When it comes to the components in HVAC systems, outdoor unit safety often gets low priority. While the indoor half of the system—the evaporator coil and blower fan—are securely sealed inside the indoor air handler and sheltered from most damage, the outdoor half is at risk from a variety of sources. This familiar unit, typically located immediately behind or beside the house, incorporates the condenser coil and fan as well as the compressor—usually the most expensive single component in the system.
Helpful Tips
While weather extremes and factors like falling limbs are part of the risk, routine yard work can also present hazards. Here are some tips to optimize outdoor unit safety while maintaining the landscape around it.
- If you’re operating a lawn mower in proximity to the outdoor unit, keep the mower discharge pointed away from the unit. Grass clippings and dirt blown into the passages of the condenser coil can degrade its heat dispersal function and reduce cooling effectiveness and efficiency.
- Be careful when cutting weeds around the unit with a weed wacker. The aluminum coil fins inside the condenser are easily bent when struck by the high-speed cutting strings. Bent fins interfere with proper air circulation through the coil. Weed wackers can also sever thermostat control wires that are routed into the outdoor unit.
- The top of the unit should not be a convenient place to store heavy tools, container plants, coiled garden hoses or other outdoor implements. The coil fan grille on top must remain unobstructed so heat dispersed by the coil is properly exhausted into outdoor air.
- Many people opt to plan shrubs or a hedge around the condenser unit to hide it from view. If you chose to, maintain at least two feet of open space on all sides of the unit to permit optimum air intake into the coil.
Ask the pros at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning about more tips for maintaining HVAC outdoor unit safety when doing yard work.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area