If you’ve noticed your AC bill is higher than usual, it may not just be the weather. Dirty coil fins can cause your system to work harder and less efficiently, driving up your cooling costs and damaging your air circulation system.
In this blog, we’ll explain AC coil cleaning, how it impacts the air in your home or business, and who can clean it for you.
AC systems have two main coils: the evaporator coil (indoor) and the condenser coil (outdoor): They work by absorbing heat from the air inside your home, warehouse, or factory and transferring that heat outside through the fins on your AC unit.
If you’ve ever looked at your AC system on a hot summer day, you’ve probably seen your outdoor unit blowing warm air or noticed water dripping from the indoor unit. That’s the system in action – transferring heat from inside your space and releasing it outside to keep things cool (see diagram below).
Usually, people don’t think to check on their AC coil until something goes wrong with their system. Fortunately, for your AC coils, you can usually detect a cleaning need through the eye test.
The heat exchanges from inside your home or facilities to outside by passing through “fins”.
These fins are very thin pieces of metal that conduct heat and release it into the air. When they get corroded, dirty, or the space between them gets clogged, this inhibits the heat exchange process, which in turn causes your unit to work harder.
If they get clogged enough, you simply won’t get any air at all. A lack of preventative maintenance could cause the coil itself to break, which is a very expensive repair.
Pictured: A before and after of cleaned fins surrounding the AC coil.
While you absolutely need your coil fins cleaned when they are visibly dirty, it’s best to have your entire airflow system on a regular preventative maintenance schedule.
The National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) recommends regular inspection of your airflow systems at least once a year for homes and businesses, if not more frequently for specialized industries like food processing or healthcare.
Since AC coils work harder in different environments, your frequency of cleaning will vary.
Having your HVAC system regularly inspected and cleaned has major cost savings benefits too.
Recently, a major scientific study (endorsed by NADCA) highlighted that thoroughly cleaned HVAC systems outperform dirty ones by reducing fan/blower energy consumption by up to 60 percent and increasing airflow up to 46 percent.
If you’re trying to figure out how much that is for your facilities, that’s roughly $5,000-10,000 in savings – well under the cost to have your factory professionally cleaned.
To properly clean your cooling coil and fins, you’ll want to use a combination of wet and dry cleaning methods.
First, you’ll want to use a dry cleaning method to remove any loose debris or dirt on the fins and coil. This can be done through vacuuming and air pressure. It’s important to use dry cleaning methods first, because wet cleaning can easily turn existing dirt and debris into sludge, which is much harder to get off.
Next (if needed), you’ll use steaming and pressure washing. The hot steam helps to melt the gunk, grease, oil, mold, and other residue that may be on your fins. Next, the pressure washing helps to flush all of this out of your system.
NOTE: Wet cleaning should only be done if your facilities have a good drainage system. If you’re unsure if you have this, a cleaning technician can help you determine the best cleaning method for your facilities.
Whether you’re trying to maintain your AC unit at home or you manage a large factory, cleaning your AC coil and fins by yourself or with your in-house team comes with some risk.
For example, if you use a pressure washer without the right settings, you risk performing an incomplete job or, worse, damaging your unit by using too much pressure. Or, if you’ve noticed some of your fins are bent and out of place, you could risk further damaging them by trying to bend them back into place yourself (see picture below).
As such, it’s best to have a trained cleaning professional perform your coil cleaning, regardless of the size of your facilities.
Rather than risking thousands of dollars in damages to your cleaning coil, having it cleaned professionally is relatively affordable.
For homes, coil cleaning typically costs $100 to $400. For commercial facilities, pricing varies widely based on unit size and access but usually ranges from $600 and upward.
Again, this is much more affordable than replacing your coils which can cost as much as $50,000 for some factories.
At Service-Tech, we pride ourselves on fast, thorough, and non-invasive facility cleaning and maintenance.
If you’re looking to have your AC coil and fins cleaned as well as any other preventative maintenance for your air systems, trust our experienced, NADCA-certified professionals to work with you and around your schedule to ensure your warehouse or factory air is safe for both your people and your products.
Contact us today to request a free quote.