You love animals, but you definitely do not love what they can do to the equipment that keeps your family comfortable at home. The air conditioning unit that you rely on for comfortable indoor temperatures all summer long is susceptible to damage from unwanted visitors to your home. We’re talking about wild animals and pets that your neighbors allow to roam around freely through the neighborhood.
An AC unit is a major investment that you need to protect and maintain to get the smallest total cost of ownership. Part of your responsibility for keeping the AC system up and running is to protect it from outside creatures. Here are tips to help you stop animals from damaging your AC unit.
Do not Leave Food Outside for Pets
While you want to make it convenient for your beloved pets to eat whenever they want, including when outside in the back yard, if you leave food outside, it’s an invitation for unwanted animals to come running over for dinner.
Avoid putting food outside. If you are on good terms with your neighbors, remind them about the importance of not inadvertently feeding feral animals with food left out for pets.
Keep the Yard Clean
Keep up with your yard maintenance throughout the year. Make sure the grass remains short and ensure that there is no lawn debris around the AC unit. Grass encourages more animals to prowl around and taller grass gives them a better opportunity to hide from predators.
Homeowners who are too busy to keep up with this chore on a regular basis are encouraged to hire gardeners and landscapers to keep up on routine yard duties. The cost of hiring a gardener will be much less than an expensive repair bill if your AC unit is damaged.
Use Traps and Repellents
Animals will naturally still move around on your property, even if you aren’t leaving any food out to tempt them. In severe cases, put out some traps to catch animals and use repellents to keep inquisitive animals away from your air conditioning equipment. You can purchase special traps that will capture animals without killing them, so you can then release them into the wild or turn them over to an animal rescue group in your area.
Check the Air Ducts Regularly
It’s also important to make sure that your air ducts are clear of critters. If they get inside the ducts, they can run rampant, causing damage to all types of components that they now have access to. Of course, this is a task that your HVAC technician can perform for you during each yearly visit to your home to inspect, clean and maintain the equipment.
If you have already discovered that your home’s AC unit has been damaged by animals, you’ll want to a professional come over to assess the nature of the trouble as soon as possible.
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