While your air conditioner is built to withstand all sorts of conditions, including heavy showers and wind damage, there are times when you need to call your AC maintenance technician to inspect potential damage. If your air conditioning unit sits in standing water, due to a torrential downpour or other unexpected issues, it can cause terrible damage to the moving parts and electrical sections. The water usually has to reach about a foot in depth to affect your AC system, but if there has been any flooding whatsoever, call Barlow Service Experts for an air conditioner inspection as soon as possible.
If heavy showers or flooding caused your AC system to sit in standing water, there are a few things we suggest doing to avoid additional damage or a dangerous environment:
- Turn off all the electrical controls for your air conditioner. If you are not comfortable with this, you can call your air conditioning service expert to help help you complete the process.
- Allow your AC system to dry out. Clear out any standing water if possible and carefully clear any debris from the immediate area.
- Leave your AC system off until a professional air conditioning inspection has been performed. Call Barlow Service Experts and ensure your equipment will run safely and effectively with a full air conditioner safety inspection.
REMEMBER: Do not cover your outdoor HVAC systems with a tarp. This may actually cause more problems, including not allowing the unit to air out entirely and remove moisture, potentially causing rust or other damage.
In addition to downpours, spring escorts in hail storms, also. Annually thousands of commercial and residential AC units are in need of repair because of hail. While you can probably see obvious damage from the outside, you may not be able to see that the damage inside the air conditioning unit may be causing restricted air flow, decreasing the performance of the system. Sometimes you can fix the air conditioner more easily, by combing the fins or replacing the coil, but an insurance company’s claim breakdown showed that around one out of ten of air conditioners damaged by hail had to be fully replaced.
Strong winds tend to accompany storms and while your AC system probably won’t get wind damage, other objects picked up by the wind, like bushes, furniture, or children’s outdoor toys, can be thrown, damaging your system.
For a full air conditioner inspection and safety check, call Barlow Service Experts today and we’ll make sure your air conditioning unit is working safely and efficiently. Help keep your home safe during storm season and make sure to follow these guidelines if your city is under a serious storm warning.