For the next month or so, you may need your air conditioner to still be in commission in case of a sudden heat wave, since we all know fall can be unpredictable sometimes. Eventually, though, you’ll look at the upcoming weather forecast, see that temperatures are getting lower and lower, and know that the cold weather is here to stay, at least until spring.
First, we want to mention one very important Denver HVAC service. Heating maintenance: if you haven’t already scheduled this, it’s not too late, but we really encourage you to do it sooner than later.
Back to your air conditioner. You may think you can simply turn it off and leave it, and it will never suffer damage over the winter that might jeopardize its operation before you need it again. This is, however, a big possibility. Therefore, it’s important to take the proper steps to winterize your air conditioner.
This starts by shutting the system off. No, we aren’t just talking about turning it off at the thermostat. If we experience a short warm spell, after all, then the thermostat could cause the AC to turn on briefly, which can lead to snow, ice, and water getting sucked into the outside portion of your cooling system.
Shutting down your air conditioner completely reduces the change of electrocution among other problems. But how do you do this? Locate the outside circuit to the condenser unit, which is usually under a flip lid next to the condenser unit, and open the lid to switch the system to “off.”
The next step is to clean off and around the condenser unit. You may want to wash it down completely to remove any dirt and grime that has built up. Clear the area around it—remove sticks, leaves, branches, and lawn mulch. You want the condenser to be completely free of debris before moving onto the next step.
After you’ve cleaned off (and around) the condenser, you’ll want to give it a few hours to dry—which is important in preventing corrosion. After this, place a waterproof cover over it. You can purchase this type of cover from just about any home supply store, but to be honest there is really nothing wrong with using any tarp and some bungee cords to tie it down (this is important since wind can easily carry away a tarp that isn’t properly secured).
By following the above steps, your air conditioning system will be in good shape for when spring rolls around again. Of course, you will still want to schedule maintenance service for your air conditioner before you need it again, but with proper care you don’t have to worry about it accumulating extra damage over the winter. And don’t forget that you shut your unit off right at the source! Otherwise ,you might unnecessarily panic when you switch your thermostat to cooling mode and your system doesn’t turn on.
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