One of the best ways to save money around your home is to perform some types of repairs and maintenance yourself. But some types of work are easier to do yourself than others. In this edition, we’ll help you learn how to prep an AC unit for summer and figure out whether you can do this work yourself, saving some money in the process.

Savings

If you can do the general maintenance work on your air conditioning unit yourself, you may be able to save anywhere from $75 to $150 for a service call.

Some companies will offer good deals on air conditioner “tune-up” services in early spring, so you may find this service at a special price of $50 to $75. But some shady repair services use this “tune-up” deal to convince you your AC unit needs repairs that it actually doesn’t need. Finding a trustworthy repair person who will be honest with you is more important than saving a few bucks with a special on a “tune-up” for your AC unit.

If you can only do some of the basic maintenance tips listed below, at least you’re going to make the unit more efficient, saving some money on your electrical bill this summer. And a clean air conditioning unit will have a longer lifespan too.

Time Required

Even if you’ve never worked on an air conditioning unit before, you should be able to complete this type of maintenance in a couple of hours. An AC unit that hasn’t had maintenance performed on it previously will take longer, as it will be dirtier. If you perform maintenance on it a couple of times per year though, the process may only take an hour as you’ll be familiar with the work and the unit will be cleaner.

Tools Required

Cleaning and maintaining an air conditioner requires some simple tools, but they do have to be the right size. The exact sizes and tools you’ll need depend on the types of screws used to secure the unit’s panels, both indoors and outdoors.

• Screwdriver with varying bits
• Socket wrench with varying sockets
• Putty knife (or butter knife)
• Insulation tape
• No-rinse coil cleaning spray
• Soft-bristled brush
• Level
• Garden hose with pressure nozzle
• Wet/dry vacuum
• Hedge clippers

Preparation

Pick a reasonable weather day to perform this work, as you’ll be outdoors. You don’t want to be working in really cold temperatures, as you’ll be using water.

Find the fuse for the air conditioning unit and turn it off at your electrical box. Sometimes an AC unit will have its own fuse box near the unit outdoors that you’ll need to turn off too.

Simple Maintenance Jobs

Here are some simple, specific tasks you can complete to perform maintenance and learn how to prep your AC unit for summer.

• Clean up: Outdoor air conditioning units will collect debris on their grates over time because of the way they draw and expel air. You’ll see leaves, twigs, seeds from trees (such as cottonwood), and even animal fur stuck on the various parts of an AC unit. Removing this debris will allow the unit to run more efficiently, as it can move air easier. A wet/dry vacuum may work well for cleaning the exterior grates if the debris is dry. You then may need to remove the grates to clean the unit’s metal fins properly. Most of the grates are attached with screws or hex screws.
• Washing with water: You also can use water to clean any debris from the metal fins on the AC unit. (These metal fins will look like a zig-zag pattern, and they’ll be tightly packed together.) It’ll work well to use a garden hose with a power nozzle to gain enough water pressure. If you can get inside the unit and spray toward the outside, you’ll be able to remove the debris easier. If you can only spray from the outside, the water may clump the debris together, pushing it toward the edge of the unit, where you can remove it by hand. If you have pets or trees in your area that produce seeds that fly through the air, you may want to wash the fins a few times during the summer.
• Straightening fins: Once the fins are cleaned, you may notice some are bent. You’ll want to straighten them to ensure they can work in the most efficient manner. They don’t have to be perfectly straight to work properly, but ensuring they aren’t touching each other will help. You can use a flat head screwdriver to straighten the fins. A small putty knife or even a sturdy butter knife with a thin blade will work too.
• Free space. Make sure vegetation and foreign objects are at least 24 inches from the unit. If you have plants near the AC unit, you’ll want to check this free space occasionally during the summer, so the air conditioner has enough room around it to draw and expel air properly.

Tougher Maintenance Jobs

If you feel comfortable working around the air conditioning unit, you can perform a few other tasks that require a bit more know-how. But if you’re leery of these tasks, call in a trustworthy professional.

• Leveling. As an AC unit ages, it could slip out of a square alignment (such as the unit pictured above). Place a level onto the air conditioning unit, just to make sure it’s in alignment. Some air conditioners are braced with brackets against the home. Others rest on a platform on the ground. If the unit is not level, it could cause problems with the compressor over time. You can use shims to adjust the level of the unit as a temporary fix.
• Clean evaporator tube. Inside the home, you may have an evaporator coil inside the blower unit near the furnace. As moist, warm air inside the ducts strikes the coil, moisture from the air collects on the coil. It usually then drains through a flexible tube to a floor drain. This tube can become clogged with algae and mold over time. (Yes, that’s gross.) But you can clean this tube for a better performance level. Use a wet/dry vac to clean out this tube. Or if it’s especially clogged, consider swapping it out.
• Clean evaporator coil. The evaporator coil described above will collect dust over time. (You can minimize the dust by regularly changing your furnace filter.) If you feel comfortable working inside the unit, you can clean these coils. You’ll have to remove a panel from the unit that has screws or hex screws holding it in place. It also may have some insulation tape around it. Once you can see the coil, you can sweep it with a soft-bristled brush. Then finish cleaning it with a condenser coil spray that you can purchase in a hardware store. This special type of spray doesn’t require rinsing, so it’s great for this type of work.

Final Tips

Before you switch over from heating to air conditioning for the summer, be sure you’ve inspected both your interior and exterior units for any odd damage. If you can easily see the wires, inspect them for any cracking. If you suspect anything out of the ordinary, call a professional.

Outdoors, look for nests that mice may have created. This is a potential problem if you covered the unit all winter, creating a habitat protected from the weather. Or look for any cracks in any portion of the unit where water may have penetrated and frozen, causing a crack.

Indoors, make sure to change all filters. Inspect the unit for any corrosion or cracks. This would be rare, but it could happen with an older unit if water was building up in the area.

Certainly, if you see any cracks or damage, it’s time to call in a professional. But if the all of the components look good, and if you’re able to complete the maintenance tasks described above yourself, your air conditioner will now be ready to run at full throttle for the summer (as long as you remember to turn the power back on at the fuse box). Plus,  you’ll have saved some money in the process!

Saving Money with DIY: How to Prep an AC Unit for Summer

One of the biggest detractors to living in an apartment over your own home is a lack of freedom when it comes to upgrading your apartment’s technology, specifically when it requires changes that are forbidden by the landlord. We’ve compiled a list of 10 tech upgrades that will make your life easier while still keeping your property manager happy.

Concerned about your safety and belongings in your apartment?

Interested in home security, but you aren’t allowed to run wires through the walls in your apartment? Check out Canary, a wireless home security alarm solution. The device is placed at a central location in your apartment and connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network. Using a learning algorithm, the device learns when you are typically home versus when you are not. If the Canary senses motion at an abnormal time, the owner receives a smartphone notification and recorded HD video of the event.

The owner can also tune in live at any time, sound a siren or contact the authorities if there’s any trouble. On top of that, it keeps records of when people come and go to the home as well as use cloud storage to save video / audio over the last 90 days. As an added bonus, the device also tracks air quality, temperature and humidity in the home for health benefits.

Pricing: The Canary is a relatively new product that hasn’t seen much of a price reduction yet. The retail cost is $249 and the device is available at Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot and Verizon stores. If you purchase it directly from the company, it comes with a 60-day money back guarantee if you decide it’s not the right gadget for you.

Are bulky chargers making your furniture stick out?

Want all the benefits of USB charging without swapping out outlet hardware or setting up a USB charging station? Take a look at the SnapPower USB Charger, a simple outlet covering that adds a single USB charging station with just a turn of a screwdriver. The unique design of the outlet plate draws power from the screws on the side of the existing outlet. It’s also completely flat to the fall, ideal for small apartments that have limited space for furniture.

The SnapPower USB Charger comes in two designs and three colors, based off the type of outlets in your apartment. To install, you basically just remove the existing outlet cover and screw on the new cover. When you are ready to move to a new apartment or home, it’s easy to retrieve the hardware and replace it with the old plates. This will keep your landlord happy and give you USB charging without the bulky charger.

Pricing:  At the moment, you can only purchase the SnapPower outlet cover from the company that’s making it: LINK. Preorder pricing is based on the volume of your order. Purchasing a single cover will cost $20 while purchasing 5 covers brings the cost down to $16 each. The outlet covers are expected to ship during September 2015.

Does your apartment lack outlets?

Obviously, it’s easy to expand the number those outlets you have by purchasing a power strip. However, it’s not easy to hide a large power strip in an apartment or fit multiple, bulky chargers on a single strip. Enter the Pivot Power strip, a flexible strip that can be transformed into a variety of shapes.

For instance, you could wrap the power strip around a leg of an end table, effectively hiding the strip from guests. The strip also offers surge protection as well as four feet of cord to reach your nearest outlet.

Pricing:  The Pivot Power retails for $20, however you should be able to find it on sale consistently between $13 and $15 at Amazon. It comes in a variety of colors as well, ideal for anyone that’s decorated their apartment recently.

Love cooking, but hate your apartment’s unreliable appliances?

Arriving in Fall 2015, the Meld Knob is a high-tech automated cooking solution that replaces an existing burner knob on your stove. The knob automatically turns the burner to lower and raise temperature based off temperature readings being received from the Meld Clip. The clip attaches to existing cookware that you already own and measures temperature within 1 degree of the food’s actual temperature.

Utilizing the included mobile app, the user can browse through existing recipes as well as upload their own recipes. Communicating with the mobile device, the knob knows exactly how long to cook your meal as well as the appropriate time to stop cooking completely.

Pricing: The knob was fully funded on Kickstarter this year at a $99 preorder price and is expected to retail for $149 later this year, likely available on Amazon and other Web retailers.

Looking to add an extra A/C window unit in your apartment?

As summer temps are climbing, the need to reliable air conditioning is a must. Take a look at Quirky’s Aros, a smart window air conditioner that was developed in partnership with GE. Learning from your living habits similar to the Nest thermostat, the Aros uses your smartphone’s GPS to determine the best time to fire up before you arrive home.

It also uses a predictive algorithm to determine the temperatures you will like at different times of day. Using a mobile application, an Aros user can track an estimate of how much you have spent on cooling each day and compare that against the national average.

Pricing: The device currently retails for $249.99 and is found at Amazon and Walmart. While sales will be scarce during the summer months, look for the best price at the end of summer. Last September, the price on the Aros dipped down as low as $180 as summer came to a close and inventory was still high.

Do you have horrible central air / heat in your apartment?

Some apartments are notorious for having terrible air flow in different rooms, either the room is too hot or it’s too cold. Ideal for apartment roommates that can’t agree on the temperature, the Keen Smart Vent is a replacement vent for existing air flow vents in most apartments. Powered by four AA batteries, the vent connects to the home’s Wi-Fi network and automatically opens or closes the vent based off the existing temperature in the room.

Similar to other learning devices, the vent will tech itself the best pattern for the person using the room. It can also be controlled manually from a mobile device, but it’s specifically designed to work autonomously.

Pricing: The vents are expected to start shipping in Summer 2015 and can be preordered for a price of $145 for two vents (MSRP: $180). Similar to the SnapPower outlet cover, the price per vent will fall based on the volume of your order.

Do you have a windowless bedroom in your apartment?

Are you subleasing a “bedroom” (probably a closet) in an expensive city like New York or Los Angeles? Does your bedroom simply lack a window? You need the Philips Wake-up Light, an alarm clock that simulates sunlight pouring into your room at the start of each morning. It can also be used as a bedside lamp at night at a variety of different intensities.

Ideally, you should place the clock a couple feet from your head on a bedside table and allow it to slowly wake you up with light. Of course, the alarm clock also includes a standard alarm, FM radio as well as simulated birds chirping to go along with the light.

Pricing: Philips sells multiple models of this design for prices between $69.99 and $99.99. Look for discounts up to 25 to 30 percent off the original MSRP frequently at retailers like Amazon and Walgreens. The device can also be purchased from Philips directly.

Hate fumbling for your keys at your apartment’s front door?

Assuming you have a landlord that’s willing to let you swap out your front door deadbolt, check out the Kwikset Kevo. While there are multiple types of smart locks that interact with your smartphone, this is one of the only models that provides a physical key for the landlord to carry as well as look similar to existing hardware in an apartment complex.

Using Bluetooth connectivity with your mobile device, all you have to do is tap the lock when you arrive home and it will unlock due to the proximity of your smartphone. You can also provide access to guests by supplying a guest eKey that expires after 24 hours. Basically, you can let someone into your apartment without having to be physically at the location. Of course, if your smartphone dies, you always have a physical key as a backup to unlock the door.

Pricing: Retailing for $219 at stores such as Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy and Newegg, you can often find the Kevo on sale at the $199 price point. Amazon occasionally drops the price to $180, but the lowest recorded price to date was $150 at Sears during April.

Want whole-home audio without running wires through walls?

Easily one of the most popular wireless solutions for whole-home audio, the Sonos Play:1 speakers are a compact audio solution that lets you stream music simultaneously to all Wi-Fi connected Sonos speakers. The music you are listening to in your kitchen can carry over to the living room, bedroom and any other room in your apartment.

There are also more robust speakers in the Sonos line, if you need a more expansive sound across a larger space. Music can be controlled from a Wi-Fi connected mobile device, either playing from a personal collection or all the streaming music services available today.

Pricing: The bad news is that wireless comes at a price. A single Sonos Play:1 speaker runs $199 and the more robust speakers run between $299 and $399. However, you can find deals on a set of two Sonos Play:1 speakers at a $349 price point at retailers such as Amazon, Crutchfield, Best Buy and World Wide Stereo. During Christmas sales, you will also find discounts on a single Sonos Play:1 speaker as low as $160.

Hate setting off your apartment’s obnoxious smoke detectors?

Many apartments have smoke detectors placed near the kitchen with a sensitivity that alerts the entire apartment to some slightly burnt toast. Enter the Nest Protect, a combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector that allows you to simply wave off the alarm rather than seek out your step stool to reach the ceiling.

Connecting to your mobile devices over Wi-Fi, the advanced hardware sends messages when the batteries are running low as well as constantly runs a test nightly to make sure everything is working. It also uses a human voice alert to specifically identify the problem as well as the area of the home that set off the alarm.

Pricing: At a $99 MSRP, you can find the 2nd generation Nest Protect coming soon to retailers such as Best Buy, Home Depot, Amazon and the company site. Sales on the device are extremely infrequent, rarely dropping below $90. However, the device originally debuted at a $129 price point, thus the reduced MSRP could be considered a deal for people that aren’t early adopters.

10 Awesome Tech Upgrades for Apartment Dwellers