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How often should air conditioning be serviced?

The short answer

Filters need cleaning every few months during heavy use, which you can do yourself. A full service by a licensed technician is worth doing every one to two years, and before summer rather than during it.

TradieAnswers editorial · written in-house and sourced to the authorities listed below

Checked against 3 published sources, listed in full at the end of this page. How we source this

Most air conditioning problems that get called in as faults are actually maintenance. A blocked filter reduces airflow, which reduces efficiency, which increases running cost and eventually causes the unit to ice up or shut down.

Do this yourself, every two to three months in season

  1. Turn the unit off at the wall.
  2. Open the front panel of the indoor unit and lift out the filters.
  3. Wash them in warm water, let them dry completely, and refit them.
  4. Clear leaves and debris from around the outdoor unit and keep at least a few hundred millimetres of clearance around it.

What a real service includes

  • Checking refrigerant charge and inspecting for leaks, which requires an ARCtick licence.
  • Cleaning the indoor coil and the drain pan, which is where mould and smells come from.
  • Clearing the condensate drain, a common cause of water dripping inside.
  • Checking electrical connections and current draw.
  • Cleaning the outdoor coil.

Book the service in autumn or early spring. Every technician in the country is booked out during the first hot week, and that is exactly when your unit will decide to fail.

Sources

Every source below was fetched and its response recorded on the date shown. Where a government site blocks automated clients, that is noted rather than reported as a successful check.

  1. Refrigerant Handling Licence · Australian Refrigeration CouncilChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  2. ARC Industry Site · Australian Refrigeration CouncilChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  3. Heating and cooling · energy.gov.auChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK

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