How often should you service your aircon?
There is no single number that fits every unit, because the answer depends on where the unit is and how hard it works. This guide explains how to work out the rhythm your own aircon needs.
What a service is for
A service is a clean and a check. The clean is the filters, the indoor coil and blower, the drain and tray, and the outdoor coil and fan. The check covers the electrical connections, the refrigerant pressures and the controls while the unit is open and accessible.
The point is not tidiness, it is efficiency. A coil with a film of dust on it transfers heat poorly, so the unit has to run longer to move the same heat. A drain that is half blocked is on its way to dripping into a ceiling. Both are cheap to fix at a service and expensive to fix as a fault.
The Johannesburg factors
The Highveld is a dusty place, and a home near a busy road, an open field or a mine dump takes more of it. A filter that loads up quickly makes the unit work harder, run hotter and use more power for the same cooling, so the service interval shortens with the dust.
Usage matters as much. A unit that runs every summer night is a unit that collects a whole season of build-up. A unit in a shop or an office where people are in and out all day collects more again, and it runs far more hours than a bedroom unit ever will.
Winter is the season people forget. A unit used for heating in June and July collects dust just as fast, and its outdoor coil works in cold, damp air with the compressor running for long spells. A clean before summer and a check before winter fits the Highveld better than a single visit in spring, and it is the pattern a contractor who works here will recognise.
Reading your own unit
The practical signals are easy to spot. If the airflow from the indoor unit feels weaker than it used to, if the room takes longer to cool, if there is a musty smell when it starts, or if you can see dust on the front of the coil, the unit is telling you it needs a clean.
A unit that has never been serviced and is several seasons old is a different case: it may need a deeper strip of the coil and blower rather than a routine wipe. Ask the contractor which of the two your unit needs. Aircon servicing explains what each involves.
What a service cannot fix
A service will not repair a failed fan, a dead control board or a leak that has emptied the system. If the unit is not cooling because a part has failed, or because it has lost refrigerant, that is a repair rather than a clean.
That distinction matters because a clean is sometimes offered as a fix for a fault, which only delays the real work. If the symptoms point at a fault, why your aircon is not cooling explains how to describe it accurately to a contractor.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a home aircon be serviced?
Once a year before summer is the sensible floor for a unit used through the season. A hard-used unit, or one in a dusty spot, wants a clean at the start of the season and a second one through it.
How often should an office or shop unit be serviced?
More often than a home unit, because it runs far more hours and the load is higher. Ask a contractor what a scheduled service for your premises would cover.
Can I clean the filters myself?
Filter cleaning is a reasonable thing to do between services, and it helps. It does not reach the coil, the blower or the drain, which is where a service earns its place. Rinse them gently, let them dry fully before they go back, and do not run the unit with a damp filter.
Does a service stop a unit from breaking down?
It reduces the chance of a dust-related failure and finds small problems early. It cannot prevent a part from failing, but it is the least expensive way to keep the unit working well.