DES MOINES, Iowa — Every spring and summer heating and cooling companies around the metro are flooded with calls from customers who after turning on the air conditioner find out that it’s not working right.

However, with routine maintenance, many problems can be avoided.

Bobby Johnson, a System Engineer and Marketing Director for Golden Rule Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electrical, said that yearly maintenance checks catch problems before they start.

“Even if yours works that doesn’t mean it will in June or July because you could have a minor issue but that’s obviously going to get magnified the hotter we get,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that knowing when to get professional help is also important.

“If we’re paying attention to it something doesn’t sound quite right we hear a rattle it seems like it’s struggling or the airflow doesn’t seem quite the same whatever it might be in that individual home if you’re noticing something different then something’s wrong,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that replacing your air filter is an important part of preventative maintenance that doesn’t require the help of the pros.

“There’s a good portion of the calls that we go to just by being more diligent so there’s different versions there’s different lengths of time usually if you just have the little one-inch slide-in cardboard filters then just buy the cheap ones and do it every month that’s the best for your system,” Johnson said.