Spring is upon us! While we haven’t dealt with the heat and humidity quite yet, it’s just about time to start using air conditioning. As a professional HVAC dog, I know all about how to best prepare your air conditioner for spring. Preventive maintenance is essential, of course. Without it your air conditioner can’t work efficiently. Think of it as just another part of spring cleaning—except you have to bring in professionals for this type of cleaning!
Scheduling maintenance is just part of the puzzle, though. There are things you can do today to help ensure your air conditioning system will be up and running when temperatures rise, and this includes clearing debris away from your outdoor unit.
Can Debris and Mulch Hurt My Outdoor Unit?
As a dog I have a special advantage about understanding what lies around on the ground. It’s a perspective that people don’t have. It doesn’t take much of the debris lying on the ground around the outdoor unit to restrict the system’s airflow. In fact, if as little as a few inches of your outdoor unit is covered by mulch, the system won’t work properly.
Since this is the time of year for gardening and such, naturally you may be mulching around your unit. You should take care to not pack it around the base of the unit. In fact, a great way to protect your system without taking away from the visual appeal of your yard is to use rocks instead of mulch around the unit. Another way to make sure your outdoor unit isn’t obstructed is to trim back your shrubs and bushes.
This is all good advice, and I’m all about giving my readers advice. But ultimately, you’re going to need an expert on the ground to make sure that your AC can take on the summer weather and see that it’s properly cleaned off. That mulch and debris may have already gotten inside the unit and covered the condenser coil, and it takes an HVAC technician to handle the cleaning. I’m going to not-so-humbly suggest you call our folks here to sign up for maintenance. (Why not-so-humble? Hey, I know they’re good!)