Here's part 7 of a series on home repairs you can't ignore:
Dirty, or missing, air conditioner filter
This is something Claude McGavic of Inspection Associates in Bradenton, Fla., sees way too often. Overloaded or missing filters allow dirt and dust to settle on the air conditioner's coils. Warm air passing over the coils causes condensation. What you get is mud—and a perfect medium for mold to grow and be blown all over the house.
Enough gunk can block air from getting into the system, McGavic said, causing it to catch fire. McGavic, president of the Home Inspectors Association of Florida, says many air conditioner failures can be traced to this simple lack of maintenance.
"With a $2 filter," McGavic says, "you can preserve a $6,000 air conditioning system."
The fix: Replace the filter once a month while the air conditioner is in use. Get your system checked annually.
We do both. I replaced the filter monthly and we have the system checked every year.
Click here to read part 8 of this series.
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