As you have recently seen, hailstorms can be as big as softballs here in Colorado Springs. You will no doubt be concerned about your car, your roof, and even your own noggin when you head outside and the hail starts to fall. Here’s a question for you, though—what about your air conditioner?
Your air conditioner cannot run inside and seek cover from the hail, the way that you can go into your house or your car may be parked in a garage. Is your air conditioner covered? And no, we don’t mean in the sense of a protective covering. We’re talking about insurance coverage, in case damage is done to the system in the event of a storm.
If you’re not sure, we strongly recommend that you get in touch with your insurance provider. Homeowners insurance policies can vary quite a bit and, let’s be honest—none of us have ours memorized. It is definitely better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your AC’s outdoor unit. The last thing that you want is to be scheduling repairs at the start of the summer, for damages done in the winter!
Look, we don’t expect every homeowner to understand precisely how it is that their air conditioning systems work. The reason for this is quite simple—we’d have to find another industry in which to make our living, and you can’t teach some old dogs new tricks! All joking aside, though, we do believe that it is in the best interest of homeowners everywhere to have a basic understanding of the way in which their air conditioning systems work.
Whoa whoa whoa, I’m no air conditioning expert or anything, but I didn’t think that my AC even used water—so how did it spring a leak? You’re right. You’re not an AC expert!
Okay, so you are not entirely pleased with the efficiency of your air conditioning system. Simply put, those energy bills are just getting a bit too much for comfort. So what do you do? You could replace your air conditioner with a more efficient model—if you had the money to do so, which you don’t. You suppose that leaves you with just one option. Run the air conditioner less, and just put up with the discomfort that results from that decision.
Well, gee, you may be thinking, if my quizzes in school were this simple, I’d have been a straight-A student! I’ll replace it when breaks down, of course! Well, if that’s the answer that you’d give us, then we’d flunk you right out of our classroom! Okay, so we’d probably just politely explain to you why that is not the proper course of action, but you get the point. We understand the inclination, but you definitely shouldn’t wait for a complete breakdown before replacing your AC.
We understand that homeowners sometimes get frustrated with the advice that we have to share. Never attempt to service your own air conditioner, AC services must be handled by trained, experienced professionals, etc. The fact of the matter is that we are not just trying to drum up business for ourselves, though. You are putting your own safety and the condition of your AC at risk when you decide to take matters into your own hands—usually. 
If you assume that your air conditioner is running properly just because it is actually running, think again. There are plenty of problems that may develop with an air conditioning system which won’t render it completely inoperable right away. Given enough time, these and any other problems can and will result in serious issues. Chances are that you’ll be looking at a potentially expensive 
As a professional HVAC contractor, we like to remind homeowners that any problems with their air conditioning systems deserve and demand immediate attention. The longer that you let a problem go unresolved, the more likely it becomes that this problem will snowball and, eventually, wind up doing more extensive damage to your air conditioning system. In this sense, all AC issues are quite serious. Even we’ll admit that they’re not all created equal, though.
Things may not be heating up too much here in Colorado just yet, but trust us. The heat is coming. When it arrives, you need to know for certain that your air conditioner is going to be able to handle the demand that you will be putting on it. No matter how great of an air conditioner you invested in, no matter how outstandingly it was installed, this is just not going to be the case if you fail to schedule annual air conditioning maintenance.
You may be done or nearly done using your air conditioner for the year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should put it out of mind until next summer. Your air conditioner can benefit from a bit of work at the end of the season, and you’ll thank yourself when next summer comes around and your system is ready to go when you need it. 
