While some people believe they should cover their HVAC system’s outdoor unit over the winter to protect it from the elements, doing so can cause more problems than it solves. For example, covering your outside AC unit can increase the risk of mold and rust developing in the system. So instead of covering your exterior unit, follow these top five maintenance tips to prepare your AC for the winter.
Before you perform any air conditioner maintenance, the first step you should take is to shut off your AC’s power. Turning off your AC power serves two purposes. First, it protects you from electrocution. Second, ensures your AC doesn’t accidentally turn on over the winter.
To turn off your AC safely, you’ll need to find the exterior power circuit. This unit is likely mounted on the side of your home. After you’ve found the circuit, open its cover and look for the switch that controls your AC unit’s power. Flip this switch to shut down your AC. Then, check your AC to make sure it’s stopped running before you perform any other maintenance.
While air conditioners are built to withstand harsh conditions, they can still be damaged. Since the winter can place more strain on your condenser and make any existing problems worse, it’s best practice to check your outdoor unit for signs of damage.
During your inspection, ensure your condenser’s seals are free from cracks and tightly secured, as loose or cracked seals can allow contaminants to get inside the condenser. You’ll also want to look for signs of cracks, leaks, or rust. If you notice any damage, contact an AC professional to provide AC system maintenance and repairs. By contacting a professional, you’ll prevent any issues from worsening during the winter.
Once you’ve checked your AC for damage, you’ll also want to clean it, as dirt and debris build-up could potentially damage it over the winter. When you start cleaning, remove any large pieces of debris, such as dead branches, on or around your unit. Next, use a broom to sweep away leaves and twigs on the condenser or close to it.
With the debris swept away, you can use a hose to spray off any dirt, bird droppings, or dust on the unit. Hosing down the unit will prevent dirt and other potentially damaging particles from corroding your AC’s frame. While cleaning the exterior portion of your condenser is usually safe, it’s best to leave the internal AC cleaning to the professionals. An internal cleaning from a professional will help avoid wear and tear on your system’s components and protect those components from accidental damage that can occur when someone isn’t properly trained.
When you want to keep your AC in good condition all winter long, it’s important to keep it clear of debris following your initial cleaning. During the winter, you’ll often see more debris in your yard, like pinecones, branches, and leaves.
Since debris can get inside and damage your unit, you’ll want to check it every couple of weeks and sweep any debris you notice on or around it. Additionally, snow and ice can add extra weight to your unit and potentially damage it, making it important to remove any snow or ice build-up you notice.
Though you can perform some maintenance yourself, a professional inspection from a trained HVAC technician is always worth the investment. A technician can perform a comprehensive inspection of your unit and ensure it’s ready to handle the demands of winter. Experts can spot issues you might never notice and fix them before they affect your system’s performance and health.
Besides inspecting your unit, an HVAC technician can also perform AC system maintenance and repairs for you. This maintenance keeps your system in great shape and lower the risk of damage to your system over the winter.
If you’re looking for air conditioner maintenance services near you in Northern California, Peter Levi can help. With an experienced team and a wide service area covering Novato and the surrounding areas, we’re prepared to serve any of your AC maintenance needs. When you sign up for air conditioner maintenance from Peter Levi, you can expect your air conditioner to last longer, suffer from fewer breakdowns, and provide greater performance. We also offer various coupons to ensure you get the best deal possible.
Learn more about our air conditioner maintenance services and annual maintenance plan. Please contact us to schedule an appointment today!
When your air conditioner is working correctly, it should never blow warm air. Warm air from your AC likely indicates a problem with the unit. It’s critical you have an HVAC technician inspect it as soon as possible. If you’re wondering if it’s time to call an HVAC tech, learn more about the five main reasons why your AC is blowing warm air and the leading solutions for each problem.
Your air conditioner could be blowing warm air due to thermostat issues, low refrigerant levels, frozen evaporator coils, or a variety of other problems. When you know the primary reasons why an AC might be blowing warm air, you can more quickly spot when your AC is having issues and take action before a problem spirals out of control. Review the five reasons why your AC might feel warm and how to solve them below:
Sometimes, an AC that isn’t blowing cool air is due to a malfunctioning thermostat or an improper setting. Before you spring for a full HVAC inspection, ensure your thermostat hasn’t been accidentally set to heat. If it’s not on its heating setting, your thermostat could be malfunctioning.
Typically, the chance of a thermostat issue being to blame is increased if the thermostat is older or hasn’t been calibrated correctly. You can always check your thermostat manual to ensure all your settings are correct. Still, you’ll probably need to contact an HVAC specialist to review your thermostat and the rest of your HVAC system to determine if the thermostat is to blame.
When your thermostat isn’t to blame, there’s a high chance low refrigerant levels are causing the warm air. Your AC’s refrigerant absorbs the humidity and heat in your air. If your AC doesn’t have enough refrigerant, it won’t be able to effectively remove heat from your air, resulting in warm airflow.
AC refrigerant circulates within a sealed system. While some components require regular maintenance, air conditioner refrigerant rarely needs service—unless there is a problem. In these cases, your AC is likely leaking refrigerant from a hole or crack.
Usually, you can tell your AC has low refrigerant if ice is building up in your exterior unit or if you can hear bubbling or hissing noises. Without quick service, the leaking refrigerant could damage your compressor motor. As a result, you must have an HVAC technician inspect your system, repair any leaks, and refill your refrigerant.
When your condenser coils work correctly, they’ll remove heat from your home’s air and transport it outdoors. However, these coils are in your outdoor condenser and can be exposed to the elements. Due to their location outdoors, grime, dirt, and other debris can sometimes accumulate on them, resulting in reduced heat transfer. Without proper heat transfer, your AC will start blowing warm air. The dirty coils can even put greater strain on your AC, causing early breakdowns.
To solve dirty condenser coils, a trained HVAC technician must turn off your condenser, open up your unit, and clean the coils. You can reduce the chance of your condenser coils getting dirty by regularly removing debris around the condenser and using a hose to wash off any dirt build-up.
Another reason your AC might be blowing warm air is frozen evaporator coils. Your evaporator coils contain your AC’s refrigerant and will help absorb heat from your air. Ice can build up on these coils when you have low refrigerant levels or when air can’t flow properly through your unit. Though the evaporator coils will be cold, they won’t be able to absorb warm air. In these cases, your AC will either blow warm air or no air at all.
Since frozen evaporator coils usually indicate a problem with your AC, you’ll need an HVAC technician to inspect your unit to find the source of the problem. Usually, dirty air filters or refrigerant levels will have caused the freezing, so an HVAC technician may need to repair or replace a filter before cleaning the evaporator coils.
Your AC’s air filters prevent dust and debris from entering your HVAC system. Over time, these filters will get clogged. If you don’t change them, air can't flow through your system easily, and your AC might blow warm air. Fortunately, solving a dirty air filter is easy!
You can simply swap out the old filter for a clean one that fits your system. To prevent dirty filters in the future, you might also want to sign up for a maintenance plan where an HVAC technician will regularly swap out your filters and inspect your system.
If you’re looking for AC repair, replacement, or maintenance services near you in Novato or the surrounding areas, Peter Levi has you covered. When your AC is blowing warm air, you can trust our HVAC technicians to thoroughly inspect your system, share our results with you, and provide any repairs your AC needs to start working again. We can also replace your AC with a more energy-efficient model if it’s damaged beyond repair or on its last legs. Additionally, we offer multiple coupons to ensure you receive the best deal possible on our services.
We welcome you to learn more about our air conditioning services to get started. Please contact us if you have any questions or want to schedule an appointment today!
Do you know how to shut off your toilet’s water supply? This information can be crucial in protecting your home from water damage. For example, an overflowing toilet or a leaking pipe can make a huge mess if you don’t immediately shut off your toilet’s water supply. Fortunately, turning off your toilet’s water supply is easy and can help prevent water damage and messes.
When you have a toilet emergency, you can prevent a costly mess by turning off your toilet’s water supply. While there are a few ways you can cut off your toilet’s water supply, the most common and easiest way to do so is by using a shut-off valve. Since most homes and apartments usually have a shut-off valve behind their toilets, you can typically follow these four steps to shut off toilet water.
Before using your toilet water shut-off valve, you need to know where it’s located. Typically, a toilet shut-off valve will be mounted on a wall and placed behind your toilet. To find your valve, simply look at the wall behind your toilet. You should see the shut-off valve close to the bottom of the left-hand side of your wall.
After you’ve found your toilet’s shut-off valve, you’ll need to turn the valve clockwise until it’s tight and won’t let you turn it anymore. For those with a push/pull valve, you can pull the valve all the way out to shut off the toilet water. However, if you notice your valve is stuck and won’t turn due to corrosion or rust, we wouldn’t recommend trying to turn it. Instead, you’ll need to use your home’s main water shut-off valve to stop your toilet from overflowing or leaking.
Once you’ve turned the shut-off valve clockwise, check if your toilet’s water has actually been turned off by flushing your toilet. When you’ve had to shut off your toilet water due to a clog, you can lift the float level in the back tank. When you’ve performed either of these checks, you’ll know the shut-off valve has worked if your tank doesn’t refill in your tank. After you’ve verified your water supply is off, you’ll likely want to contact a plumber to repair whatever issue caused a leak, clog, or overflow.
Though a plumber will usually turn your water back on after completing a repair, it’s simple to do it yourself. All you have to do is turn the toilet’s shut-off valve counterclockwise until it doesn’t turn anymore. Next, you can test if your toilet is receiving water by flushing the toilet. If everything is working correctly, your bowl and tank should refill with water. If not, you’ll likely need help from a plumber.
If you’re looking for a plumber near you—in Novato or the surrounding areas—turn to Peter Levi, a Bonney company. When something goes is with your toilet, give us a call! Our plumbers will inspect, diagnose, and repair the problem. Our experts can also replace your toilet if it’s past the point of repair. Before you receive any of our services, you should review our coupons to receive the best deal possible.
We invite you to learn more about our toilet repair and replacement services today. If you have any questions or want to schedule an appointment, please contact us.
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