There’s an ol’ saying that is very true. “Out of sight, out of mind.” We tend not to think about our indoor comfort system because it’s down in our basement, attic or crawl space. If it’s working and we’re comfortable, we show it very little attention. So is maintenance really necessary? Years ago, the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service at Louisiana State University teamed up with Gulf States Power to identify what benefits, if any, were provided by an air conditioning tune-up. A series of homes were heavily instrumented, data was collected over time, tune-ups were performed, and data was collected again. The results of this landmark study were staggering. The researchers found that tune-ups saved energy and restored lost capacity. How much?
Average Monthly Savings From a Tune-Up……… $32.76
Average Cooling Capacity Restored……………….. 0.79 Tons
The researchers concluded that:
Air conditioning maintenance benefits the consumer by lowering his operating costs, increasing his comfort control capacity, and is believed to extend equipment life.