Yard Work and How it Can Affect Your HVAC System

You might think that yard work is just necessary to keep your lawn and landscaping looking good. However, it also affects your home's HVAC, because key components of the system are located outdoors, including the compressor and condenser coil. If you're not taking steps to protect the HVAC unit, you'll see the effects in various ways, including higher energy bills, costly repairs or a premature component replacement.

Here's what you can do to safeguard the unit during yard care activities:

• Shut the unit down at the breaker, then take off the protective metal shield so you can access inside to remove debris like clumps of grass, rodent nesting materials, cobwebs and dead leaves. Doing this periodically helps preserve vital airflow and the coil's heat transfer capabilities.

• When you mow, keep the discharge aimed away from the unit, so cut grass doesn't get blown into it and clog the coil.

• Once you're done mowing, give the condenser unit a light rinse with the garden hose to remove any clinging debris so it doesn't impede air movement through the coil.

• Trim back any vegetation or shrubs around the unit so there's at least two feet of clearance on all sides. Gather up and dispose of the clippings afterwards so they don't accumulate on the coil.

• Take care using yard equipment like the weed trimmer around the outdoor unit. If you're not careful, you might accidentally bend the coil fins, damage the tubing and cause a refrigerant leak, or cut the control wires.

• If the area around the unit is bare soil, mud can splash up on the coil and fan when it rains heavily and make heat transfer less effective. To prevent this, lay out landscape fabric topped with decorative stones or mulch in a two-foot radius.

• Invest in a protective filter for the outdoor unit to keep fine bits of debris away from the coil and fan. These filters are inexpensive, easy to install and don't block essential airflow.

To learn more about how yard work can affect the HVAC system in your Broken Arrow home, contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about yard work and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Tips for Landscaping the Area Around Your A/C Unit

Drive through any neighborhood and you'll see a boxy, gray air conditioning unit sitting conspicuously next to most houses. Occasionally you don't see one and that's probably because it's hidden by strategically planned trees, shrubs and bushes. Landscaping the area around your A/C unit will improve the appearance of your home while ensuring the outside unit gets plenty of needed airflow and shade for efficient operation.

Maintain Airflow

Maintaining airflow to the outside unit improves the condenser coil's ability to release heat energy into the surrounding air. When that heat exchange process is impeded, your air conditioner will have to work harder to cool your home.

To make sure the unit has plenty of airflow, keep all landscaping elements and other objects at least two to three feet away from all sides of the A/C equipment. Above the condenser/compressor, there should be at least five feet of clearance from overhanging trees or housing fixtures. Landscaping shouldn't prevent easy access to the unit for maintenance and repairs.

Add Shade

Your HVAC installer should choose a location for the outside unit that's shaded most of the day, and you can add landscaping for additional shading. Releasing heat energy from the unit requires less work and energy when that heat is being expelled into cooler, shaded air. In direct sunlight, it has to work harder and use more energy to accomplish this.

Choose Low Maintenance Plants

Of course, landscaping should be attractive for its own sake while hiding that gray box from people walking or driving past your home. If possible, choose trees and shrubs that stay green in the winter. This means less raking and sweeping around the outside unit and less clutter that can potentially block the free flow of air. In the winter, vegetation that doesn't shed leaves will continue to hide the outdoor component. Consider planting attractive hedges and erect lattice work for hanging greenery.

To further discuss the best way of landscaping the area around your A/C unit, please contact the home comfort experts at Air Assurance. We provide excellent services to Broken Arrow and the greater Tulsa area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “ARENA Creative/Shutterstock”

Your Landscaping Could Help Your Cooling Bill this Summer

Homeowners tend to use their cooling systems at full blast during our hot Oklahoma summers. Cut the necessity of this by strategically landscaping and placing plants and arbors near windows to shade your home, which will help to cut your energy bill by significant amounts.

Consider Your Climate

Oklahoma is in a temperate climate zone and, according to Energy.gov, homeowners need to make the most of what shade they can grow around their residences. In addition, the microclimate or climate immediately surrounding your home also needs to be taken into account when landscaping a yard. Your home may be in a sunny belt, located on a southern slope, or built near a body of water, which can all affect your home's microclimate.

What to Add to the Landscape

If your home is very hot in summer, plan to include the following in your yard:

• Deciduous trees—which lose their leaves in winter—that have large, spreading tops and which are planted on the south side of your home will give you shade in summer but not block the sun in winter.

• Lower growing trees on the western side of your home will provide shade against the afternoon sun.

• Shrubs and groundcovers protect paved areas from exposure to the sun and cut down on reflected heat.

• Arbors and trellises are ideal for climbing vines, which also help to protect your home from the sun.

Check how large trees and shrubs are going to grow as you don't want to cause problems with roots interfering with drains, sidings, or foundations. Choose plants that are native to the region as they will grow to be hardy and healthy.

Servicing of Equipment

Of course, the other way to save energy is make sure that your HVAC systems are working efficiently by servicing them regularly. When you sign an Air Assurance Extended Service Plan, you become a VIP, receiving benefits such as 24/7 service, discounts, and peace of mind.

Contact Air Assurance today for advice on how to lower your energy bills through thoughtful landscaping and other methods. We've proudly served the Broken Arrow area since 1985.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

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