Cutting the lawn can affect your air conditioner! I receive many calls around this time with customer’s saying….

"I was weed-eating near my air conditioning unit outside now my a/c doesn’t work. What happened?"

It’s happened to a lot of us. Somehow you have managed to set aside some time to get the yard work done. So you bring out the powerful Eater of Weeds, and the powerful sound of its feasting is like music to your ears. That is, until you approach the Air Conditioner. Suddenly a brown wire is tangled up, and the system has suddenly shut off. As the sun sets, you cannot help but feel the sharp sting of defeat.

As I said, its happened to a lot of us. This brown wire is called the control wire. It connects the inside air handler, outside condenser and thermostat. The important thing to remember is that its low voltage. At only 24 volts, it’s very unlikely to hurt you physically. It can, however, be quite painful monetarily.

Best case scenario is that it blows a fuse inside the air handler. Worst case is blown transformers, relays, circuit boards and thermostats. If you ever find yourself in this situation give AirOne Heating and Air Conditioning a call we do provide emergency work at no additional cost to you.

The way to avoid this is simple: Be careful weed eating around the condenser! Coil fins can be damaged by the weed whacker so don’t get too close to the a/c unit! Be extra carful where the pipes go into the house, as this is where the control wires usually enter the house as well.

Other things to watch out for: When mowing the yard on a Texas windy day all the grass clippings can get trapped inside your outdoor unit. This can suffocate your A/C unit making it less efficient.

If you are a dog owner watch out for your puppy relieving themselves on your a/c unit! A dog urinating on your system can damage the coils also making less efficient.