Homeowner AC Maintenance Checklist

Monthly during cooling season

• Check the filter; replace when it looks loaded.
• Walk the house and confirm supply registers are open and unobstructed.
• Glance at the outdoor unit for debris, vines or stacked yard items.
• Note any new noises, smells or comfort changes.

Every few months

• Rinse the outdoor coil gently with a garden hose from the outside in — never a pressure washer.
• Clear leaves, pine straw and grass clippings from around the condenser and maintain about two feet of clearance.
• Check the outdoor drain termination for steady dripping on humid days.
• Look at the drain pan area near the indoor unit for standing water.
• Vacuum return grilles.

Seasonally

• Before cooling season, run the system briefly and verify it cools before the first hot week.
• Check thermostat batteries and settings.
• Trim vegetation back from the outdoor unit after spring growth.
• Clear gutters above outdoor equipment so runoff does not wash debris into it.
• After heavy pollen, rinse the coil again.

Annually — professional service

• Condensate drain clearing, treatment and float switch testing.
• Evaporator coil and blower wheel inspection and cleaning.
• Refrigerant pressures and temperature split measurement.
• Electrical testing: capacitors, contactors, amp draws and connections.
• Duct and insulation inspection where accessible.

Leave these to a professional

• Anything involving refrigerant.
• Opening energized high-voltage compartments.
• Replacing capacitors, contactors or motors.
• Bypassing safety switches or disconnects.
• Electrical testing on live equipment.

Keep a simple record

Write down filter sizes, change dates, service dates and any parts replaced. When something eventually fails, that history is the most useful thing you can hand a provider — and it makes repair-versus-replace decisions much clearer.