Air conditioning has become such as integral part of our lives even though we do not give much thought to it. Whenever it gets very hot, we may find ourselves in the desperate situation of having our air conditioning not performing. This is where some air conditioning contractors have strategized to maximize their profits, unfortunately by not so ethical ways. So here are 3 secret tricks that aircon servicemen will use to get more money out of you, and of course we provide the solutions to foil them as well.

1. Brushing and vacuuming your split air conditioner is really bad for your health. Do you know that there can be harmful mold growing in your air conditioning fan coils? Each time the service person cleans your air conditioning with a brush or vacuum, they loosen these spores from the fan coil units. These loosened mold spores will be blown into the air and breathed into your lungs. Cleaning it the right way would require the right types of cleaning chemical which they may not be willing to use just to maintain their bottom line. Also, this is part of the strategy for them to milk more service jobs out of you.

Solution: Ask for lab certified chemicals to be used.

2. For split unit air conditioning, always insist on at least a 1/2 inch drain pipe. If they tell you otherwise to try to discourage you, then beware of this contractor. The typical trick out there is to give you a small and undersized drain pipe so that the pipe will choke. Thus causing the air conditioner to leak easily, requiring you to call for service technicians a lot quicker. So insist on a large enough drain pipe diameter.

Solution: Always insist on a larger diameter drain pipe, at least 1/2 inch.

3. Another trick that contractors use is to offer relatively low cost annual servicing contracts which they will use brushing and vacuuming method to service each job. Brushing and vacuuming is an inadequate process (look at Trick 1 above). By the 2nd service, you will complain about the low performance of the air conditioner; upon which he will recommend a full chemical service.

A Full Chemical Service usually involves tearing down the entire coil. This full service is expensive. But since you are already committed to the contractors annual contract, you will agree to the full service to get back the strong clean air as before. As if this is not enough, there is an added downside to this! Full chemical cleaning usually involves soaking the entire cooling coil into an alkaline based caustic chemical.

Chemicals such as sodium hydroxide are often mixed in with other cleaning agents for this cleaning service. These chemicals clean by eating into the aluminum metal of the cooling coils to free the dirt. Regular (bi-annual or annually) cleaning using this method will greatly reduce the life of your cooling coil. Thus increasing frequency with which you need to replace your air conditioning split unit system, giving them more business.

Solution: Clean with the right methods to preserve the useful lifespan of your aircon.

To find out the right way to clean, just do some research and become more aware of whats available in the market today. New technologies are surfacing all the time. So you should keep yourself up to date such that you do not fall victim into these no choice situations.