AC blower cleaning

Accumulated dirt in the air conditioner blower - or in in the furnace and heat pump blowers - are a cause of lower energy-efficiency.

A professional task

The AC blower compartment is often extremely tight, making cleaning and lubrication difficult tasks. Air conditioner blowers are also very close to line voltage, which raises some security concerns and requires some basic skills and knowledge.

Unless you have them, call a professional to clean your AC blower (or furnace blower, or heat pump blower: the cleaning steps and procedures are the same).

AC blower Cleaning Steps

In its essence, cleaning an AC blower is a very straightforward task:

1) A thorough cleaning of an AC blower requires its removing from the air handler. Do not forget to cut the power before doing it...

2) Use a wrench to remove possible components blocking the air conditioner blower. If unfammiliar with the system, it's better to mark the components, to remember how to bolt them back in place later.

3) Once the AC blower removed, if the debris isn’t greasy, use a brush or a vacuum with a brush to clean the blower; you may use a mixture of around 3/4 of bleach with 1 gallon of lukewarm water.

Professional cleaning uses pressurized water or air, which requires the protection of the blower’s motor (using a taping plastic or an equivalent cover over controls and openings).

4) Wipe away possible mold, dust and dirt from the blades of the AC blower. Also vaccumm debris located inside the unit.