You cannot stop a tropical storm or hurricane, but you can take steps to protect yourself and your family. If you live in a risk area, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises you to be prepared for the hurricane season. The season in the Atlantic is from June 1 to November 30 of each year.
It is always important to be prepared for a hurricane. Your planning this year could be different due to the need to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Public health and emergency response professionals have recommendations to help you prepare, evacuate, and shelter safely in the event of severe storms, while protecting and protecting others from COVID-19.
Storms don’t just bring rain and wind. They also cause power outages that can leave you without the comfort of your AC system and other appliances for hours or days. Make sure you take special care with your HVAC, so it can stay cool between storms.
At Guisan Air Conditioning we share 6 steps you can take before, during, and after a storm to minimize damage to your AC system and get it running faster when you turn it on again:
Pre-Cooling Your Home:
If you think your power can be turned off during a storm, go ahead and cool your house ahead of time so you can stay comfortable until power is restored. Place the thermostat in a cooler position than normal, close curtains and blinds, and keep doors and windows closed to keep cold air inside.
Disconnect electricity from your air conditioner:
Electrical surges from lightning during a storm can damage your air conditioning unit. There is also a possibility that dirt will stick to your outdoor unit and start the engine. Stay safe by turning off the power to your AC system. We recommend that you turn off the power on your thermostat and circuit breaker.
Cover your outdoor air conditioning unit:
This step is only really necessary if you are expecting a hurricane and strong winds. After you have turned off your air conditioner, cover it with a tarp or plywood to protect it from flying debris. Strong winds can knock down branches and trees that could damage your unit if they fall on it. Be sure to remove the cover as soon as possible. Keeping your unit covered for a long time can trap moisture that leads to mold.
Secure the unit:
If you have an elevated air conditioning on a second floor, be sure to secure your outdoor condenser unit with hurricane straps to keep it in place during strong gusts of wind. If your area is prone to flooding, we suggest you contact your AC contractor to raise your unit for better protection.
Check for damage before resetting your air:
This is one of the most important steps. Don’t forget to assess storm damage before turning the system back on. Flooding or flying debris could have damaged your unit and turning it on may worsen the problem. Also, storm winds cause disconnections inside your air conditioning unit, which could lead to leakage of toxic refrigerants. Turn on your air conditioner as soon as it seems safe. This will prevent mold and mildew from installing.
Contact an HVAC professional:
If you have problems or need repairs, it is safest to call an HVAC expert near you to inspect your AC system for damage after the storm. That will give you professional peace of mind that you are operating safely and properly.
Luckily, we as Guisan and Air Conditioning can offer great plans in HVAC service in Miami to fulfill any conditioning system solution you may request. We can also help if it turns out that you need to buy a new HVAC system. Read this article to know whether is better a repair or an AC replacement or contact them by phone or mail for further helpful information.