We have finally hit triple digits in San Antonio. When you walk outside you can hear everyone’s air conditioner humming. We have talked about ceiling fans and how important they are – and what to look for in a ceiling fan. But taking care of your AC is just as important so that it runs as efficiently as possible. You want clean coils. The coils stay wet so anything that by passes your filter sticks on the coils. And a dirty coil is not going to help cool as well as a clean one. My daughter was working on a older home and with all the saw dust and sheetrock dust in the air …the AC just shut down. She cleaned the coils, put in a new filter and then the AC came back on. So you can see how important a clean coil is. And it’s easy to clean yourself with a product called K.O. Dirt Blaster. It’s an aerosol that I found while a AC man was working at my house. The next thing that is important is the right filter. I recommend using a Merv6-8 rated pleated filter . Change them our every 90 days and they are just as inexpensive a cheap fiberglass filter. Those fiberglass filters don’t collect much more than dog and cat hair. So get the pleated ones. One other item that you should have on hand is the ACtabs EE. It’s a simple plastic pouch that you put in the drip pan of the AC unit and if you have water that is collecting in the drip pan and not draining these little tablets will start to dissolve and clear out any clogged drain. Dropping these in the pan is so much easier than lugging up a bleach container and trying to pour the bleach down a small drain tube in the attic, in the heat. All of these items will cost less than $25.00.

Now to the email…..

Question: Johnnie, a while back you wrote about a item that was a alarm. You said that it was for putting behind the toilet or sink in case you had a leak that you did not know about. It would set off a alarm so you would know to go check. Ok that happened to us, and we, like you didn’t know about it until the carpet went “squish”. So that this doesn’t happen again….what was the name of that item?

Answer: Oh I am so sorry that happened…but the name of the alarm is called Leak Alert. The Leak Alert costs under $15. They are inexpensive enough to keep behind every sink and toilet and under the AC pan incase it overflows.

Question: Hi Johnnie, love your article. This last year we installed Hardy Plank on the house. It looks great but mildew is really bad on one side of the house. I want to know what the best way to clean it off and, is there anything that would help keep it away? Or is that crazy?

Answer: No you are not crazy. Clean off the mildew the easy way with 30 Outdoor Cleaner. It comes in a ready to use quart, or what you really need is the concentrated gallon that makes 2 gallons when you mix with water. They even make their own pump up sprayer that can handle chemicals. Once you clean the mildew off the siding, use a product called Clear Shell. Spray on the Clear Shell and it will repel mold and mildew for up to 18 months. Clear Shell is perfect for the outside awnings, outside cushions and decks.

Question: I have a garbage disposal that smells and has not been draining right since our 4 ^th of July party. I know you cannot just put anything down that side of the sink, so what can I do?

Answer: The best item is called Instant Power Disposal and Drain Cleaner. It will open up the drain and leave it smelling like citrus for a long time.