BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Though it’s the end of July, it’s not the end of summer heat. The heat index could get up to the triple digits this week and to keep cool, air conditioning units need to work well.
Summertime can be pretty busy for the industry, as AC units are running high. If not maintained properly, homeowners could end up noticing some problems.
“The most urgent calls we’re getting right now is: ‘My air conditioner’s not working’ or ‘My air conditioner’s not keeping my house cool,’” said Kerry Adkins. He’s the owner of OnTime Service.
Those are two problems you want to avoid during the heat of summer.
With all the summer calls, Adkins is asking for people who have some working AC to be a little patients right now. If there’s a high volume of calls in a particular week, sometimes people have to wait and OnTime Service has to prioritize the calls.
“If there’s somebody in the house that is particularly susceptible — the elderly or somebody with other health issues, obviously we’re going to move that to the top of the stack,” said Adkins.
Unfortunately, supply chain issues are taking a toll on the HVAC industry just like plenty of others, so that might cause service to take more time too.
Adkins says sometimes out of nowhere, there’s a certain part you can’t get anymore.
“We try to maintain as much inventory as we can but every now and then, we will run up on one of those — it’s just an off part that nobody has in stock,” he added. “We’ve got to order from the factory and hope it gets here pretty quick.”
Sometimes, Adkins says people think their cooling unit is broken when it’s working just fine.
“Most systems are designed to give you about a 20 degree difference between the outside temperature and the inside temperature,” he said. “So if it’s 95 outside and it’s 75 inside, that may be as well as your system is capable of performing.”
The only few ways to make it cooler, he says: adding insulation to your home, closing the blinds, running the fans, and of course replacing your AC unit with newer one that works more efficiently.
Adkins also said to make sure your air filter is changed every three months. If not, that could cause the AC to not run as well during the heat of the day.
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