Should I Turn Off My A/C Unit During the Winter?
Should I Turn Off My A/C Unit During the Winter?
12/23/2021
As the fall season approaches, it sparks the time for homeowners to get their houses prepared for winter. One of these crucial steps is properly putting your A/C unit to rest for the colder months. You may be tempted to leave your A/C unit on as the cold weather should keep it from turning on. However, it would be best if you resisted the urge to do so.
Cold Weather and Your A/C Unit
While we all know that the winter weather can get quite cold, there are some days where it can be warmer than usual. If you leave your air conditioning unit on, it will kick on during an unusually warm day. As it goes through its natural cooling process, your air conditioning unit will create water.
As soon as the weather turns cold again, that water will freeze right up. This can create damage to the components of your air conditioning unit. For this reason, it's best to manually shut off your A/C unit whenever the summer is over.
Prepping Your Unit For Winter
Apart from manually shutting off your air conditioning unit, it's important that you perform some other maintenance steps to ensure that it stays in good working condition. First, you'll want to perform any necessary repairs that you know your A/C system needs.
Next, you'll want to clean the unit. Move any debris that has built up over the summer months with a garden house. While it can be tempting to use a pressure washer to clean your outdoor A/C unit, it's not recommended as you could damage the fins in your unit. If you notice that any of your fins are damaged, now is the time to use a fin comb or pair of plyers to bend it back into its ideal position.
Should You Cover Your A/C Unit?
One big debate that many homeowners get in the middle of is whether or not they should be covering their A/C unit during the winter months. Manufacturers do make air conditioning units to withstand the cold winter weather and snow. However, it's still recommended that you cover the top of your air conditioning unit to protect it from debris and snow buildup.
It's essential to note that you don't want to cover up the sides of your exterior air conditioning unit. This allows for adequate airflow to ensure that no moisture gets trapped inside your unit. If you were to cover the entire outdoor air conditioning unit, you would trap all that moisture inside it. This would result in unwanted rusting and corrosion of the interior parts.
Contact Us Today
If you need help getting your air conditioning unit prepared for the cold winter weather ahead, contact us at Command Service Center today. Our HVAC technicians can assist you with all of your heating and air conditioning needs.