You can easily prevent costly damage to your air conditioning by following these steps for preventative AC maintenance:

• Change filters once a month, or more frequently if they look dirty. Accordion-shaped filters are best because they provide more surface area through which to filter the intake to your system.
• Add bleach (Clorox or other brand) to the intake pipe every 3 months. Use between a third and a half a cup of bleach and run the air conditioning immediately afterward. This will remove mold that may grow in the pipes.
• Make sure the outside condenser is free of brush, remove leaves that may have fallen into it.
• Occasionally check the outside condenser. There will be a fat PVC pipe and a narrower copper pipe coming out of the system. About a half hour after the air conditioner comes on, the fat pipe should be sweating and you should be able to see moisture beading up all around it, if the system is working right.
• When your system is working well, the AC will come on for a little while, cool the house and shut off. If it doesn’t shut off for long periods, or if it doesn’t seem to be keeping the house as cool as you set it, call BP Heat & Air.

Following these procedures can save you from having costly water damage or growing mold that can be difficult and expensive to re-mediate. Take care of your air conditioning system and it will take care of you.