How often should I have my AC maintained?

Once a year at minimum, ideally in spring before the first stretch of 90-degree days puts the system under real load. A spring check catches a weakening part while there is still time to replace it calmly, rather than discovering it during the first heat wave when every HVAC company in the metro is booked with emergency calls. Homes that run their systems hard, like two-story homes fighting the upstairs heat, benefit most from staying on a regular schedule.

What does an AC tune-up actually do?

It targets the specific parts most likely to fail. A technician tests the capacitor against its rating to catch it fading, inspects the contactor for pitting, checks electrical connections, verifies the refrigerant charge to reveal a slow leak, cleans the coils, and clears the condensate drain and its safety switch. Each check aims at a common failure point, which is why maintenance prevents so many breakdowns, it addresses the handful of parts responsible for most of them before they let go.

Can maintenance really prevent a breakdown?

It prevents most of them, because most failures are not truly sudden. A capacitor weakens gradually, a contactor pits over time, a refrigerant leak starts small, and a drain clogs bit by bit, then all of them reach their breaking point under the heaviest summer load. Catching those slow declines during a scheduled visit turns a July-night emergency into a small part swapped in advance. It cannot guarantee a system never fails, but it removes the most common, preventable causes.

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