How Extreme Weather Affects Your Air Conditioner
What Happens When Your Outdoor Air Conditioner Encounters a Hurricane
When hurricane season arrives, we know that you take every available precaution to keep your home and family safe. But what about your air conditioner?
If you have an outdoor air conditioning unit, it’s vulnerable to all kinds of damage from hurricanes and other major storms. Extreme weather can leave electrical components fried, air compressors and other parts broken beyond repair, and can even destroy your unit’s outer casing. These damages can not only cost you a bundle in repairs and replacements, but the possible electrical damage can easily become a safety hazard.
A Hurricane or Severe Storm can Leave Your Outside AC Unit Vulnerable To:
- Lightning strikes
- Wind damage
- Blackouts
- Electrical damage
- Flying debris
- Sand and sediment
How to Protect Your AC Unit
Just like the rest of your home, your air conditioner needs to be properly protected from hurricane damages. With a few basic steps, you can ensure that your loved ones won’t be put at risk by a damaged air conditioner before, during, or after the storm.
Before a Severe Storm, You Should:
- Make sure your AC is turned completely off before the storm hits, and that includes turning off the electrical current connected to it
- Pre-cool your home by turning up the AC beforehand
- Cover your unit with a tarp or plywood to protect it from wind damage and debris
- If not already secured at ground level, use hurricane straps to ensure your air conditioner stays in place
- Consider installing a surge protector
Post-Hurricane Check-Ups
After the storm has passed, carefully inspect your unit and the connecting electrical and coolant lines for visible signs of damage as soon as possible. Make sure there’s no smoke damage, that your unit hasn’t been struck by flying debris, and your vents are still clear and unblocked. If everything looks good, carefully turn your unit back on. It’s important to get this done quickly, because mold, mildew, and bacteria can easily make themselves at home inside a turned-off air conditioner and spread through your air ducts. But be careful – turning on a damaged air conditioner can make damages worse.
Once your unit is turned on again, make sure you’re not hearing any strange sounds or noticing any differences in performance. If you’re hearing strange clicking or buzzing sounds, smelling smoke, or noticing anything else out of the ordinary, it’s time to call our professionals.
Call the Professionals if Something’s Not Right
If your air conditioner is performing differently post-hurricane, you can see visible signs of damage, or you want to make sure nothing’s wrong before turning it on again, you can always contact Airrific Air Conditioning and Heating to make sure your unit is safe and functional, or to provide you with the repair services you need to get things up and running again.
Need Air Conditioning Repair? Talk to your air conditioning repair experts at Airrific Air Conditioning & Heating today! Call (941) 371-3355.
