An air conditioner is great to keep you cool during warmer months. But for it to cool efficiently, you have to keep it clean.
The weather is heating up now that spring is here, which means summer isn't too far off. Last summer was a scorcher, with average temperatures through June through August in the contiguous US being 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average, which was the fourth-warmest summer on record. You know what that means? Yeah, a lot of air conditioners were working overtime last year. With all those air conditioners working around the clock to keep us cool and comfortable, the real question is were they working as well as they could? When you run an air conditioner, there's a lot of allergens, hair and dust that may be getting in that air filter. Air conditioning units need to be cleaned, just like other appliances. If you aren't giving yours a little love regularly, you might be wasting energy. That also means a lot of wasted money, which adds up very quickly. Heating and air conditioning are the biggest uses of home energy, and a CNET survey found that 78% of Americans are worried about rising energy costs. And with the rising costs of, well, everything due to inflation, it's more important than ever to make sure that you're saving money where you can. Another CNET survey found that 93% of Americans are worried about inflation, and with how things are currently in the US, a lot of us are going to have a hard time just getting by. So if you want to make use of your air conditioner in the coming months, make sure that it's running as efficiently as it can, otherwise, you may find the electricity bill higher than you'd like. CNET Changing the filter on a regular basis is the most important factor in ensuring your AC delivers as much cool air as possible, but there are other ways an AC gets dirty and backed up. Giving your AC a full cleaning on a regular basis will ensure it lasts as long as possible and functions as it's supposed to. For more cool content, check out our window AC buying guide. We also have tips on how to fix a noisy air conditioner and how to tell if it's…