{"id":773,"date":"2017-10-30T11:00:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T15:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/?p=773"},"modified":"2017-10-26T09:11:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T13:11:36","slug":"shut-down-ac-end-of-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/shut-down-ac-end-of-season\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Shut Down Your AC at the End of the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-775\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/iced_over_air_conditioner-263x300.jpg\" alt=\"ice-on-ac\" width=\"263\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/iced_over_air_conditioner-263x300.jpg 263w, https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/iced_over_air_conditioner.jpg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" \/>Eventually, your air conditioning system is going to shut down for the rest of the year. The cold settles in for winter, and it won\u2019t be until spring arrives that you\u2019ll turn on your cooling system once more. But you can\u2019t simply trust that your AC will leap to life next year, fresh from a winter nap and ready to get to work once more. Air conditioners don\u2019t work that way! You\u2019ll need to schedule maintenance for it in spring, the same way we encourage homeowners now to <a href=\"\/maintenance-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">schedule maintenance for their heating systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And there are a few steps you can take <em>now<\/em> to help your AC shut down for the season and remain in good condition over its winter break. You can call on us if you need any other <a href=\"\/service-areas\/benton-la-hvac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">air conditioning service in Benton, LA<\/a> or elsewhere in our service area.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Just Turning the AC Off Isn\u2019t Enough?<\/h3>\n<p>If by \u201cturning the AC off\u201d you mean changing the thermostat over to heating for the rest of the year, then, no, that\u2019s not enough. This isn\u2019t actually turning off the air conditioner. There are a few basic steps to take to see that the air conditioner is completely turned off and then protected.<\/p>\n<h3>Why Is It Important to Have It Turned Fully Off?<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019re thinking that since you won\u2019t be using the air conditioner, it won\u2019t be turning on. But it\u2019s easy\u2014especially in our weather where there are occasional mild periods of warming\u2014for the air conditioner to turn itself back on for a short period of time. That\u2019s not something you want to happen because it will mean the outdoor cabinet will draw in water from the outdoors inside it, and this promotes rust. You want to have the AC powered off and the cabinet protected.<\/p>\n<h3>Okay, How Do I Do That?<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s not difficult at all. Just follow this guide:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Locate the outdoor breaker switch for the air conditioning system. This should be located near the condenser cabinet under a flip lid. Open the lid and turn the switch to \u201coff.\u201d Now your AC will not turn on accidentally. (Make sure you remember in spring that you need to flip this switch again to get the AC working.)<\/li>\n<li>Brush off the condenser cabinet and move away rocks, leaves, branches, and other debris from around it. This will prevent objects from getting stuck inside the cabinet over the winter, when winds may send debris gusting through the grill.<\/li>\n<li>Clean off the condenser\u2019s cabinet with a hose. Don\u2019t use the hose at high pressure, since the force of the water might bend the coils.<\/li>\n<li>After the condenser cabinet is fully dried from the rinsing, put a waterproof cover over it. You can purchase specially designed covers from stores for this job, or use a waterproof tarp large enough to completely cover the unit. Strap bungee cords around the cover to secure it in place so it won\u2019t be torn off in a windstorm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Remember, don\u2019t let any AC repair issues linger! If you still need an air conditioning fix done, call us before you shut the system down for the year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"\/contact\/schedule-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Call the Doctor of Home Comfort:<\/a> Hall\u2019s Heating, Air Conditioning &amp; Refrigeration.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s a few steps you can take now to help your AC shut down for the season and remain in good condition over its winter break. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[87,89,92],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-service","tag-air-conditioning-maintenance","tag-air-conditioning-repair","tag-benton"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hallsair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}