Cleaning your AC after a Storm and Prepping Throughout Storm Season
The effects of Hurricane Irma will be felt for months and possibly years to come. We know that many area residents are doing their best to get back to business as usual as they start up work and school again while still cleaning up their homes and neighborhoods. For some homeowners, this includes cleaning their AC unit after the storm.
Cleaning Your AC Unit After a Storm
As a Brevard County AC repair company, we want to caution area residents as they go about turning their systems back on. Make sure your clean and test your system before you start running it all day.
During a storm, debris can clog or damage external AC units. Remove any leaves, branches, palm fronds or other matter that has collected around your outside condenser. If you didn’t use an AC cover during the storm or if your cover blew off, there’s a chance that debris may have entered your unit.
If you can see some debris in the fins of your unit, turn off power to the unit and use a wet/dry vac to suck up visible debris. If you can see debris further inside the unit that is not dislodged by a gentle vacuuming, consider contacting a Brevard county AC repair company.
If you experienced flooding during the storm, your AC make have suffered some damage. Unfortunately, while the rest of the country is cooling down, Florida is still experiencing plenty of heat and you likely need to have your AC running. If you’re having problems restarting your unit or if it isn’t working as well as it was before the storm, it’s important to contact an AC repair company to inspect your unit. Similarly, if your unit is now making weird noises or has a strange smell, turn it off and contact a reputable AC repair company in Brevard County, FL.
Running a malfunctioning unit could lead to more issues and further damage your unit. Rather than running that risk, hire a pro who can quickly inspect your unit and help you determine what steps need to be taken to fix or replace it.
Prepping Through Storm Season
If your unit survived Irma, that’s great. Make sure you’re prepared for future storms as well. While they likely won’t pack the power of a Category 5 hurricane, they can still do some serious damage to your AC.
Before a storm hits, clean around your AC. If you have trees or shrubbery nearby, trim that back so that no branches are obstructing the sides or top of your unit. Trim back any broken or damaged branches as well, as they could become projectiles in strong winds.
Sweep around the unit and check that the nearby drain is clean. A clog could lead to flooding around your unit, which may damage it or reduce its ability to cool your home.
If you have an AC cover, now’s the time to haul it out and place it on your unit. If you don’t have one, consider getting one. It could help lengthen your unit’s lifespan and prevent it from getting damaged during a storm.
During a bad storm, you may want to turn off the breaker at the thermostat and the circuit box to minimize damage to your unit in case the power goes out or if your grid experiences a voltage spike.
Storm season can be stressful for homeowners. This season, in particular, has dealt many Floridians quite a blow. Don’t make it worse by running a damaged AC. If you suspect your AC may have been damaged during the storm, contact a knowledgeable AC repair company to check it out.