It's spring, or at least you thought it was when you took the cover or tarp off of your central air conditioner. Now your central air unit is covered in four feet of snow! What on earth should you do next? Follow the tips below to make sure your unit is, and will be, still functional when the snow has finally melted and it is hot enough to run an air conditioner.
Dig It Out
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, an HVAC technician will tell you to dig your unit out. It is not covered, and therefore it is at risk. As all of the snow around it and on top of it melts, it will drip inside your exposed unit and cause some parts to begin to rust. If you dig out the unit now and clear away as much of the snow as you can, you can prevent a lot of that internal rust from happening.
Dry It Out
On the first hot day of summer, you may want to make sure the unit is definitely dried out. Remnants of snow and ice from a month or two ago may have been trapped inside. Using something like a handheld dryer to blow out water will help.
Cover It Back Up
As soon as the unit is cleared of snow, put the plastic cover or tarp back on until you know with absolute certainty there will not be another surprise snowstorm again this season. Yes, it could be just a freak storm and things will be fine going forward, but do you honestly want to risk it? Preventive measures that can protect and extend the life of your air conditioner, even when they seem unusual or unnecessary, are worth it.
Call an HVAC Technician to Check for Damages
If you do not usually have any air conditioning services completed in spring by air conditioning contractors, then you should consider some scheduled maintenance this year. Under the bizarre circumstances of the weather and the blizzards in April and/or May, you need to check the components of the air conditioner to make sure they are in perfect working order. The HVAC technician can schedule you as a spring maintenance appointment, just as he/she would otherwise. The only difference is that he/she knows that your unit was accidentally exposed to the snowstorm(s) of late, and he/she will look for related damages.
Get in touch with a business like Air Care Systems to learn more.
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