Aircon cleaning (Window type): Regular maintenance

Once in a while your Aircon needs to be cleaned. Frequency depends on how dusty your area is and how much you use them
My area have a lot of dust in the air, so I clean my aircons fairly frequently and they're also running near 24/7
Filters
The inside filter, I clean about once a week. Just remember to be gentle with the filtersOften it's enough to just go over with a feather duster or a vacuum, with a gentle brush attachment
Once in a while I also like to rinse them. Then I bring them in the shower and rinse under lukewarm water
When I do that, I also rinse the cover
Afterwards I set them outside to dry, as I live in a hot climate. Otherwise, I'd leave then to dry in the shower, if the weather didn't allow for them to dry outside
Outside parts
For the outside part, I get a bucket with clean water and dipper. If you have access to a water hose, that will works fine as wellThen I wash the outside area and the fins. Fins can easily bend, so I only throw the water at them and avoid touching them as much as possible
Aircon fins inside
Lastly I clean the inside fins, so they have as much time as possible to tryHere I normally go lightly over with a vacuum to such out the dust. If it's extra dirty I take a spray bottle with pure water and spray it down
Then a quick wipe over the blades, these are normally not that dirty
After the filters have dried (at least mostly), I reassemble the aircon
Need more cleaning?
After doing all this, you have slowed down the aircon from getting to dirty. But at one point it will need more heavy cleaning and here you'd quickly need professionalsI try to have professional cleaning of my aircon every 3-6 months, as my area is very dusty. If you live in a less dirty area, this frequency will vary. I recommend asking your cleaner, if the aircon really was dirty. If they're honest they'll help give you advice on how frequent you should clean in your area. After a few cleanings and asking, you should have this pretty well adjusted
After reviewing the cost of professional cleaning in my area, compared to the additional electric cost of an dirty aircon (pluss that an dirty aircon doesn't cool as good). I've found that the extra you pay in cleaning, you get roughly back in lower electric bill and you also have an aircon that works much better