2 Mistakes To Avoid When Preparing Your Home's Central A/C Unit For Winter
Posted on: 22 October 2020
As winter approaches, you may be busy getting your house ready for the upcoming cold weather months. As part of your efforts, you may be ready to turn off the power to your home's central air conditioning unit and seal it up for the season. However, while you are preparing the AC unit for wintertime, make sure that you avoid the following mistakes. They could cause problems when you are ready to use it again in the spring and summer months.
1. Neglecting to Change or Clean the Air Filter
One mistake that you should avoid making when preparing your home's AC unit for winter is neglecting to change or clean the air filter. While you may believe that this is unnecessary because you will not be using it and plan to change or clean it when you go to use it again, it not a good idea to do so.
To help improve the air quality while cooling your home's air, the filter traps dirt, dust, and many allergens as well as mold spores. If you leave a dirty filter in your unit that contains spores, mold can grow and spread within it.
When you go to use your air conditioner the next time warm temperatures hit, even if you change the filter, the mold that has grown out of it will still be there. It will then spread new spores throughout your house if the unit's interior is not thoroughly cleaned.
2. Covering up the Unit's Entire Exterior
Another mistake that you should avoid making is covering up the unit's entire exterior with plastic. You may believe that you are protecting the air conditioner, but you may be putting it at risk for being damaged.
If the unit is completely covered, condensation will form during the day when the sun hits the plastic. Then, when the temperatures turn colder at night, the condensation will freeze and expand inside of the unit. This expansion could cause cracks insides.
Instead of covering the entire unit, you only need to ensure that the top half is covered to protect the condenser. This allows for the bottom half to breathe so that condensation evaporates.
Being careful not to make the above mistakes can help you prepare your air conditioner for the upcoming cold weather so that it is not damaged or subjected to mold and/or mildew growth. However, there are other fall maintenance tasks that are beneficial to the life of your unit which can be performed by a professional. Contact an HVAC contractor who offers residential AC services for more information.
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