Do you ever get the impression that things aren’t quite as good as they used to be? Time can take its toll but when it comes to the performance of your air-conditioning system ‘ageing’ isn’t something you have to accept - with just a little maintenance it’s possible you could roll back the years.

Nobody forgets what it’s like to turn on a brand new air-conditioning system and feel that wonderful first blast of chilled air but the memory can begin to fade as the system performance slowly falls over time. This isn’t inevitable – the causes of diminished performance are often trivial and usually reversible at a low cost.

Routine maintenance

All of the major manufacturers of air-conditioning units recommend regular maintenance of their equipment by suitably qualified people. Perhaps the single most important thing to check is the refrigerant charge rate. An under-charged system will struggle to absorb the heat from the conditioned space and increase operating times.

Maintenance can help in other ways too. Replacing a dirty clogged filter with a clean one can reduce energy consumption by up to 15% while cleaning air-conditioner coils, in many cases simply removing leaves and dirt that’s fallen in over time, can also dramatically improve efficiency.

The role of insulation

Only a relatively small percentage of energy loss from an air-conditioning system is through the pipe insulation – less than 5% if the insulation satisfies BS 5422:2009 – but this energy loss can rise over time. It’s always worthwhile to check that insulation indoors has been applied correctly with all of the pipework clearly covered – small gaps or tears in the insulation create thermal bridges that should be re-insulated or repaired using the appropriate adhesive for the insulation system.

Outdoors it’s far too common to see insulation that isn’t UV-resistant installed without an appropriate paint or covering system applied. Flexible Elastomeric EPDM based insulation – a UV resistant form of Flexible Elastomeric insulation that can be used outdoors without the need for paint.

Fujitsu guide to air-conditioning efficiency

US government guide to air-conditioning efficiency

Source: Kaimann UK · Copyright image: shutterstock