Now that we’re finally getting Florida winter weather here in Sarasota-Manatee, you’ve got a chance to open your windows and shut down your AC unit for an extended period of time. On the one hand, that means that any dust, mold or buildup that’s lurking throughout your AC system isn’t actively circulating through your house. That’s a good thing!
The bad news is that all the dust that’s normally floating through the air now has a chance to settle in deep into all your AC’s parts. For homeowners who are in southwest Florida year-round, this is an annual issue that happens every winter. But for people who own rental properties that might be intermittently vacant, you might be shutting off your property’s AC any time of year.
This is why we want to take this time to remind property owners to get their AC systems regularly—and thoroughly—cleaned. Otherwise, when you turn your unit back on, all of the stuff that’s settled into your system is going to be suddenly pumped into your home. And the stuff that doesn’t go into your home is stuck somewhere in your AC’s parts, making it less efficient and shortening its lifespan.
But cleaning just one part of your AC is, at best, a short-term fix. If you just clean the blower, then the dust in the ducts is eventually going to make its way back around. And even when you do complete a comprehensive cleaning of every part of your AC, it can only stay clean for so long before more dust and debris is introduced.
That’s why we here at Air America propose a multi-level approach to cleaning your system and making sure it stays clean, on or off, no matter what time of year it is.
The first step is, of course, that initial thorough cleaning. We clean the ducts and the blower and decontaminate all surfaces. We clean the coil, too. Especially with our humid weather in Florida, the coil is often where mold growth starts, so we have to stop it at its origin. It’s important that we’re starting with a clean slate, so to speak.
Next, thanks to some amazing, state-of-the-art products, we have a lot of options for keeping the whole system clean: A UV light trained on the coil keeps it perpetually sanitized; a two-step oxidizing “air scrubber” uses powerful agents to remove chemicals from the air and then “polishes” the exhaust.
Lastly, we address the dust and debris that wants to circulate throughout your system. Traditional filters can remove the larger particles, but microscopic contaminants remain and can accumulate. For this we have a fantastic new product called SolaceAir, which uses polarizing technology to trap even the tiniest particles.
Ultimately, what you’re left with is an immaculate AC, inside and out. And it will stay that way, too.
