As the spring gradually steals in with the phasing out of winter, a feeling often hovers over the mind that it was just yesterday when you were readying the house for winter and baking cookies, cakes, and pastries for Christmas. As if spring came around fast this year. The weather is warmer and the sun shines brightly. A blanket of greenery covers the grounds and the trees. You are urged to overthrow your curtains back and open your windows to feel the spring air on your face. Enjoy as you will, but do not forget that spring is also the transition phase between winter and summer. So besides tucking up the house for spring, you should also brace yourself for summer. And an important task of readying the house for summer is tuning up your air conditioner. Here are some things you should do to tune the A/c up for summer-

• Replace the filter with a monthly disposable filter. These would require to be changed after every 30 days. Do it to keep you filters clean and for efficient functioning of the air conditioner. Houses that have members who are asthmatic or allergic to dust and pollen's would benefit from this. If you have pets in the house, A/c filter should be mandatory changed frequently.

• Set your ceiling fan to run in a counter-clockwise position. This will pull up the hot air and make the room cooler. A ceiling fan can reduce the room temperature by 4 degrees. So you can raise the temperature of your thermostat by a fewer degrees to save on energy cost.

• Check the duct work of your system. Get it professionally inspected. If they detect leaks or poor insulation, get it repaired. Leaking ducts waste almost 30 % of energy and compromise the comfort level too.

• If you do not have one, buy and install a programmable thermostat to regulate the temperature in the home while you are away. This will really be an energy-saving initiative for summer. It will reduce the operational cost substantially when the A/c runs almost 24x7. Set your thermostat fan to the AUTO position. The fan will run constantly.

• Have your A/c system serviced and maintained to keep it running at peak performance. Get your unit professionally inspected in spring before summer phases in. The cost of spring tune-ups are cheaper as spring is an off season for HVAC industry You will also get expert technicians who are not that busy at this time of the year. With their service, you will be able to know whether the system will survive through summer. The technicians will detect and resolve faults, if they have cropped up. They will replace parts which are not working due to wear and tear. A spring A/C check-up ensures detection of underlying problems that can compound into complicated problems later requiring costly repairs. The cost of repairs in summer will be higher. At this time it will take days for a HVAC technician to reach your doorstep for an inspection as they are neck-deep in service calls.