In my neighborhood, cottonwoods and willows drop fuzz into the air that clog up the coils on my air conditioning unit. After paying someone to clean the coils on my air conditioner for years, I figured out that it is easy to do it on my own.

Dirty coils make your air conditioner work less efficiently. This leads higher energy bills and in some cases crippled units.

Follow these steps:

Step one: Buy coil cleaner. Your local Ace hardware has a product called Coil Cleen. It works great.

Step two: Pull a hose around to where your external units are.

Step three: Turn off the power to your air conditioner. This can be done inside or outside.

Step four: Spray the coils with Coil Cleen. Let them sit for 3-5 minutes according to the instructions on the Coil Cleen bottle.

Step five: Spray water into the coils at an angle so that it thoroughly rinses the coils. You should see dirt and fuzz flowing out with the water. I recommend a nozzle sprayer that maintains a tight jet of water.

Step six: Turn the air conditioner back on and enjoy your new efficiency.

Cleaning your unit once a year will help keep your cooling costs down.