cool to off, not just up, so it cannot short cycle on a warm October day. A heat pump is the exception: it heats the house all winter, so shut nothing down. Ask your technician before cutting power at the outdoor disconnect, since some units have a crankcase heater that needs hours of power before restart. If you cover the condenser, cover the top only. Book the fall visit; see how often to service an HVAC system.
Frequently asked questions
Is September too late for an AC tune-up?
No. A late visit catches what the summer wore out, and it is still warm enough to test cooling under load. It also clears the drain before the system sits idle.
Water is dripping near my indoor unit. What should I do?
Turn the system off at the thermostat so it stops making condensate, then call. Running it with a blocked drain pushes water into the cabinet and onto whatever is below.
Can I clear a condensate drain line myself?
Sometimes. Hold a wet vacuum on the drain outlet outside for a minute, then check that the pan emptied and water poured into the cleanout runs through. If the pan is rusted or the line runs inside a wall, call.
How can I tell if my AC is low on refrigerant?
Not by looking. Weaker cooling across the season, longer run times, or frost on the copper line point that way, but confirming it takes measurement at the unit.
If your air conditioner limped through the end of this summer, deal with it now rather than next June. Shemtov Systems is a family business that has worked on Montgomery County heating and cooling since 1981, and calls to 240-355-3333 reach an answering service around the clock.