If you live in America, there's a good chance you have an air conditioning unit for your household. Now, maybe you live somewhere where the care and maintenance of your air conditioner are not entirely in your hands- you rent an apartment, perhaps, and so the maintenance that should be done is something that is done by the owner of the building. However, even so, it's worth knowing more about proper air conditioning maintenance. It may help you in the future, as well as let you let the landlord know when you think some maintenance might be required.

1. Change the Filters

This is an easy one, and it applies to all kinds of air conditioners, from little window units to a full house system. The little window units and some smaller air conditioning filters may only need to be hand washed and air dried before being reinstalled. In these cases, it may be useful to have an additional filter, so you don't have to wait too long to replace your filter. You can wash one and leave it to dry with your air conditioner chugging merrily along with the clean filter from the last time you had to wash and dry them. Larger fiberglass filters have to be fully replaced.

2. Maintain Outside Units

Outside units need a little maintenance, as well. Ideally, you will have trimmed back any vegetation around the unit to keep it from worming its way in and messing up the functioning of your air conditioner. If it looks like it's messy and has lots of debris inside the unit, it may be time to call out air conditioning repair services.

3. Storage

When you know you're going to not be using your air conditioning, storing your units well is an important thing. Your smaller, inside units should be cleaned and covered before put away. If you don't put them away, you can still cover the inside and outside to prevent them from getting debris. In the same fashion, for a larger outside unit, you will also want to cover it. This, again, just keeps debris from packing itself into the unit when it's not in use.

If it's been a while since you've performed this lighter maintenance, or if you're starting to worry about your air conditioner (it's a hot summer, perhaps, and your unit is taking a lot of strain) it may be time to call the air conditioning repair service. They can do a more comprehensive maintenance on your air conditioner, as well as being able to see if there's any work that needs to be done. It should be done now, rather than waiting and allowing it to become a more costly repair.