While your air conditioning unit is made to withstand the weather, including rain and hail damage, there are times when you need to call your AC repair technician to inspect likely damage. If your AC system sits in standing water, due to flooding or other unexpected issues, it can cause severe damage to the moving parts and electrical pieces. The water usually has to reach about a foot in depth to affect your AC system, but if there has been any flooding at all, call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning for a safety inspection right away.
If intense rainfall or flooding caused your air conditioner to sit in standing water, there are a handful of things we suggest doing to avoid further damage or dangerous situations:
- Deactivate all the electrical switches to your air conditioning system. If you are not comfortable turning off your switches, you can call your air conditioning repair technician to help guide you through the process.
- Allow your air conditioning equipment to dry out. Get rid of any standing water if possible and cautiously clear any debris from the immediate area.
- Leave your AC system off until a professional air conditioner inspection has been done. Call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning and ensure your equipment will work safely and effectively with a full AC safety inspection.
CAUTION: Do not cover your outdoor HVAC systems with a tarp. This can actually cause more damage, including not allowing the air conditioner to air out completely and remove moisture, a could cause rust or other damage.
In addition to April showers, spring escorts in hail storms, also. Annually thousands of commercial and residential AC units are damaged by hail. While you can usually see obvious damage from the outside, you may not notice that the damage inside the air conditioner may be causing restricted air flow, decreasing the performance of the system. Sometimes you can fix the AC unit more easily, by combing the fins or replacing the coil, but an insurance company’s claim breakdown showed that around a tenth 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 things picked up by the wind, like tree branches, furniture, or sandboxes, can be thrown, damaging your system.
For a full air conditioning 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 area is under a serious storm warning.