Panasonic air conditioning in your second home in Jávea: start-up and maintenance

If you have a Panasonic air conditioner in your Jávea home and only come for a few weeks a year, the best way to look after it is a check-up before each season by the official service centre, with genuine parts and a thorough clean of the outdoor unit to deal with the salt air. With that, and with the unit set up to be controlled from your phone, it will work properly on the day you arrive, not a week later.

If you're looking for how to look after all the air conditioning in the house while it's empty, you'll find it in our guide on how to look after the air conditioning in your Jávea home while you're away. Here we focus on what is specific to Panasonic units: the benefits of the official Panasonic service centre, what starting up after months of standing idle involves and what we check in a coastal home.

Why the official service centre is the right choice for your Panasonic air conditioning in Jávea

At Davofrío we are a Panasonic-certified service centre for the city and province of Alicante, and we cover Jávea from our premises on calle Alameda. For the owner of a second home, that means four practical things:

• Official brand parts. When something needs replacing, we fit the genuine spare part, not an uncertified alternative.
• The manufacturer's warranty stays valid. Work carried out by the official service centre does not void it. Work by an unauthorised technician, or a non-genuine spare part, can.
• The correct gas charge. A badly done refrigerant charge is one of the most common problems with these units. The official technician knows what charge each model takes and how to check it.
• Up-to-date information. We keep up with the brand's latest developments, so we know both the models being installed now and those that have been in local homes for years.

In a house that stays shut for months, this matters more than in a home that is lived in all year. If the unit breaks down in August with the house full, the last thing you want is a temporary repair or a part that doesn't fit and means waiting for another visit.

Starting up your Panasonic air conditioning after months shut away in Jávea

A unit that isn't running doesn't wear out through use, but dust, humidity and salt keep doing their work. That's why the pre-season check-up isn't just switching it on and seeing whether cold air comes out. This is what we do when we start it up:

1. We inspect the outdoor unit: the condition of the casing, brackets and coil fins, and any built-up dirt.
2. We clean the filters and the indoor and outdoor coils with specialist products.
3. We check the drain: that the water flows out and there are no leaks or blockages.
4. We measure the refrigerant pressures and check the electrics.
5. We test the unit in cooling, heating, fan and dehumidifying modes.
6. We leave you a report on the condition of the unit and anything worth keeping an eye on.

Ideally, it should be done a few days before you arrive. If a part needs replacing, there's time to order and fit it without you going without air conditioning for the first few nights.

What you can check yourself when you arrive

If you arrive and the unit won't start, check these three things before calling us. They solve more call-outs than you might think:

• That the RCD and the air conditioning circuit breaker haven't tripped over the winter.
• That the remote control has batteries and is set to the mode you want.
• That the filter isn't covered in dust.

If the unit switches on but shows an error code or the light is flashing, make a note of it and don't keep switching it on and off. With that information we arrive with a clearer idea of the fault.

Salt air and Panasonic air conditioning in the Arenal, the Puerto and the Granadella

Near the sea, in the Arenal, the Puerto or the Granadella, the outdoor unit corrodes much sooner than inland. Salt sticks to the coil fins and the screws, and with the humidity of a closed-up house the wear carries on even when the unit isn't used. A villa on the slopes of the Montgó gets far less salt than a seafront apartment, but none escapes it completely.

In the annual check-up of a coastal home we clean the salt off the coil and check the casing and the electrical connections. Dirty fins exchange heat less efficiently, the compressor works harder and consumption goes up.

If you're replacing your unit, ask for one with anti-corrosion treatment. For anyone looking for low running costs, in Jávea we usually recommend high-end Panasonic or Fujitsu, and we always choose the model to suit the house, not because it's the most expensive.

Controlling the Panasonic air conditioning in your Jávea home from your phone

Many Jávea homeowners live in Madrid, in another city or outside Spain. For them, being able to control the air conditioning remotely makes a big difference to how they use the house. Many current units can be connected to wifi, either as standard or with an adapter. During the visit we'll tell you whether yours supports it and what it needs.

With the unit connected you can:

• Switch it on a few hours before you arrive and walk into a cool house in summer or a comfortably warm one in winter.
• Run it in dehumidifying mode on some days while the house is shut.
• See whether it responds, which already warns you of a possible power cut or a fault.

A detail that's often forgotten: if you switch off the main switch when you leave, remote control stops working. If you want to use it, leave the air conditioning and router circuits switched on, and make sure the house wifi stays active.

When to service a Panasonic air conditioner in a second home in Jávea

The best time depends on when you use the house. The rule is simple: the check-up comes before the season in which the unit will work hardest.

You don't need to be in Jávea. We arrange the visit with whoever has the keys, whether that's a neighbour, a property administrator or a management company, and we send you the report.

How we work with Panasonic units in Jávea

We have been installing and maintaining air conditioning since 2003, with an ISO 9001:2015 quality system. This is how we work in Jávea:

• No-obligation technical visit, with a response in under 24 hours.
• Our own technicians, no subcontracting. The technician who installs it is the one who comes back if anything goes wrong.
• Fixed written quote before we start. If it's a fault, we don't touch anything without your approval.
• Genuine spare parts and a test of the unit in every mode when we finish.

As well as Panasonic, we are the official service centre for other brands such as Daikin, Bosch and Hitachi, so if the house has units from several brands, we check them all in the same visit.

Frequently asked questions about Panasonic air conditioning in Jávea

Are you the official Panasonic service centre in Jávea?

Yes. We are a Panasonic-certified service centre for Alicante and its province, and we cover Jávea from our premises on calle Alameda, with our own technicians and genuine spare parts.

Will I lose the warranty if another technician services the unit?

Work carried out by the official service centre does not void the manufacturer's warranty. Work by an unauthorised technician, or the use of non-genuine spare parts, can.

Can you service the air conditioning if I'm not in Jávea?

Yes. We arrange the visit with whoever has the keys to the house and send you a report on the condition of the unit and the work we've done.

When should a Panasonic air conditioner in a second home be serviced?

Before the season in which you'll use it: in spring if you come in summer, and in autumn if you use it for heating. Ideally a few days before you arrive, in case a part needs ordering.

Do you cover Moraira, Benitachell and Dénia?

Yes. From our Jávea premises we cover the Arenal, the Puerto, Duanes de la Mar, Benitachell, Teulada-Moraira, Gata de Gorgos and Dénia, with the same official service.

Book a check-up for your Panasonic air conditioning in Jávea

Tell us when you're arriving and where the house is, and we'll arrange the check-up a few days beforehand. We inspect the unit, explain what we've found and, if anything needs replacing, give you a fixed written quote before we touch it. If you'd rather someone else let us in, we'll arrange it with them.

You'll find the details of the service on the page for our official Panasonic service centre and on the page for Davofrío Jávea.

If the unit has already broken down, read how we handle air conditioning repair in Jávea. And if the house has an air source heat pump, you'll want to read our post on air source heat pumps and underfloor heating in Jávea.