While your air conditioner is created to withstand all sorts of conditions, including rain and storm damage, sometimes you need to call your AC repair technician to inspect potential damage. If your air conditioner sits in standing water, due to a torrential downpour or other unexpected issues, it can cause terrible damage to the moving parts and electrical pieces. The water usually has to reach about 12-15 inches in depth to affect your air conditioning system, but if there has been any flooding period, call Midway Services for a safety inspection as soon as possible.
If heavy showers or flooding caused your air conditioning unit to sit in standing water, there are a handful of things we advise doing to avoid further damage or dangerous situations:
- Turn off all the electrical switches for your air conditioner. If you are not comfortable doing this, you can call your air conditioning service company to help assist you with the process.
- Allow your air conditioner to dry out. Get rid of any standing water if possible and cautiously clear any debris from the immediate area.
- Don’t turn your air conditioner back on until a professional air conditioning inspection has been done. Call Midway Services and ensure your equipment will work safely and effectively with a full air conditioner safety inspection.
CAUTION: Do not cover your outdoor HVAC systems with a tarp. This can actually cause more damage, including not allowing the unit to air out entirely and remove moisture, a could cause rust or other damage.
In addition to April showers, spring also brings hail storms, also. Annually thousands of commercial and residential AC units are damaged by hail. While you can usually see obvious damage from the outside, you may not be able to see that the damage inside the air conditioning unit may be causing restricted air flow, obstructing the performance of the system. Sometimes you can fix the air conditioner more easily, by combing the fins or replacing the coil, but an insurance company’s claim breakdown showed that around a tenth of air conditioners damaged by hail had to be fully replaced.
Strong winds tend to accompany storms and while your AC system probably won’t get wind damage, other things picked up by the wind, like tree limbs, grills, or sandboxes, can be thrown, damaging your air conditioner.
For a full air conditioner inspection and safety check, call Midway Services today and we’ll make sure your AC system is working safely and efficiently. Help keep your loved ones safe during storm season and make sure to follow these guidelines if your home is under a serious storm warning.