While your air conditioner is created to withstand the weather, including precipitation and storm damage, sometimes you need to call your AC repair technician to inspect possible damage. If your AC system sits in standing water, due to flooding or other unexpected issues, it can cause terrible damage to the moving parts and electrical components. The water usually has to reach about a foot in depth to affect your air conditioner, but if there has been any flooding at all, call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning for a safety inspection as soon as possible.
If intense rainfall or flooding caused your air conditioner to sit in standing water, there are a few things we recommend doing to avoid additional damage or a dangerous environment:
- Disable all the electrical switches to your air conditioner. If you are not comfortable with this, you can call your air conditioning service company to help assist you with the process.
- Allow your AC system to dry out. Get rid of any standing water if possible and safely clear any debris from the immediate area.
- Do not turn on your air conditioning system until a professional air conditioning inspection has been done. Call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning and ensure your equipment will run safely and effectively with a full AC safety inspection.
NOTE: Do not cover your outdoor heating and cooling systems with a tarp. This can actually cause more issues, including not allowing the unit to air out properly and remove moisture, possibly causing rust or other damage.
In addition to downpours, spring escorts in hail storms, also. Each year thousands of commercial and residential AC units are damaged by hail. While you can typically see obvious damage from the outside, you may not notice that the damage inside the air conditioner may be causing restricted air flow, hindering 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 AC systems damaged by hail had to be completely replaced.
Strong winds tend to accompany storms and while your AC system probably won’t get wind damage, other items picked up by the wind, like bushes, furniture, or unattached enclosures, can be thrown, damaging your air conditioning unit.
For a full air conditioner inspection and safety check, call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning today and we’ll make sure your AC system is working safely and efficiently. Help keep your loved ones safe during storm season and make sure to follow these guidelines if your city is under a serious storm warning.