PETS – GREAT FOR THE HOME, BAD FOR HVAC!

For many people, pets make our homes complete.  Unconditional love and tons of fun, but unfortunately they can also kill HVAC systems.  With some simple preventative maintenance, these pet-related issues can easliy be circumvented.  Some basic points to ponder:

1)  Outdoor Units and Urine:  Dogs seem magnetized to outdoor units, finding them second-only to fire hydrants as fantatsic spots to mark their territory.  Unfortunately, pet urine on an outdoor unit’s coil isn’t good.  It corrodes away the delicate fins that are critical to the system’s function.  Solution – keep your outdoor unit protected with some kind of barrier (at least a foot away from the unit itself to allow it to breathe).  Latticework is a great solution for this, as it’s decorative and protective at the same time.  While we specify pet urine here as being problematic, it should probably be noted the human urine is just as bad…while we hope this isn’t an issue in your neighborhood, it’s something to keep in mind!  HA! 

2) Outdoor Units and Pet Hair:  Your outdoor unit is constantly sucking in air, and unfortunately pet hair also gets sucked up to the outdoor unit’s coil.  We’ve gone on some service calls where the outdoor unit resembles more of a big box o’ fur rather than an HVAC system.  The more hair that collects on the unit, the more the system struggles to get the air it needs to function.  Just like with a dirty filter in your home, this struggle to breathe will eventually culminate in failure of parts, even the entire system as a whole.  Solution:  Again, put up that latticework to help curtail the fur flow.  Also–LIGHLTY rinse your outdoor unit with water, keeping in mind that there are electrical components “close to the surface” that can be damaged if you douse the unit with a torrent of water.  As an alternative, you can gently pick tufts of hair off the coil, being careful not to bend the unit’s delicate fins. 

That’s about all it takes to pet-proof your HVAC system!  Simple solutions to solve what can become complex problems! 

Visit us at http://www.comfortheatingandac.com/ for more DIY tips!