Texas summers don't ease in — they hit hard. Your AC will run almost continuously from May through September, and if it's not ready, you'll find out the hard way. Here's a practical pre-season checklist you can do yourself, plus what to have a professional handle.
DIY Checklist (Do These in March/April)
Replace your air filter. Start the season with a fresh filter. During peak summer, check it monthly and replace every 1–2 months. A dirty filter makes your system work harder, drives up your electric bill, and can cause the evaporator coil to freeze.
Clear the area around your outdoor unit. Trim back any bushes, grass, or debris within 2 feet of the condenser. Good airflow is critical for the outdoor unit to dump heat efficiently.
Hose down the condenser coils. Use a garden hose (not a pressure washer) to gently rinse dirt, pollen, and cottonwood off the condenser fins. Do this with the unit powered off.
Check your thermostat. Switch to cooling mode and set it a few degrees below room temperature. Verify that the system kicks on and cold air comes from the vents within a few minutes. If you have a programmable thermostat, update your summer schedule.
Inspect visible ductwork. If you have accessible ducts in an attic or crawl space, look for obvious disconnections, holes, or crushed sections. Leaky ducts can waste 20–30% of your cooled air before it reaches your rooms.
What a Professional Tune-Up Covers
A pre-season AC tune-up typically includes checking refrigerant levels and pressures, cleaning the evaporator and condenser coils, testing the capacitor and electrical connections, lubricating moving parts, checking the drain line for clogs, verifying thermostat calibration, and measuring airflow and temperature differential.
This takes about an hour and catches problems while they're small — a $15 capacitor replacement now vs. a $5,000 compressor failure in July.
When to Schedule
The best time to schedule a tune-up is March or April — before HVAC companies are slammed with emergency calls. By May, wait times can stretch to days. At Kimco, our membership plan includes an annual AC tune-up so you never have to remember to schedule it — we reach out to you.
The Bottom Line
Spending an hour on DIY maintenance and booking a professional tune-up is the cheapest insurance against a mid-summer breakdown. Your AC is about to work harder than any other appliance in your home for six straight months. Give it a fighting chance.