MILWAUKEE - With the hottest Summer weather quickly approaching, air conditioners are working overtime. Although you can go to the beach, a pool, or a splash pad, you'll still want to make sure your home is cool when you get back. TODAY’S TMJ4 spoke with a man who’s already facing an air conditioning problem Wednesday.
There’s been no relief for Charles Engler. It was 80 degrees in his north side home Wednesday.
When Engler was asked, "Do you like summertime," He replied, "Yes I like it, but I’d prefer it not to be so hot."
And his air conditioning unit is "on the fritz."
“It’s working, but it doesn’t work efficiently. That’s what the problem is," said Engler.
Older air conditioners often have compressors that fail on hot days. On a newer unit, capacitors can fail, experts say.
“That’s fairly common. The good news is it’s a relatively quick repair and not that expensive," said Doug Erdman of Burkhardt Heating and Cooling.
It's been a busy day for those in the air conditioning business.
“Swamped. Obviously most of our calls have been emergencies," said Erdman.
To try to prevent an emergency, homeowners should do a little easy maintenance. First, be sure your filter's clean.
“So as it filters your dust and dirt … it doesn’t allow the cold air to come through into the house,” he said.
The best advice experts offer consumers is to check filters and make sure they are clean before periods of hot weather are predicted, like Wednesday night.
The second thing experts suggest is to look at the outside of air conditioning units to make sure it’s not full of debris.
Grass clippings and leaves can easily be removed with a garden hose, and sprayed down Erdman said.
Another note, if you have an older unit that uses Freon, Freon is being phased out by the year 2020 per the Clean Air Act. So keep that in mind if you're planning to repair or replace your older unit.
