With a lifespan of about 15 to 20 years according to the U.S. Department of Energy, a central air conditioner is bound to last your home for a long time. However, once your unit gets closer to the end of its lifespan, it can be expected that you will run into a few kinks along the way--especially if you are hard on your central air system. No one wants to face central air unit replacement sooner than they have to. If you want to make your central air unit last as long as possible, there are a few little sneaky tricks you can use to do just that. 

Be careful about turning your central air unit off and on. 

To prolong the life of your system, you may assume that you should turn the unit off as much as possible. However, it is better to simply raise the temperature a few degrees instead. Turning your system off completely when the temperatures are high just means that it will have to work harder to get your home cool once you turn it back on. Try raising the temperature a few degrees at night when you go to bed or when you leave for work in the morning if you want to give your unit a little rest. 

Keep your filter changed regularly. 

The air filter in a central cooling unit serves the vital purpose of pulling dust and debris from the air that is pulled inside the unit from your home. When this filter is clogged and dirty, it is hard for warm air to get inside to keep the condenser from over-cooling, which can lead to freezing. This is taxing on any central air system, but especially [on] an older model that may already be struggling to function properly. 

Have your central air unit serviced by a professional often. 

A maintenance checkup for a central air unit often gets disregarded until something seems to be wrong. However, when your unit has endured several years of use already, it is crucial to ensure you get maintenance checks by a professional about once a year. During this checkup, the technician will be checking for any signs of worn parts and making replacements, cleaning the fan motor of the exterior unit, and adding coolant if necessary, all of which will help to make sure you get use of your system for as long as possible. 

For an HVAC contractor, click on this link http://www.cblucashvac.com or do an online search.