Air conditioners are used regularly in most households. Being a device that deals with airs and vapours, it is bound to collect dust and dirt. So it is necessary to clean it.
There are many ways to clean an dirty air conditioner. Among them, the easiest and most hassle-free one is using a vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner is one of the most known cleaning tools, and you can use it for cleaning air conditioners. Can I use vacuum cleaner to clean air conditioner?
If your air conditioner is not clean enough, then it can not give its best performance. Your house might not be enough cool as expected. Even technical problems might occur. So always try to keep your AC clean.
Can I Use A Vaccum Cleaner To Clean my AC
The short answer will be, Yes. You can use a vacuum cleaner to clean your AC. Generally, a vacuum cleaner is one of the best ways to clean some essential parts of an Ac.
These parts include the access panel of the air conditioner and filters, which collect dust easily. You can also use it to clean internal components of ac to remove the dust without dismantling them.
The best way to keep the airflow of your ac at the best rate is to clean it in between every three to six months gap.
Why Should You Clean Your AC?
Well, I guess it’s nothing you have to be convinced to do, right? Like, why should anyone clean anything at all? Yeah, it’s healthy. Still, there are a few reasons you should know to motivate you more to clean your AC on a regular basis.
Health Reasons
First of all, your air conditioner controls the air in your house. So if it is clean, it’ll supply you with healthy and fresh air. Besides cooling your home environment, it’ll also take out all the polluted air and supply you with clean air.
However, if the air conditioner itself becomes dirty, it could do quite the opposite. It will circulate the dirt in your household again and again.
Moreover, cold and dirt combined are also dangerous. It creates a breeding ground for bacteria and germs. It can also grow mould or fungi in the unit.
If you use your air conditioner with all this, dirt and germs might start floating around in your room. They will pollute the air in your house and make you and your family vulnerable to different diseases.
Economic Reasons
If you use an air conditioner, you already have an idea of what a significant amount of power it uses. And with great power comes great electricity bills. So, how to save your AC from this high electricity consumption?
Well, it is normal for an AC to consume a high amount of power. However, if the AC is not clean, it uses more energy than usual. In addition, dirt on the AC filter and other internal parts forces the AC to work harder to deliver the expected service.
This more work causes the AC to use more power, ultimately raising the electricity consumption from 5% to 25%.
Moreover, if you keep using your dirty air conditioner unit, it will slowly gather more and more dirt, eventually leading to a much bigger problem.
It can even damage any internal part, which might cost you a lot more to repair or replace. For the worse part, it might even lead to replacing your complete air conditioner unit.
Efficient Use
As we have discussed earlier, a dirty AC uses more power than it generally should. The reason is that it makes the AC force the internal parts to work more. This force causes pressure upon the smaller internal components in your Ac.
Dust can make your air filters clogged and dirty. The clog blocks its normal airflow, which creates stress on your AC. Moreover, the evaporator coil in an AC is one of the sensitive parts. Dirt can cover this coil and hamper its ability to absorb heat.
All these cause disruptions to your air conditioner. These disturbances can ultimately reduce the efficiency of your AC and also its ability to decrease temperature.
Cleaning your AC regularly solves these problems and increases this efficiency. In addition, it makes the internal and external parts lighter and easier to operate. So, always try to keep your air conditioner clean.
How To Clean AC Filter With Vaccum Cleaner
The AC filter is one of the substantial parts of your AC. Only this filter being dirty can make your whole air conditioning experience terrible. So it would be best if you kept this part always neat and clean.
However, It’s not easy to regularly dismantle the filter from AC and completely clean it. This is where vacuum cleaner takes charge. It’s the best option for you to clean your ac filter without dismantling it.
It is also one of the best methods which can give your filter a regular cleaning. To clean an AC filter with this, you have to suck up the dust by using a vacuum cleaner as much as you can.
You can also wash the filter for a deep wash. Submerge your filter in the mixture for one hour, wash the filter with vinegar solution and dry it.
How To Clean Your Complete AC Unit
There are many options you can use to clean your AC from inside and outside. We are going to share one of the easiest methods.
To Clean The Inside Unit
First of all, Turn Of The Power of The Air Conditioner. To clean your AC inside the unit, you must switch off your electricity for safety purposes. Also, always try to do it in the daytime. It is hard as well as risky to do at night or in the dark.
Then, you have to open up the AC unit. Generally, it has a door in front of the evaporator coil. You might have to remove a foil duct tape if your Ac unit has this and also have to release some screws which are holding the door.
Now, you can clean the parts one by one. You can start with the Air Conditioner Evaporator Coil. With a soft brush, you can easily clean the evaporator coil.
Also, remember that if you have a dust allergy, you must wear a mask when you are cleaning. Otherwise, you might suffer from allergies triggered by the dust in the filter.
There is some non-risen cleaner you can find in your local market. If you use it, it will be more beneficial, and it will reduce your work pressure.
Next, you can clean the drain pan. For cleaning the drain, you can use soap, warm water, and bleach also. You can pour a bleach and water mixture down the drain pan to clear it.
And there is an Ac drain tablet used for this purpose. You can find it in your local hardware stores to clean the drain pan.
After using the bleach method, if you see your drain is still jammed, then there might be a mould growing up in the PVC pipe of your draining system.
To clean the dust, you can use a vacuum cleaner. You take your vacuum hose to the end of the drain pipe and hold it for two or three minutes. This is enough for cleaning up the dust. If there is air leakage, you can use a towel or duct tape to seal the hose and drain together.
To Clean The Outside Unit
Next comes the Outside unit cleaning part. Once again, be sure to turn off the power and be careful about any accident. By taking off some screws, you can easily remove the fan and grille unit of your AC and be cautious about the wires.
Depending on your AC unit, you might find some debris on top of the AC fan unit. You can easily remove it with your hand, or you can use a wet/dry vacuum.
Then, Clean The Ac Coils And Fans. There is some cleaner you can find in your local hardware store. You can clean the coils easily by using the cleaner. It forms a foam, and then you can clean it with the hose.
Remember that the coils and fins are thin, so do not wash this very hard, or it might get damaged.
If your AC fins bent in the time of washing or any other way, it would reduce the airflow. To get the solution to this problem you can buy a fin tool. It is not so much expensive.
The tool looks like a comb, but you have to be alert in using it. You have to use the exact number of fins per inch according to your unit. It is a very crucial step, do it carefully and make sure your Ac fins are back in their place.
You can replace your AC fan cage. And make sure around your Ac unit at least 2 feet space are clear and flow optimal airflow.
Finally, Level The Air Conditioner Unit. If Your Ac condenser is not at a level, it may fail early, leading you to costly maintenance. So make sure the AC condenser unit of your house is in the right place.
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Take Expert Help If Needed
While doing something yourself is satisfactory and economical, it is always risky to play with electric stuff. A slight carelessness could cause some dangerous results.
Moreover, besides the risk of facing any danger, there is also the risk of damaging the air conditioner. So if you’re unsure or confused about anything, take help from any professionals. It’s safer and easier.
Conclusion
To answer your question of “can I use vacuum cleaner to clean air conditioner?” Of course, you can use a vacuum cleaner to clean your dirty AC regularly. But, you should also clean it entirely at least once or twice a year. That would not only help you to be healthy but might also save a lot of your money. So, be clean, be safe, be healthy.
