After I bought my first house, my dad gave me a couple of books to help with home repairs. One of the books was especially about repairs on the AC system. My new home Central AC and a heat pump and I didn’t know the first thing about the equipment. My dad worked as a contractor, and he learned everything that he knows from reading books and having experience. He never had formal training. I tried reading some of the books, but I found them to be boring. I didn’t use them much at all until I had the first problem in the house. It turned out to be an issue with the central AC. I found the book on repairs and followed a list inside that included some simple areas I could check for problems. These simple steps included clearing the drain line and checking for buildup of mold and dirt, changing the air filter, and checking for problems with the evaporator coils. The handy list pointed me in the right direction and I realized that the evaporator coils were very dusty and dirty. They needed to be cleaned. I used an old toothbrush to carefully clean all of the evaporator coils. I learned that trick in the book too. I cleaned the coils, the machine works much more effectively. I called my dad later that night and I told him the story about the AC unit. Since then, I always try to figure out problems on my own before I contact a professional and spend a lot of money.