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.
