Can Hail Damage Your Outdoor HVAC Unit?

Texans have to deal with a lot of unique weather conditions from tornados to hail storms. In this blog, we’ll explain a bit more about how you can protect your property and your outdoor HVAC units from hail damage during this time of year!

Why your Outdoor HVAC Units are Vulnerable

When a hail storm comes around, most of our first thoughts are towards our cars and our roofs. However, your outdoor HVAC unit can be just as impacted by hail. Let’s talk about your condenser unit. This part of your air conditioner stays outside and essentially takes heat from your home and places it outside. It does this using refrigerant and is a vital component to cooling your home. You really don’t want this thing to be damaged by hail! Unfortunately, it can be extremely vulnerable to it.

The reason your condenser unit may be impacted by hail is that most are housed in a series of metal screens. They tend to be fairly delicate, so much so, that hail can bounce off the ground and damage the sides of the unit. These housings may not seem like much, but if they’re damaged it can harm efficiency. The reason is that your condenser has to constantly dissipate heat and if the outside of the unit is misshapen or deformed it will have more difficulty dissipating that heat.

Larger hail can cause an even worse disaster. If the hail is large enough, it may damage parts inside the unit such as a fan blade or a coil. This can really impact the unit and can cause it to fail if not taken care of as soon as possible.

How You Can Protect Your Outdoor HVAC Units

Just like you would take steps to protect your car or your windows when you know extreme weather is on the way, you need to take some precautions to protect your air conditioner! Even something as simple as a tarp can make a world of difference! There are even specific hail guards designed to protect your condenser unit from hail. They are made from a screen-like material that still allows for some airflow. Airflow is so important because the unit needs to dissipate heat. Placing wooden planks or something like that can cause the unit to overheat even though you only had the intentions of protecting the unit from damage.

Lastly, after the storm has passed, you need to do a visual inspection on the unit. You may be surprised at how much the average homeowner can tell from looking at their HVAC units. If you noticed damage to the outside screen give us a call! We have the experience to fix up the unit because we know how devastating a hail storm can be.

The Importance of Maintenance

Even when there isn’t a hailstorm, your outdoor condenser unit can still be damaged by the weather. It’s important to get the unit checked on by a professional annually. We recommend an annual inspection for your cooling systems and one for your heating. As the summer approaches, it’s the perfect time to get your AC looked at and see if there are any inefficiencies that can be fixed or any other general repairs that you may need.

The pros at family-owned 1st Class Heat & Air, Inc are eager to assist you with your air conditioner or heater. If you haven’t scheduled your annual maintenance, give us a call at 972-351-8383 or fill out a simple online contact form!