LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's not even summer yet and Las Vegas is already seeing temperatures in the 90s. But before we see triple digits, there's one major step you should be taking.
13 Action News Anchor Dave Courvoisier spoke with a local expert about saving money on your air conditioning.
A/C INSPECTION
"Don't make the same mistake I did," said homeowner, David Montanaro. He says he learned his lesson the hard way.
His family really suffered when his air conditioning went out a few years ago in the middle of July.
"It was the longest two days of my life. Yeah, it was impossible," said David.
He says now he makes sure to always get his A/C inspected before those hot summer months.
"It's necessary because the summers out here are so brutal," said David.
"You know, it's the heat load. We don't have a lot of humidity in the air. So that dry, dusty and intense heat just absolutely beats on air conditioners," said Jeremy Anderson, owner of Express Home Services.
He says the first thing you should be doing is changing your air filters regularly. It's recommended you do it every three months.
Second, schedule an annual A/C tune-up with a licensed professional.
"The state requires contractors to be licensed. Make sure that you use a licensed contractor. That's probably the biggest thing you can do," says Anderson.
You can verify a company's HVAC license with the Nevada State Contractors Board. The information is available for free on their website.
A tune-up typically includes a system flush, new refrigerant and possibly replacing some small parts.
REPLACING PARTS
"Typically your components that go out first are your capacitors, your contractors, the parts that are designed to fail but are protecting your major components like your compressors," said Anderson.
Just keep in mind that you could be waiting a long time for some new parts due to recent supply chain issues.
So, whether you want to spend the $50 to $100 for the typical tune-up, Anderson says to do it.
"It really is worth its weight in gold," said Anderson.
"Plus, it's really hard to face the customer and say, you know, we're going to have to spend $15,000," said Dave.
"That's exactly right. Nobody wants that bad news," said Anderson.
As for David, he wants others to learn from his experience and take their air conditioning maintenance seriously.
"It was absolutely, absolutely awful. I wouldn't want to go through that again... You have to take care of your HVAC system in Las Vegas because you really can't live without it," said David.
