Extreme summer heat is pushing air conditioning units to the limit across the Rio Grande Valley, and one local company says the calls for help are surging fast.

Channel 5 News spoke with a technician about what people should do to maintain their A/C properly.

Colair received more than 4,800 calls for A/C service in June alone. Compared to last year, the numbers doubled.

Channel 5 News was at a Palmview home as A/C repair technicians serviced a unit belonging to Leroy Widowski, a Palmview resident.

Widowski said having a working A/C unit goes beyond comfort. As a veteran, he has several medications that need to stay cool.

"All the medications that the VA prescribed me for my PTSD and things like that, I have to know where the temperatures are perfect in here," Widowski said.

Colair Sales Manager Saul Cuellar said the leading cause of A/C problems is lack of maintenance.

"They haven't been cleaned. It's been eight years or five years since anybody touched the unit, and people tend to forget about it. They think it's a machine that keeps on giving," Cuellar said.

Cuellar also warned about what happens when a thermostat never reaches its set point.

"If it is struggling to cool and the thermostat never reaches the set point, that system is not going to turn off,” Cuellar said. “It's going to continue working… It starts to get hotter, and it starts to work hotter. The components start to give out and stuff starts to melt.”

Widowski said he changes his filter every two months and keeps the house at 73 degrees to protect the unit.

Colair recommends checking the A/C system twice a year and changing the air filter once a month.