Monsoon season in Arizona brings heavy rainfall, flash flooding, strong winds, and powerful lightning strikes. The season even brings dry storms that produce massive dust storms. Lasting from June through September, monsoon season causes extreme weather situations that can severely damage HVAC units. In this post, learn more about the steps you can take to protect your HVAC system and ensure it works well even during inclement weather.
Schedule Pre-Monsoon Season Maintenance Checks
You should maintain your HVAC system year-round, but it’s a good idea to have an HVAC professional inspect the external unit before monsoon season arrives. If the outdoor unit has any loose parts, a pre-monsoon season check offers the best time to do this. High winds can damage loose parts and lead to mechanical failure.
Keep the Area Clean Around the Outside Unit
High winds during monsoon season kick up a lot of debris, such as bits of plants and bushes. When plant debris gets into the outside condenser unit, it can damage the fins. Damaged fins decrease heat transfer, causing your AC unit to work harder to cool the home. Not only does this use more energy, but it can reduce the unit’s lifespan. If you choose to have some roof or windscreen protection for your HVAC unit, keep in mind that it needs adequate airflow to operate. Work with a qualified professional to ensure that anything blocking rain or wind is not also reducing efficiency.
Make it a habit to tidy up around the outside unit and hose it off with a garden hose once a week while tending to your yard to keep it as debris-free as possible. After a storm, check the unit and remove any debris that made its way into the unit.
Raise the AC Unit
If your outdoor air conditioning unit sits low to the ground, consider raising it. Wind isn’t the only thing that can harm your outdoor unit during monsoon season. Heavy rain can damage it, too, specifically the flooding from massive rainfall amounts in a short time. Raising your outdoor unit requires professional help. Hire a licensed HVAC professional to help raise the unit and protect it from flooding.
Install a Condensate Overflow Shut-off Switch
During the summer, the air conditioning part of your HVAC system removes moisture from the house. During the summer, when temperatures consistently hit the 100-degree mark, you might notice your air conditioner drains water constantly. You want your AC to drain water through the condensate line. However, problems arise during monsoon season when humidity rises and causes the AC to release more moisture,
Additionally, the high winds stir up dust and dirt that makes its way into the system and can clog essential parts, like the condensate drain. If this happens in your house, the water will back up in the condensate drain, fill up the drain pan, and overflow, leaking onto the floor and into your HVAC unit. Water can damage the interior HVAC system and cause it to shut down.
Installing a condensate overflow shut-off switch can eliminate the headaches caused by a clogged condensate line. The switch detects an impending overflow problem and turns off the system before it can damage your HVAC equipment. Contact an HVAC professional to install this shut-off switch before monsoon season hits for the best protection.
Install Surge Protection
Monsoon season brings awe-inspiring displays of lightning. However, with over 3 million lightning strikes recorded in Arizona in a single year, it’s important to prepare for their destructive nature. If lightning strikes a power line or transformer, the voltage spike can cause damaging power surges for your utility company customers, destroying electrical equipment including your home’s HVAC equipment.
Installing whole-house surge protection can safeguard your HVAC equipment during lightning storms. You can watch the light show in the sky and have peace of mind that your heating and cooling system is protected.
Prepare for Monsoon Season Now
Monsoon season doesn’t mess around, and neither do we. At El Indio AC, we want you to stay comfortable in your home no matter what the weather brings. For over 20 years, our family-owned business has provided exceptional AC repair, heating installation, ductwork services, and more to Arizona’s West Valley region.
Let us help you prepare your HVAC equipment for the monsoon season. Call El Indio AC today to learn more.
