Getting Your Cooling Ready for Summer – A Pre-Season Checklist

Every summer we get the same run of calls on the first really hot day, and most of them are for things that could have been sorted weeks earlier. Half an hour in spring saves you sitting in a hot house waiting for a booking. Here's the checklist we'd run through ourselves.

Clean the filters

This is the job that makes the biggest difference for the least effort. On a split system, lift the front cover, slide the filters out, wash them in warm water, let them dry completely and put them back. On ducted, check the return-air filter. A blocked filter chokes the airflow, drives up your running costs and can ice the coil up on a hot day.

Clear around the outdoor unit

Over winter, leaves, cobwebs, grass and the odd stored pot plant find their way around the outdoor unit. It needs clear air on all sides to dump heat – aim for at least 300 millimetres of clear space, more at the front. Gently hose the coil fins if they're dusty, and check nothing has grown over the top of it.

Give it a proper test run

Run the cooling for 20 minutes on a mild day. Check that the air coming out is genuinely cold, that the outdoor unit is running and not making new noises, and that the drain is clearing water rather than pooling. If there's a musty smell, the indoor coil probably needs a clean.

Evaporative systems need a start-up

If you have evaporative cooling, spring is the time to check the pads for mineral build-up and splits, clear the water tray, check the float valve and make sure the pump primes properly. Pads generally need replacing every few years in our water.

Book a service early

A service in September or October gets you a technician on your terms rather than in a queue during a heatwave. It's also when small faults – a weak capacitor, a slow fan, a slight refrigerant leak – are cheap to fix instead of an emergency.

Signs it may not make another summer

If your unit is 12 to 15 years or older, needs a top-up every year, has had two or more repairs recently, or simply can't hold the house at a comfortable temperature on a 38-degree day, it's worth pricing a replacement before summer rather than during it.

Need a hand?

We're a local Bendigo team and we're happy to take a look. Give us a call on (03) 5444 4677 for honest advice and a free quote.