Tips For Preparing Your Air Conditioner For The Coming Winter Months

If you are to minimize the amount of wear and tear that your air conditioner suffers during the winters, you will want to be proactive in preparing the unit at the end of the fall. Otherwise, it may fail to effectively cool your home when the weather warms.

Clean And Inspect The Unit

One of the most basic steps in the process of winterizing the air conditioner will be to thoroughly clean and inspect the unit. This will remove dust and dirt that may trap moisture on the unit. As you inspect the unit, you will be looking for signs that it has developed rust, suffered punctures or become dented.

Keep The Drain Clear

Ice and snow are among the more common winter threats that your air conditioner can face. To limit the amount of water that gets trapped inside the air conditioner, there is a drain near the bottom of the unit. However, this drain can become clogged, and this will allow water to get trapped inside the unit for long periods of time. When you are winterizing the unit, you should closely inspect this drain to ensure that it is completely free of debris. Additionally, you will need to periodically check the drain during the winter as it can be possible for it to become clogged during the winter.

Treat The Unit For Pests

During the harsh winters, small animals will seek shelter anywhere that they can find. Unfortunately, air conditioning units can be extremely tempting to these animals. While you may not think that this will be bad for the unit, these pests will chew on the wires and other internal components of the system. As you are preparing the unit for the winter months, you should have it professionally treated so that these pests will be much less likely to target the unit.

Consider Covering The Unit

An effective way of minimizing the wear that the nit will experience during the winter is to place a protective cover over it. This cover will minimize the amount of time that ice and snow will spend in contact with the unit. When you are covering the unit, you will want to avoid situations where moisture gets trapped inside the unit as this could lead to molds, mildews and other substances growing inside the system. Luckily, you can easily avoid this problem by leaving at least one of the unit's exterior vents uncovered. This will allow enough air to circulate so that any moisture that gets inside the unit will be able to quickly evaporate.