DIY A/C Fixes

With increasing maintenance requests and overwhelmed maintenance techs, here are some ways you and your resident can work together to resolve air conditioning issues.

By MICHELLE BRIDGES, CAS, Century A/C Supply

First, I would like to take a moment to honor the frontline workers of the apartment industry – the onsite and maintenance staff. In a time when most people are working hard to just keep their households in order, the multifamily industry’s frontline workers are supporting a large portion of our city’s population. Thank you for your hard work. What you do matters. It makes our world a better place.

We are all trying to do our part to support our industry. This article offers ways you can help your residents with air conditioning issues. By asking residents a few simple questions, you can eliminate the simplest air conditioning problems, make the most of your maintenance technician’s time, help them to diagnose outside of a residence and may even help the resident to solve the problem themselves.

Thermostats

There are mechanical and digital thermostats, with either buttons or levers. Wi-Fi thermostats have the same features but they’re more complicated and may require additional questions. It’s probably best to have one of your maintenance superstars go over these features for the thermostats on your property.

When a resident says that their air conditioner is not cooling, ask the resident to go to the thermostat to check that it’s set on cool. The other options are heat and off. (Unless the complaint is about the heater not working, then heat would be the proper setting.) You want the resident to make sure that the their air conditioner is set on cool and not set on off. This probably seems pretty basic but it is not unusual to resolve the problem by simply setting the thermostat correctly.

The next question you want to ask your resident with an air conditioning complaint is about the fan control. The setting choices are on and auto. The auto setting allows the fan to cycle on and off, which will save electricity. When assessing the system, we want to turn the thermostat to on. You can tell the resident to turn it back to auto when the issue is resolved.

The third thermostat-related question concerns the actual temperature setting. It is critical that residents have the thermostat set at a temperature that is cooler than the actual room temperature. This should cause the thermostat to call for cooling and turn on the system. If the thermostat is set at the same temperature or one higher than the room, it will think it has done its job and remain silent.

Once you determined that all of the settings are correct, the final question related to the thermostat is, how long has the thermostat has been set this way? Air conditioning systems need at least 20 minutes to begin to cool down the living space. If any of the settings on the thermostat were changed during the first three questions, it is important to wait those 20 minutes to see if there will be any progress. Depending on the heat load in the space, the air conditioner may need hours to make it truly comfortable, but more about that later.

Is the air conditioner filter clean?

When the thermostat settings are all confirmed, it is time to check the indoor air flow. One simple thing that can cause an air conditioner to underperform is a dirty air filter, because it staves the system of incoming air. Ask the resident when the last time it was changed and request they make a visual inspection of the filter.

Air filters get dirty when there are people and pets in the space, but also when there is cooking, dust, smoking, candles, etc. Many things in our everyday lives will cause an air filter to become dirty. Air filters might become dirty faster since people are spending more time at home. If the filter is visibly dirty, it needs to be replaced to ensure it is not limiting air flow.

Next we want to see if the inside blower motor is working. Ask the resident to put their hand in front of a vent in the ceiling or wall, to see if air is coming out. You want to make sure that they are not checking where the filter is, since that is where air is supposed to be going in, not coming out.

If there is no air coming out of the vent, have the resident check that the vent is open, double check that the thermostat is set to on and then have the resident check a different vent. If there is air coming from the second vent and not the first, it could mean that a duct is blocked or has collapsed. If there is no air coming from the second vent, make note of which vents were checked, because maintenance will likely have to go inside the residence to diagnose the problem.

If air is coming out of the vents, ask the resident to let you know if it is cooler, warmer or about the same as the air in the room. If the air is warmer, it could mean that the heat strip is engaged or that unconditioned air is being pulled in. When vent air is cooler, it means that the air conditioning system is working but not well. These sorts of problems can frequently be diagnosed and corrected without ever entering the residence.

If you and the resident were not able to solve the problem yourselves, make good notes for the maintenance tech to follow up.

Here are some notes to include: resident name, unit number, resident phone number, time of call, thermostat settings (if the system is on cool, off or heat; if the fan is on auto or on; what temperature the air-conditioning is set to; what the temperature of the room is; and if it’s been set for 20 minutes), and the fan, motor and filter notes (if the air-conditioning filter clean, if there was air blowing out of the vents and if the air was warm or cool).

Just like a doctor asking his or her patients the same questions as the nurse, it makes sense for maintenance technicians to go back over the questions with the resident before entering the residence.

If the air conditioner is cooling but it is taking a while, you might want to discuss leaving the thermostat set no higher than 78°F when the resident is away from the apartment. Like a car left out in a sunny parking lot gathering heat, an apartment will continue to accumulate heat and humidity when the air conditioner is turned off in the summer.

Depending on the temperature outside and length of time the air conditioner is off, it can take hours to dehumidify and cool a living space. If the thermostat is set to 78°F, however, it is like parking your car in a covered parking garage. The heat is never able to build up and it will take far less time to have a comfortable living space. In some cases, the electric bill may even be lower because the air conditioner does not have to work so hard.

No doubt we are living in an unprecedented time, but with a few simple questions, office staff can support maintenance technicians and help them to avoid or limit the time inside a residence.

Michelle Bridges is the vice president of multifamily at Century Air Conditioning Supply. She has over 22 years of experience working for Century A/C Supply. She can be reached at mbridges-pahl@centuryac.com. Century A/C Supply is a Houston-based wholesale distributor of HVAC equipment and supplies. Founded in 1973 by Dennis Bearden, Century A/C Supply is a privately-owned company serving the multifamily industry, residential and commercial air conditioning contractors, schools, government entities and industrial companies throughout the state of Texas. Houston has 13 conveniently located branches with large warehouses and an expansive inventory of air conditioning and heating parts and supplies. Century offers the convenience of twice a day delivery, hosts industry training classes, has top notch technical advisors and is open on Saturdays. Learn more about Century A/C Supply by visiting www.centuryac.com