Every year the south, southeast, east and northeast coasts of the U.S. must prepare for the always expected, but never welcome; hurricane season. Here are a few tips on how to protect your home and business air conditioning system.
Before the storm
- Clean the surroundings of the outdoor unit. Remove anything that is on a 3 feet radius. During your pre-storm patio clean-up pay attention to trees, branches, and anything that can make contact with the unit frame; even it it seems to far to reach. Remember, strong wings can bend over small and medium sized bushes and branches, making them touch and damages your unit.
- Check for proper anchoring of the outdoor unit. In Florida, by law, all units must be firmly attached to the ground. This is the difference on find your unit in it’s place or the neighbor’s backyard.
- Protect the outdoor unit coil. This component is the must expose; fragile, and expensive. If you plan to make a plywood “fort” around it, take in consideration the manufactures clearing dimensions. Remember, the outdoor unit needs to “breath”, or it will shut down for self-protection; and permanent damage to the system can occur.
- For business locations, disconnect the electrical power from the unit, if the system will not be use. Switch the disconnect to OFF, both the outdoor and indoor unit. Remember, if you have a commercial air conditioning system, please call your a/c service provider, since the shutdown process may be a complex one. Doing this, will reduce the risk of damage in the event of a power surge; which are very common during this events.
During the storm
- Do not attempt to start the air conditioner if shutdown by itself. This may seem obvious, but is not. Don’t go outside and try to do an “inspection”. Electrical damages may have occurred at your location or to the power distribution system outside, and serious damage may happen to the equipment, and be a danger to yourself. Always, wait until the “all-clear” by local emergency authorities, to go outside.
After the storm
- Clean the outdoor unit from dirt, and leave before attempting to turn the air conditioning system ON.
- Do not turn ON your air conditioner without doing a visual inspection of both indoor and outdoor units. Look for coil damage, obstructed fan blades, damage refrigerant lines, suspicious electrical wires or components. Don’t switch ON if something looks suspicious.
- Call your a/c service provider if something is wrong. Don’t attempt to fix it yourself. You may cause a more serious damage and pricier repair. Don’t try to “play tech”.
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