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NORFOLK, Va. — As temperatures continue to scorch Hampton Roads, some have already felt the impact of having their air conditioning unit go out.

"It was extremely hot. It was 86 degrees in the house. It was stuffy, we were sweating. It was just absolutely horrible," Oksana Nix told 13News Now when her unit went out at Cambridge Apartments earlier this month.

While renters might have to rely on their landlords to fix the problem, homeowners can take steps to make sure they’re staying cool, even on the hottest days.

"We’ve been inundated with a tremendous amount of failures at the very beginning of the season," said Chandler Nelson with Bud’s Plumbing, Heating, HVAC & Electric.

He said they’ve been slammed fixing broken units all summer.

"It kind of blows my mind how many people wait until it’s 100 degrees outside to actually turn their air conditioning on."

He said that's usually when people first found out something is wrong, and that a lot of those failures come from stressed systems.

However, that headache can usually be avoided with regular maintenance.

From checking on refrigerant levels, cleaning your coils, making sure electrical lines aren’t weakening and flushing drain lines, that can all make a big difference.

"It seems like 50% of the homes in our area have the system up in the attic and if you have a drain line clog with no safety device -- which is huge -- now you have all that water coming down through your ceiling," Nelson said.

Not only will those safeguards reduce your risk of total breakdown by 95%, it could also cut 30% off of your power bill, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Even just changing dirty air filters and cleaning coils could save you up to 15%.

"Maintenance is pretty crucial to the longevity of the system," he said.

Not only will the maintenance save you money and a headache, it can also keep you and your family safe.

Regular checks will also safeguard your family against carbon monoxide poisoning.

If you do have a total system failure and need a replacement, that could cost you between $6,000 and $12,000.

The Department of Energy also says each year in the U.S., three million heating and cooling systems are replaced and $14 billion is spent on HVAC services or repairs.