How to Get Your Air Conditioner Ready for Winter | Tips from Your Lewisville, TX Heating and Air Conditioning Repair Service
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With winter quickly heading our way in Lewisville, TX, it is important for you to know how to get your air conditioner ready for winter. These ideas and tips will help you prepare your air conditioner for the cold winter ahead.
- Turn the Unit Off: Prior to doing any heating and air conditioning repair to your air conditioner is to turn it off. Typically, an air conditioning unit will have a metal cover by the outdoor system that has a switch where you can turn the unit on and off. In warm areas like Lewisville, TX, the air conditioner will realize it is warm outside and will start up by itself. Even though this could cool your home off for the day, water can get in the coils of your air conditioner. The coils would freeze when it gets cold again which could cause your air conditioning unit to corrode and rust and then it would need a HVAC repair or it could even have to be replaced.
- Clean the Cover of Your Air Conditioner: The next thing you need to on a warm day is to clean your air conditioning unit and get any debris, dirt, dust, or bird droppings. You should choose a warm day so you can ensure that it will be warm enough for your air conditioner to dry completely to avoid a heating and air conditioning repair. You can also need to remove dead bugs, sticks, or leaves around the bottom of the unit also. Dead sticks and leaves can be appealing to small animals that will want to make a nest inside of your air conditioning unit. That is why it is essential to clean out your air conditioning unit because a lot of people that do not do so have found that their air conditioning unit wires have been chewed on by animals that nest in it after they look at their air conditioner when the weather starts to warm up again. This will cause major issues for your air conditioning unit and it can cause your air conditioner to be in need of a heating and air conditioner repair or for you to have to buy a new air conditioning unit.
- Cover Your Air Conditioning Unit: After that you make sure your air conditioning unit is dry in Lewisville, TX you then need to cover it up and keep it that way until the weather warms up again. If you cover it with a fabric cover, tiny rodents will often see it as a good place for them to be warm all winter long. Depending on what type of air conditioning unit you have, make sure to ask the manufacturer how you should cover it up during the cold weather months. No matter whether you cover it with a tarp or not, be sure to cover the top of it. You can cover it with a piece of plywood and then put a brick on top of the plywood to make sure that the plywood will not fall off. This will prevent leaves, sticks, and icicles from getting into your air conditioning unit and then requiring you to get an HVAC repair. It is also a good idea to get a waterproof air conditioning cover if you can find one.
- Cover Exposed Pipes: After your air conditioning unit is covered up, you then need to cover up your exposed pipes in order to avoid a heating and air conditioning repair. You can find the foam pipes that you need to cover up your pipes at any home improvement store. All you need to do is to put the covers on your pipes and then secure them with duct tape. In states like Utah, or even sometimes Texas, the temperatures can drop below freezing very quickly. These covers will prevent your pipes from breaking and freezing up, so you can avoid getting a heating and air conditioning repair before the warm weather comes back
- Get a Furnace Tune-Up: As you transition from using your air conditioner to using your heater, take the time to have a professional technician look at your air conditioning unit so you can avoid having a costly and time-consuming heating and air conditioning repair in the future. They can help you get your air conditioning unit ready for winter and also ensure that your furnace is working properly and that it is ready for the very cold months ahead of you.
- Check up on Your Outdoor Air Conditioning Unit on a Regular Basis: After you ensure that your air conditioning unit is ready for winter, do a visual inspection at least once a month during the cold winter months to ensure that there is no debris in them or any small animals nesting in them. You should brush off any ice and snow off of the outside of your air conditioning unit as well.
- Air Conditioners Even Need to Be Cared for in The Winter in Warm Climates: If where you live does not get very cold during the winter months, it is a lot easier to winterize your air conditioning unit. You will still have to clean and turn off your air conditioner, but you will not have to cover the unit or its pipes. It is not a good idea to cover your air conditioning unit in warmer climates because it can mold and mildew if it is covered. If any type of fungus grows on the coils of your air conditioning unit, it will block the airflow of your unit and will make your unit not work as well in the future. It could even make it to where it will need a heating and air conditioning repair. When it is time to turn your air conditioning back on, be sure to take the cover off so it will not overheat and need a heating and air conditioning repair for this reason. If you are unsure if you have properly got your air conditioning unit ready for the cold months ahead, read the manual that came with your air conditioning unit so you can avoid having to get a costly heating and air conditioning repair.
If you follow all of these ideas and tips, your air conditioning unit will make it through the winter will not be in need of a heating and air conditioning repair.