It is strongly recommended that you winterize your air conditioning unit prior to winter if you live in a place where temperatures dip below freezing. Winterizing your unit helps to minimize damage to your air conditioning unit that a harsh winter can cause. Minimizing damage helps to minimize repairs. Here are a few of the AC repairs that you can help to prevent by winterizing your air conditioning unit. 

Cracks in Your Hoses

One of the types of AC repairs that you can work to prevent by winterizing your air conditioning unit is cracks in your hoses. The hoses in your air conditioning unit are reasonable for carrying condensation fluid out of the unit. If your unit is not winterized, water may still be sitting in these drain hoses. That water can freeze, causing your hoses to crack or break. If your hoses crack, you may wind up with water not being able to properly leave your air conditioning unit. 

A Freon or Refrigerant Leak

Another type of AC repair that winterizing your air conditioning unit can help to prevent is a Freon or refrigerant leak. Freon or refrigerant is stored in a tank within your air conditioning unit. When your unit is winterized, insulation is added around this tank. This helps to prevent the chances of the Freon or refrigerant freezing in extremely cold temperatures. If the refrigerant or Freon freezes, it can crack a tank and cause a leak. Your unit uses Freon or refrigerant to cool air, so your unit may not cool air if the fluid leaks out. 

Damage to the Fins

When you are winterizing your AC unit, you cover your unit with a tarp, an insulative blanket, or an air conditioner cover. This helps to prevent damage to the fins on your air conditioning unit that can be caused by flying debris, such as sticks or rocks. The fins help to pull air into the unit, so damaged fins can block the flow of air into your air conditioning unit. 

Electrical Problems 

The last type of repair that winterizing your air conditioning unit can help to prevent is electrical problems. Once again, a cover is placed over your unit during the winter months when you winterize your unit. This helps to keep small animals, such as mice, from making a home in your unit during the winter months. Small animals may gnaw at the wiring in your unit, causing significant and costly damage. 

Winterizing your air conditioning unit can help to minimize AC repairs, but it cannot prevent them altogether. After the winter months are over, you should uncover your unit, clean and inspect it, and then test it. If your unit is not working properly, call in an AC repair company to make the repairs you need prior to temperatures getting warm.