Here's an easy thing you can do to keep your air conditioner running as efficiently as possible: Don't crowd the condensing unit, the outdoor part of your AC. In the photo at left, you see a common problem. I took this picture at a brand new house a couple of months ago, and there's not a problem right now, but what's going to happen to those shrubs planted around the condenser?As the shrubbery gets bigger, it's going to crowd that condensing unit. When it does, it's going to restrict the air flow across the condensing coil. Remember the articles I wrote about the refrigeration cycle — part 1, in plain English and part 2, in a bit more technical language? If not, now might be a good time to go read them. Basically, the condensing coil is where all the heat that got picked up from your home gets dumped outside. Your AC is engineered to remove the heat by having a designed amount of air flow over the condensing coil. If less air flows over the coil, less heat is removed. That means the whole cycle warms up a bit, and your AC works harder to keep your home cool.

You'll pay extra for it in more than one way: (i) Your monthly electric bill will be higher; (ii) your equipment may not last as long, so you'll pay more in repair bills and in having to replace the AC sooner. There are a lot of ways that condensing units get their air flow blocked. The most common is from plants growing too close to the unit, as shown above. Dirt and leaves piling up around the condenser cut air flow, too. These are things you can easily control by trimming the plants around the condenser and clearing away any debris. If enough dirt gets between the fins of the condensing unit, that's also going to reduce air flow. When you get your HVAC system serviced each year (you do, don't you?), the service tech should check and clean the coil if necessary. Sometimes, the HVAC company creates the problem. The photo below shows one such case. Not only are those condensing units too close to the wall of the house and the fence, they're way too close to each other, too.

They're going to be fighting each other for air when adjacent units are running at the same time. This is a terrible installation and should never have passed the building inspection. So, keep some space around your condenser and let your air conditioner breathe! Building a new home or remodeling your existing home and installing new HVAC systems? We can help with complete HVAC design services.ac power supply manufacturerSince some homeowners consider outdoor central air conditioning unitsac package unit for mobile home to be an eyesore, it’s common to conceal them with strategicallyhow long does central ac unit lastA few plants or hedges will not only hide the unit from view, they can also make your air conditioner run more

Read on for a few tips you can use when planning landscaping around your air conditioning unit. When planning the landscaping around you’re A/C unit, you want to leave adequate space between the unit and your plants, to avoid restricting airflow around the coils. Make sure plants are at least 2-3 feet from the air conditioning unit on all sides, and plan the landscaping so that the air conditioner is easily accessible forIf you have trees or other plants growing above the unit, trim regularly to keep a 5 foot clearance between them and the air conditioner. In addition to making the area look more natural, landscaping around your air conditioner can actually help improve its efficiency. cast on the air conditioner keeps the temperature down, so the unit doesn’t have to work as hard to cool your home. There are a lot of plant options to choose from when planning landscaping around your air conditioner. If possible, look for plants

that don’t lose their leaves during the colder months. reduce the amount of sweeping and raking you do to keep the area clearThere are a few different options when it comes to hiding the air conditioner with plants. Hedges are a common choice, and can be trimmed to the desired shape and height. Building a lattice around the A/C unit and landscaping with climbing plants is also a relatively simple and attractive option. Whatever landscaping options you choose, make sure to trim plants, hedges and trees near the air conditioner regularly to maximizeIf you have any questions about your air conditioning unit, or are looking for additional tips for landscaping around an air conditioner, contact your local Trane Comfort Specialist today. Published on May 20th, 2014 | Window air conditioning (A/C) units are a great way to stay cool and survive the next sweltering summer heat wave. But are you overcooling your living space? Or worse, paying more than you should?

The old adage is that bigger is better, but when it comes to your pocket book, and A/C unit, that may not be the case. Tools you’ll need for the job: Instructions: assessing your living space for a window air conditioner 1. Consider the space around where you’d like to place your A/C unit. You’ll need to consider more than just the size of the room to ensure both proper installation and function of a window A/C unit. Be sure to check the following: 2. Determine the shape of the room. Rooms can typically be divided into a few basic shapes. Squares, rectangles and triangles. If the room you intend to cool is a square or rectangle, simply multiply the length by width to get the rooms square footage. If it’s a triangle, use length by width and divide by two. These equations will give you the square footage of the room, which will determine the size of A/C unit you will need to efficiently cool the space. 3. Measure the square footage of the room. Take your measuring tape and measure both the length and width of the room you intend to cool.