If you reside in South Texas, unfortunately you should be familiar with tropical storms and hurricanes. We get them every year. The hurricane season is June 1 – November 30. The challenge with major storms goes beyond the initial wind and rain. In Houston, Richmond, Sugar Land, Katy, Missouri City and other areas in South Texas, the aftermath of the storm includes major flooding.
Problems That Storms Cause With Your AC System
Bad weather can cause your air conditioner to stop operating due to power outages or power surges. The best recommendation is to have surge protectors installed at both the furnace and outside condenser to prevent costly damaged motors or compressors from failing.
You may also consider turning the air conditioner to a colder setting before a thunderstorm or hurricane hits. This will maintain a cooler temp in the home before the bad weather hits. Once the thunderstorm or hurricane makes landfall, I highly recommend to go to your breaker box and turn the breaker designated for your air conditioner to the OFF position. Turn your air conditioning system OFF at the thermostat too. Also to make sure there is no exposed electrical wiring from you wall to the outside condenser unit that may get wet and cause further issues or electrical shortages.
Smart Thermostats Help During Storms
Fortunately, today with more modern thermostats there are built in time delays that will take up to 5 minutes before allowing the HVAC system to come back on. This will prevent your air conditioning system from rapidly shutting off and on causing high repairs and compressor damage.
Outside condensers that hold the heart of the unit, which is the compressor, are designed to function in all elements and seasons.
Weather in South Texas changes rapidly. As we know here in Houston we can wake up in shorts and be in jackets by lunch time.
If you’re home was flooded by recent storms and the AC is acting weird, not cooling, or making funny noises, contact us. We’ll fix it.
