How to Winterize an Outside A/C or Heater

Air Conditioner

• 1

  Turn off the electricity to your outdoor unit. Before you begin cleaning it, cut the electricity to reduce the risk of electric shock. Typically you can disrupt the power safely at the circuit breaker or fuse box.

• 2

  Brush errant debris, sticks and leaves from the grills, side vents and base of the unit with a stiff cleaning brush.

• 3

  Attach a sprayer attachment to your garden hose. Aim the sprayer to loosen caked dirt and aim the sprayer between the vents to clean the coils of dust, bugs, leaves and debris. Allow the unit to dry thoroughly.

• 4

  Cover the air conditioning unit with a breathable air conditioning cover. A cold winter will cause small animals to look for warm places to nest for the winter. A cover will prevent animals from making your unit a home, and it protects the unit from the elements, which can cause it to rust.

Heater

• 5

  Remove flammable items from around the heater. As you start the unit for the first time since the previous winter, keeping flammable materials away will aid in keeping you and your family safe.

• 6

  Keep your family’s safety in mind and ask a professional to service the heater for you at the beginning of autumn when the nights aren’t too chilly. A professional HVAC service technician will test the heater to make sure it is working properly and ensure there aren't any leaks or faulty mechanisms.

• 7

  Replace the furnace filter.

• 8

  Install carbon monoxide detectors in your home. If you have them installed already, change out last year’s batteries for fresh ones. Depending on whether the heater is a gas-powered or electric-powered unit, carbon monoxide detectors will alert you to any potentially deadly leaks of the odorless gas.