How often to service your aircon, and whether a yearly contract is worth it

There is no single schedule that suits every aircon. How often you should book depends on how many hours the unit runs, where it sits, and what has gone wrong before. This guide gives a practical way to decide, and shows how to judge a yearly contract against paying visit by visit.

What drives the schedule

Hours of use. A bedroom unit that runs all night collects dirt faster than a living-room unit used for a few hours at weekends. In Singapore, with year-round heat, many units run daily.

Location. Kitchens add grease to the dust. Shopfronts and units near busy roads collect more airborne dirt. Both justify shorter gaps.

Pets, smoking and renovation dust. Each adds load to filters and coils.

History. A unit with a past drain choke or leak deserves a closer watch than a new one.

Situation	Reasonable starting point
Daily use in a bedroom or living room	Every three to four months, adjusted by how it feels
Light use, such as a guest room	Once or twice a year
Kitchen, shop or food outlet	More often than a typical home, with periodic deep cleans
New installation	Follow the installer’s schedule and keep the paperwork
Rental, between tenants	Before a new tenant moves in

These are starting points from common practice among contractors, not a rule. Watch the signals: weaker airflow, a stale smell, water dripping from the indoor unit, or a unit that takes longer to cool the room.

One-off or contract?

A one-off visit is flexible. You pick the contractor each time, and a poor experience costs you one visit. A contract locks in a lower per-visit rate and gets you on the schedule without having to remember.

	One-off	Yearly contract
Per-unit price seen in Yishun listings	About $35 to $70	About $22 to $45 per visit
Visits	Whenever you book	Commonly three to four a year
Risk	Higher price per visit	You may pay upfront; visits may not be honoured
Best for	One or two units, light use	Several units, daily use

The contract risk to read about first

Reviewers report mostly good experiences with fair pricing, but one noted a contractor who became uncontactable after the first service on a yearly plan. That is a reason to read the terms, not to avoid contracts. Check these before paying:

1. How many visits, and are they scheduled or on request?
2. Is payment upfront, or per visit?
3. What does each visit cover, and are chemical washes included or discounted?
4. How do you book, and what is the response time?
5. Is there a cancellation or refund route if visits are not delivered?
6. Does the contractor offer repair rates for contract customers?

If you can pay per visit, or in two parts, that reduces your exposure.

Matching the schedule to your flat

For a typical household with two or three units in daily use, quarterly general servicing plus a chemical wash when symptoms appear is a common pattern. If you are away often or use the air-con lightly, you can stretch it out. If you start noticing a smell or weak airflow between visits, book sooner rather than waiting for the next slot.

Checking whether the schedule is working

After a few months, look at the results. Is the unit cooling as well as it did after the first service? Has the smell returned? Are drain problems recurring? If the answers are good, your schedule is probably right. If the same issues return between visits, either shorten the gap or ask the contractor why the problem keeps coming back.

Keep a simple note of each visit date and what was done. It makes contract disputes easier to resolve and helps you notice when a visit was skipped.

Find a contractor

Browse the aircon servicing and cleaning contractors in Yishun and ask for contract terms in writing before you commit. Our scoring method shows how the listed contractors are rated, and the home page has the rest of the directory.