If you have a hurricane warning issues for your area, you not only need to put on your shutters and cover your windows, you need to make sure that you are protecting your residential AC system as well. Here are the three steps that you need to follow to keep your air conditioning system safe when you are dealing with a storm warning.

#1 Turn It Off

The first thing you need to do is turn off your air conditioning system. Unplug your air conditioning unit so that no electricity will flow to the unit. You don't want a power surge to fry the electronic components in your air condition system. Also, if the power goes on and off and is unstable, that can also put a lot of stress on your air conditioning system as well. It is best to not just turn off your air conditioning unit to protect it, but also unplug it as well.

#2 Disconnect Vents

If your air condition system has exterior vents, you are going to want to disconnect the vents or the discharge ducts. You don't want the air pressure from the hurricane force winds to make their way into your home.

To further protect your home, you should seal up all of the duct and vent openings. If the vent went out through the window, shut the window and put the security shutters or storm windows over the outside of the window. If the vent is cut through a hole in your house, make sure that you have wood that you can use to cover up the opening from the inside and the outside. This will help keep the wind and debris that the storm could kick up out of your home.

#3 Protect Your Outside Unit

If part of your air conditioning unit is located outside, you are going to want to make sure that you protect it. When a hurricane comes through your air, it can stir up a lot of debris, both small and large. You don't want the vents and parts of your outside unit to become covered in dirt or damaged by other flying debris.

Put a tarp over your outside air conditioning unit and secure the tarp to the ground with cement blocks. If you have extra wood, you can also put cardboard around your air conditioning unit as well. If you own your home, you may want to build a wood cover to put over your air conditioning unit, which will simplify the process of protecting your unit

If you have a window unit, you are going to want to use hurricane straps to keep it in place. These strong straps should prevent the unit form getting ripped off your window and causing damage to your air conditioning unit as well as your home. 

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