The Cool Companion at Home: A Guide to Understand Your Air Conditioner Better

As Malaysians, surviving tropical weather has been the norm for anyone who is born and raised here their whole life. The air conditioner, or what we fondly refer to as the “air con”, plays a significant role in our daily lives. 

To enjoy a consistent flow of cool air from your air conditioner, keeping it healthy in a clean state is the least we could do to balance out its overtime hours in keeping us cool indoors.

How Often Should You Clean Your Air Conditioner?

Cleaning your air conditioner once a month or whenever necessary is ideal. This again depends on how frequent the air conditioner is being used. A frequently functioning air conditioner would require a cleaning routine on rotation to keep it functioning at a healthy state.

How to Clean Your Air Conditioner

Now let’s look at how we can treat our air conditioner to a proper cleanse like how it keeps us cool and comfortable!

Things & Tools You’ll Need

• Cleaning cloth

To clean and remove dust on larger surfaces 

• Old toothbrush

To easily brush off dust and debris accumulated in small, narrow edges and corners of the air filter and air conditioner coils

• Mild detergent

A safe and effective cleaning agent that prevents damaging of your air conditioner

Step 1

Cleaning the Front Cover

After turning off the air conditioner, carefully remove the front cover and clean it with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Using an old toothbrush would make cleaning smaller corners and edges easier. Once done, rinse the soap off the front cover.

Step 2 

Cleaning the Air Filters

The air filters are usually fixed on the outer front of the air conditioner. They are two net-like sheets made of fiberglass with plastic framing, used to filter dust in order for the air conditioner to generate cool air that is clean.

Gently remove the air filters and delicately clean them with a soft cloth so as to not damage the fine surfaces. After that, carefully rinse them with running water before you leave them to dry. Make sure the air filters are completely dry before placing them back inside the unit.

Step 3

Cleaning the Coils

Cleaning the air conditioner coils can be a little tricky due to their fine edges on solid metal surfaces. Start by brushing away the dust on them with an old toothbrush before moving on to clean the coils.

Next, use an old toothbrush to clean out the debris on the fine edges with mild detergent or foam coil cleaner. When rinsing the air conditioner coils, be careful not to spray the water inward as this may push the debris into the fins and coils.

Dry the coils with a cloth after rinsing.

Step 4

Drying the Parts Before Placing them Back

Once all the parts of the air conditioner are thoroughly cleaned, make sure they are completely dry before placing them back inside the air conditioner. This is to avoid any potential damage or possible causes of molding inside the air conditioner unit. 

With a proper care routine, the air conditioner is once again refreshed and ready to help us beat the heat!