It’s Snowing: DON’T COVER YOUR AIR CONDITIONING CONDENSER

Revised 2023

As extreme winter weather is predicted, this questions is an important one to consider as a homeowner. Should I cover my air conditioner during the winter? We explore below 

If you’re anything like I was 18 months ago, you have no clue about your hvac system apart from your thermostat.  I’ve learned a few things in the process of Homesense becoming the best heating and air conditioning company in Indianapolis 🙂 and I’d like to share one insight with you today — Don’t cover your air conditioning condenser during the winter.

First off, your air conditioning condenser is the unit that sits outside your house.  Yeah, the big thing with the fan in it.  At first glance, it seems like it might be a good idea to cover it up.  Water in all its forms tends to corrode and rust things, right?  Yes.  However, most of the covers available (and the ones you might see on your neighbors) cover the entire unit, which can actually increase the amount of moisture inside and can encourage animals to setup shop inside and lead to costly ac repairs.  Believe it or not engineers realize that these units will be outside, and that outside weather sometimes contains rain and snow.  Ergo, these things are made for weather.

What you can do, as recommended by Brad Merritt at eHow, is cut out a piece of plywood the length and width of the top and place 3-4 bricks on top to hold it in place.  This will keep snow from going directly into the unit, which is a good thing and avoids the issue of holding moisture in or creating a haven for rodents.  As well, Merritt goes on to recommend using car wax on the outside of the unit if you’re concerned about potential rust during the winter.

The more you know, da da da da…