Give your outdoor AC room to breathe

If you've been mowing around your air conditioner, all summer long, and say you have cottonwoods, like we do here in Oklahoma, your air conditioner has been just just Pac-Manning cottonwood seed all summer long and grass clippings. And it is just caked with cottonwood and grass and dust and debris. So, whenever you have maintenance done to your system, we make sure that the coil is clean. And whenever you have a clean coil, you lower all of the pressures involved. Because if we have, you know, restricted airflow, that means we're worse at heat transfer. If we're worse at heat transfer, that means we run at a hotter temperature. We run at a hotter temperature, the contactor and the capacitor have more strain on them. If those have more strain on them, the fan motor and the compressor have more strain on them. If they have more strain on them, we have hotter refrigerants and less efficient air conditioner, a less cool you, and an air conditioner that's frankly more likely to break down.

So, guys, even here in our market, we've had instances where there are different people or different companies running around and they put on covers around and a condensing unit outside. And here's kind of the reason why that's not really a good idea and it doesn't really work is because if you hold your hand over that fan out in your on your outdoor condenser, you're going to feel hot air blowing up out of that fan. So, that that hot air in the middle of the summer, that's actually heat leaving your house via the vehicle of refrigerant. The idea and design of that condenser is to pull air in from the outside and push it up and out. So, what that does is that cools off the refrigerant so that way we can send it back to the house to absorb more heat so that you can remove more heat out of your house. Now, as soon as you put a cover on that or you put obstructions around that, you're making the condenser work harder to pull air in from the sides. And so, during the hottest parts of the year, when your AC is working its hardest, its most important job is to be able to dissipate heat. And putting a cover on that hinders that ability for it to dissipate heat well.

Clean your condenser coils. Condenser coils can get really, really dirty in the summer, especially collecting all that dirt and grime. Cleaning those off are going to help keep your system as efficient as possible, helping your outdoor condenser breathe and your house cool. [Music]

Get this thing thoroughly cleaned out. A coil like this really doesn't need anything but water. You know, there's some commercial applications where you get a grease deposits and different builds up that require some chemical. This one is dirty as that is, a high-pressure water nozzle. I say high-pressure, I mean something like that. You don't want to take a power washer to it by any means. This is all it's going to take to get the trick done on this one. Young pros.

since they just signed up first time customers we're going to go and take care of them on this one because if you look at the shape of this coil it is not getting any air through it we just we want to make sure that they are uh going to be able to be comfortable in their own home grease deposits and different builds up that require some chemical this one is dirty as that is a high pressure water nozzle I say high pressure I mean something like that you don't want to take a power washer to it by any means um this is all it's going to take to get the trick done on this one though at a hard angle left or right you just pretty well want to stay straight up and down and I'll repeat do not take a pressure washer to them right here you get you a high press Bullseye nozzle I think these things cost about 15 to 25 bucks depending on where you find them

octobia where YB and Suns here in there this unit was installed in May so I'm going to show you something real quick look at that cotton wood and dirt so with that um that right there will kill your unit cause the unit to run on high amps and go off on high head pressure it's important that you do these uh these tuneups uh twice a year especially if you have a uh heat pump system cuz the heat pumps are used all year round so I want to just remind you guys to watch your system and get it tuned up take care

hey friends something to think about this summer uh so it's mid-july it's 19th today i am currently at my house having to clean my air conditioner that was already serviced earlier this year because of how frequently the system has been running and so keep in mind the systems are running a lot more frequently and so allows for a lot more dirt and debris to pile up on the side that condenser making it less efficient and during a hundred and uh what is it how hot is it 109 right now that's not helping your efficiency whatsoever and so uh make sure your condensers are clean and so that'll help a little bit thanks

so this is uh this unit is barely not even a year old and it's already collecting a lot of debris a lot of dirt cotton Woods here in Oklahoma we love cottonwoods if you want to call us for the tune of if you would have just let it go this summer it would have collected a lot more kind of chokes the unit and the the compressor would have been running on hi-hat pressures that compressor could lock out even being a year old so that's why it's very important to to maintenance your unit once a year sometimes even twice a year so depending on the use of the unit

number one don't build a deck over a package unit rule number two code requires that there be access for service and then also you can't have anything I think it's like 10 feet but like you have to have 10 feet above that packaging it so that way you don't have condenser wash um so that way it can breathe properly three if you disregard rule number one and roll number two um don't put posts all around the packaging it because now getting this packaging out is going to be a lot more difficult than it needs to be um usually packaging units are pretty easy they're pretty easy to replace they're not as labor intensive and so they're not as difficult but whenever you put stuff around them it makes it a lot more difficult so something to think about

Three red flags we spotted on this AC system in Norman, Oklahoma. First, the outdoor coil was extremely dirty, so we gave it a deep cleaning to restore air flow. Second, the contacttor was in rough shape, so we replaced it today to keep the system running. And third, the condenser fan motor showed signs of wear, so we recommended replacing it soon. With the coil cleaned and contacttor replaced, this AC is ready to keep the home cool for summer. And shout out to our technician, Joseph, for doing great work. [Music]

Here in Oklahoma, there's no shortage of redneck ingenuity, and we've seen people I'm not going to name names, but I will show the picture potentially if we can find it. We've seen people build a deck over their condenser because they thought it was an eyesore. Don't do that. Your your condenser is beautiful just the way that it is, and also it needs to breathe. And if it can't breathe, then you're going to pay more in your utility bills. And also, if it can't breathe, you're going to have to replace it sooner than you otherwise probably should have because it's going to die a very quick and painful death. >> Your rules. >> [singing] [music]

Everything is high. Gas is high, power bills are high, and we want to do everything we can to mitigate unnecessary costs. And the thing that you can do as a homeowner is wash your condenser off. So, you want to grab a water hose, go outside, make sure the area is clean first. Make sure that you're not, you know, having a like jungle your way through with a machete Jurassic Park style. You don't want to be doing that. What you want to be doing is make sure that the area is nice and clean. If you do mow around it, make sure that you're weed eating around it carefully because you have some control wires that are very susceptible to getting nicked. And when those get nicked, you're going to have to call a service professional out because high voltage, don't get shocked. So, what you're going to do is you're going to take a water hose, downward angle, 45° angle down or 45° angle up, and you're going to spray the just absolute crap out of that coil. Don't use like a pressure washer, just a garden hose with a nozzle is fine. Also, if you thought that your condenser was an eyesore and you put a fence like way too close to it or built a, you know, retaining wall way too close to it or maybe you just like hide some stuff, you set it on top of it, lean it over cuz you don't want to look at it. Don't do that. Your condenser's beautiful just the way that it is. >> Your home >> [music]

So easy on the mulch. What are we doing, guys? This air conditioner's lived a long life. It's old. And now we're just we're burying it before it's dead. If it's not dead, it's dead now. In all reality, I don't know what would have caused this, but what the ramifications [music] of this would be, what the the second and third order consequences of burying your condenser in mulch would be. Your coil needs to be able to displace heat. And if we essentially have a [music] fur coat on it when it comes to cottonwood or uh we have prematurely buried it, it is not going to be able to displace heat very well. This will cause your compressor to die in very short order. Maybe that's the goal. Maybe this unit is old. Maybe they're like, "Dude, this thing just won't die." You know, my husband, my wife, whoever, they won't let me replace it until it's dead dead. So, we got to make sure it's dead dead. >> [music]

Doing this one thing, cleaning the coil, will one, save the life of your system. It'll help extend the life, and two, it will make sure that you're not paying excessively high utility bills or excessively high repair bills. This is the oil change of the air conditioner. We got to get it done. We got to make sure that we are doing it frequently, at least once a year, or else you're going to be paying too much in utility bills and paying too much for repairs.

right in here. All along the edge of the sidewalk is cottonwood. Got my water hose hooked up. I've got my sprayer hooked up, and I've got this long-handled one because uh as I get older, my back don't like bending down there as much. You know, a lot of times, you'll look at a condenser coil and uh you think, "Well, that thing's not too bad." If you ever put water to it, you'll realize it's a lot worse than what you what you think it is. Like call those uh sneaky dirty coils, basically. They look clean from the outside, but once you really start putting water on them and getting them cleaned out the way they need to be cleaned out, it really shows the dirt that's inside those coils. If you don't wash them, that dirt just continues to pack in those coils, then you have a problem with your compressor overheating.

Dirty condenser coil. This ranges somewhere between 100 bucks to $400. All right, so the condenser is your outdoor unit. So, it's the big metal box sitting outside your house with the fan on top. So, inside it are coils that release heat from your house to the outside air. When those coils get clogged, the system can't shed heat efficiently. It runs harder, longer, uses more electricity, and can't maintain your set temperature. Here's the Oklahoma specific thing. Cottonwood season in late April through May dumps a visible layer of white fuzz on the condenser coils throughout the Oklahoma City metro. If your outdoor unit has cottonwood packing the fins, which is those little bitty metal slats, this spring and nobody's cleaned it, you are running a compromised system right now. So, here's something you can do yourself. You can rinse the outside of the coil by yourself with a garden hose. Gently, right? Those fins are really fragile. But, getting inside the unit for a thorough chemical cleaning is definitely going to require a technician. Guys, cleaning your condenser coil is actually really simple, and if you don't do it, it's really detrimental to your whole system later down the road.

Now I'm inspecting this coil. It's looking pretty dirty and caked up with cottonwood. Here in Oklahoma, we get really bad cottonwood issues. That's one of our biggest things is the these things pulling air through these coils. It sucks up that cottonwood and it kind of creates a filter or a blanket almost. It's real thick. Can't allow any air flow. So, one of our biggest things we like to do is look for that and let customers know that, hey, you know, you need to either get it m maintenanced or go either yourself and get it with a hose and rinse it off lightly. And it's pretty prevalent in with our temperatures as well.

Try not to sneeze. This condenser hasn't seen a water hose since 2020. Five years of Oklahoma dust, cottonwood, and who knows what else packed in there. Mike is flushing it all out because a dirty coil can't transfer heat, and a coil that can't transfer heat is just an expensive fan. Spring maintenance, people. Don't skip it. >> Your bros. >> [singing]

I know it seems like uh we're really not doing much other than just spraying it down with water, but how does this improve your AC's performance in the long run? Well, whenever we wash it, get the fur coat off of it, as I like to say. What we're doing is we're giving it a chance to breathe. We're lowering our pressures. We're going to allow it to run a whole lot less strained, give it some time to actually have a clean breath of air. We say this with changing your indoor air filters, but it's like you try to breathe with your teeth clenched. You could do it, but if we did it over a long period of time, be super strenuous. Same deal for the outside. This is basically the equivalent of changing your filters for the outside. We got to make sure that it's breathing properly, getting enough air flow across the coils so that we can lower our pressures, and make sure that this system isn't running a marathon 24/7, 365. [Music]

hey guys topic of the day is condenser wash now uh if you've ever walked outside and placed your hand over your outdoor unit your condenser or package unit whatever it is put your hand over the fan all that air coming out of it is usually hotter than the ambient temperature around you what it's doing is it's removing energy from inside the house and placing it outside using refrigerant if you put a cover over top of that condenser all that heat that's trying to get out is going to get recirculated back and it's going to get harder and harder for that system to remove the energy from inside your home downside so it's going to affect your comfort level inside the house it's also going to affect your utilities you're going to have high utility bills your system system's gonna run longer it's gonna it's gonna have a hard time working and so don't cover your outdoor unit and please don't build a deck over your outdoor system make service really hard have a good day

The main reason we clean these is I don't know if it comes through on camera, but we've got cottonwood trees all around here and there's actually cottonwood floating through the air right now. That cottonwood will get sucked up against these units and that's what'll cause it to lose capacity and have higher pressures. It won't get as much air through the unit and out the top as it should. We see that a lot with customers that we've we've installed units and in three months had to go back out there because the cottonwoods were so bad one spring that they were not working after 3 months.

I can't tell you how many times I've gone out to people's houses and they've got either toys or lawn equipment or the grass is grown up really high around that condensing unit. And the reason why that's a big deal is because that condensing unit pulls air from the sides of the unit and that fan pushes it up. That's how it heats and cools your house, right? Well, heats if it's a heat pump, but it cools your house off that way. You don't want anything budding up against that and restricting airflow. That's going to result in higher energy bills, your system's not going to cool efficiently. So, just making sure that nothing's in the way is going to be a huge deal and something that you can honestly just immediately fix yourself. >> Your pros. >> [singing] [music]

For most homeowners, we would recommend that you don't take the panels off unless you're comfortable and you can wash them from the outside in. We're going to wash it from the inside out to get the best possible cleaning in it out of it. We only recommend taking the top off the system if you're comfortable doing so. You know, take pictures of your wiring. You can put stress on this wiring if you don't disconnect it properly. We've already got this one disconnected, so we're just going to go ahead and pull it right up off the top and set it off to the side. So, you can see more cottonwood up under this lip as well all around the top of the system. That's a again, more stuff we're going to be cleaning off. So, as far as like how hard we want the water spraying, we don't recommend that you use a pressure washer on this. We would rather you have it on a kind of fan setting or a soaker setting and we're going to wash it from the top down trying to get everything out from the inside out. We don't want to bend these coils. They can be fairly fragile. So, we're going to go ahead and get started on that. At the end of the day, if you don't feel comfortable taking the top off the system, it's perfectly fine to spray it from the outside in. That's better than not doing any maintenance on the system at all. One last thing whenever we're putting the top panel back on are these wires. We want to make sure that we get all of these wires from this fan into this little channel here. If we don't, we can cause the motor to short out, cause high repair bills. Well, we've got the system buttoned back up. We want to go ahead and test the system. Make sure it's going to run. We want to listen for >> [music] >> any loud noises, any oddball sounds it hadn't been making in the years prior, and make sure that when this system is running and cooling, we've got hot air coming out the top here and cold air coming out of the vents inside. Young >> [singing] >> Rose >> [music]

You definitely want to make sure that unit's being cleaned once a year at least. Outdoor unit not being cleaned will cause all kinds of problems. If you have a drill or even a nut driver, you can actually take apart most of the unit. Then take your simple water hose and just a simple nozzle and spray off the unit. Now, one of the things we find the biggest mistakes on when people are cleaning their units is they use too much pressure. And that pressure will actually warp the fins on that coil. And then as those fins kind of warp and close, we can't get air across them. Definitely want to make sure that you're not messing with any of those fins and keeping them clean. So simple water hose, a little bit of pressure from a nozzle sprayer will do fine. No pressure washers, nothing like that. Do not use a pressure washer on your unit. Having it clean is going to make it run more efficient and can keep you out of a headache of not having a system run during the times of seasons. Young Rose.

you know they they had mowed recently and part of it was that there was so much dirt and stuff kind of kaked on the outside of that condenser it wasn't it wasn't breathing well um and so they already had to replace a fan motor on that when people mow their grass that grass can stick to the outside of that condenser cuz it's pulling air through those coils and when it pulls that pulls the air through the coil it creates that suction effect so grass can stick to it but then it can't cool efficiently because it's got to bring that air past those coils to to to condense that refrigerant down and so yeah if it can't breathe then it can't cool the the house off because the refrigerant cycle and pressures are all messed up we've been in the Home Comfort game since 88 in OKC share this with a friend who's in need of some serious Home Service help

Cottonwood is the silent killer of your home's air conditioning system. Whenever we have cottonwood blown around, it kind of looks like uh you know, either a teddy bear was massacred in the street or some sort of weird snow moving around. Being in Oklahoma, you're all too familiar with it. Means that you know that this stuff gets caked everywhere. It's going to be on your pets, it's going to be on your outdoor cushions, it's going to be on your windows, your window screens, and it's going to be on your condenser coil outside. And when it cakes up the coil, we start running at higher temperatures. When we start running at higher temperatures, we start over amping. And whenever we're over amping, guess what? That energy bill is going to go up when it probably could have been avoided in the first place. >> Your home. >> [singing] [music]

now I'm inspecting this coil I want to make sure to see that these this coil is not going to be obstructive any way so here in Oklahoma we get really bad Cottonwood issues that's one of our biggest things is the these things pulling air through these coils it sucks up that cotton wood and it kind of creates a filter or a blanket on them it's real thick can't allow any air flow so one of our biggest things we like to do is look for that and let customers know that hey you know you need to either get M maintenanced or go out there yourself and get a hose and rinse it off lightly

Hey y'all, it's Stephen with Yarbrough & Sons, and >> [music] >> you know, it's getting warmer here in Central Oklahoma, and I've been thinking, maybe maybe I should shave this off. Nah, just kidding. But hey, I tell you what, if your condenser has as much fur on it as my face does, it really needs to be cleaned. So, give us a call for air conditioning maintenance, (405) 960-3470. Love y'all. Oh, yeah. We also do plumbing. God bless. Yarbrough & >> [singing]

Knowing what kind of a coil you had would be something I would definitely ask my manufacturers. They might look at you like you're crazy. Why would you want to know that as a homeowner? But it's good for your information to know do you need to pay attention more of how you're doing your maintenance. If it's a split coil like this, two coils in one, you definitely want to make sure that it's maintained once a year. With the heat pump, I would say twice a year. And really, I would say even throughout the year kind of trying to make sure that it's cleaning. I do and a lot of people would be against it is I like to clean my unit from the inside out. Give it our once a year cleaning. And then throughout the year as I'm mowing and stuff like that, I usually take my hose and just kind of rinse it down. Make sure all the grass that I just mowed is not getting into it and stuff like that. That's going to save your unit and keep it a lot cleaner for a lot longer. Your home. [singing] [music]

Most problems with your air conditioner start with air flow issues and it just compounds from there. A lot of what we're going to see today is some dirt buildup. We're going to get this thing taken apart and actually see how dirty it is. On this side over here, we do have just a little bit of cottonwood buildup. It's nothing major. This is pretty average for a system that we see [music] that's been pretty well maintained. But we are still going to take the system apart and clean it. We're going to want to make sure the area around [music] the air conditioner is clear of any debris. you know, dumpsters, kids toys, weeds, grass, that kind of stuff. The more air we can get in this system, the better it's going to perform. So, the way this system works is air will come in the sides of the system and exit out the top. [music] So, the more area around the system that we have clear, the better it's going to perform. Otherwise, you're going to have high pressures, hot systems, and an uncomfortable house. >> [music]

this is a condenser this is actually where our refrigerant flows to dissipate heat from your inside these typically will last the life of the unit they do need to have regular cleaning done to keep dirt off of them to stay efficient typical price for a replacement of this is anywhere from two thousand dollars and up depending on manufacturer this is the same thing as compressor when there's a problem with this we do suggest replacing the actual system and that's what I tell people about this part

In Oklahoma, we have a lot of cottonwood trees that release a lot of cottonwood seed and they they compact on your the grill on the outside and if you don't have enough airflow across that condenser coil, what's going to happen is going to have a hard time breathing. It's going to fall over. It's not going to work. So, please make sure that that condenser coil is completely clean and clear so that way it can breathe perfectly fine. And whenever it's able to breathe fine, it's able to work fine. So, make sure you don't have anything obstructing the fins. Get a garden hose, gentle, inside out, no high pressure wash. Don't don't do that. We don't want to bend the fins over. So, you guys keep it easy, keep it clean, and your condenser will thank you. >> Your home. >> [singing] [music]

Wash your condenser coil. You know, it it's pretty simple. It's a simple thing you can do to make sure your air conditioner is set up for the summer. So, you wash your condenser coil and simple as a 8ft putt. Hopefully, I make this uh but beyond that, let's see if we can take this shot and uh you know, drain it. Okay. All right. All right. They had us in the first half.

Oh, that's terrifying looking and kind of gross. Oh man. See, that's that's why anytime you mow next to your condenser, you got to be sure to get that thing washed out cuz dirt and grass and apparently dog hair gets uh gets caught. And yeah, your compressor is not having a fun time. It's probably happy that it got cleaned, though. Thankfully, we were out there able to do a maintenance on the system because that's a pretty short step away from a dead compressor, especially with it covered as much as that. Super glad we got got them fixed up. And Maki, you did a great job.

this is what two years without maintenance looks like fans if you buy a new system it's not a worry-free thing you still got to get to maintain and this is the reason why get it for random maintenance you won't regret it is I'm out

It's got vines growing from the top. So, that's not good. The outdoor condenser's job is to disseminate heat out from that unit. So, if it's covered in grass and vines, it can't breathe at all. The number one mistake mowers make in the summertime is blowing grass on the outdoor condenser and not cleaning it off. That'll cause the systems to fail very prematurely, especially if you've got all this grass and dirt caked to the side. Compressors are not a fan of that situation.

The condenser coil is part of the outdoor piece of equipment. Uh it's this one's pretty dirty. And you can also kind of see that it's dented kind of about 3/4 of the way up. And why that matters really why dirty condensers matter is because you don't get that good heat transfer through that coil. And so it leads you your air conditioner is not efficiently cooling your house. It cost you more money to cool your house off. You might have longer run times and high refrigerant pressures which can lead to other issues. So, one, make sure your condenser coils are clean. And two, especially if you have those dented fins, that's some damage that's happened to the outdoor condenser coil. And your outdoor condensers that those fins are made of aluminum, and then you've just got copper line sets running through there. And so, a lot of that metal is really malleable. It bends and dents really easily. And so, if you've got a bend or a dent, you know, a lot of times it could lead to refrigerant leaks, all that kind of stuff. None of that stuff is fun. Again, can be really costly to repair or to replace. And so, uh, yeah, wash your condenser coils. It'd be a part of a maintenance plan. Make sure everything's nice and clean and working efficiently, and you don't run into this issue. [singing]

All right, so your outdoor unit has been eating grass clippings and cottonwood fluff since May. So get down beside it and look at the metal fins on the sides. If you can't see daylight through it, they're packed. Okay? So those fins are how the system throws heat out of your house. Okay? So packed fins mean longer run times to do the exact same job, and it will do it again next summer. So washing that outdoor section is about $212.50 on our sheet. And for around that same price, a maintenance membership keeps us on top of it year-round, so you're not finding this out every single September. So I'm Will at Yarbrough & Sons. How much daylight can you see through your fins?

One of the things we get asked a lot is what's the number one tip to help keep our house cool and save us some money this summer when it comes to air conditioners. And really and truly, I couldn't think of a better place to start than cleaning your condenser coil. Uh take a water hose, go outside, wash down your condensing unit, or if you've got a heat pump, wash down your heat pump outside. Wash the dirt, debris, dust, cottonwoods off of that unit will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the life of that system. We just shot a video of how a homeowner like you can do your own maintenance and really make sure that your AC is running as well as it can. So, if you think you're up to the challenge of doing your own maintenance, go check out that last video.

with all the cottonwood trees that we've got around here sometimes I'll walk up to a unit and looks like that sucker's wearing a sweater if your sucker's wearing a sweater by the end of the summertime you really need to get that thing maintained at least once a year May June sometime in in in that area allow your unit to breathe better if you're trying to breathe through a straw it ain't working too good and that's what it's like with that unit packed up with Cottonwood like like they get sometimes so get her cleaned up she breathe a lot better run a lot better for you all right so we got the unit all cleaned up get all the sides back on it get the top back on it wire everything back in and then we'll fire this bad boy off my recommendation for for everybody get your air conditioner tuned up before the hot weather hits for a couple reasons one we'll be able to get to you if we're In The Heat Of Summer you're calling us out to do a tuneup on your air conditioner you may have to wait 3 or 4 days

The things you can do yourself, you know, before you call a technician out, is really check that condenser coil outside. It's that metal box sitting outside your house. Make sure that's as clean as it can be. There's no debris or anything around that condenser coil to where it can breathe well. And change your filter. Dirty filters are a really big cause of of why we get called out to houses. Uh you know, someone might say, "Hey, our unit's not really working." We come inside, the filter's extremely dirty, it can't breathe, and so the unit just kind of shuts down or it stops cooling well. And so we change that filter, clean the condenser coil, and then things kind of get back up and running.

Oh no. So they built the deck around the condenser. How do you clean it, service it or replace it? We had a customer that had a condenser outside and and he wanted to build a deck over the top of his air conditioner of his condenser. And that's a really bad idea. You have to be able to have that that that fan pushes air out. And so that's that's how that air conditioner works is is disseminating heat out from from the unit. So, if you've got a a deck over the top of that condenser, the heat is just cycling right there. So, it wouldn't do a good job of cooling your house. Your condenser needs to be away from any sort of overhanging structure generally or mid-ranging structure and building around it. That's not good either. So, word of the wise, if you're going to build a deck, don't build it around your condenser outside.

So, we're about to wash this heat pump out, get any dirt that's built up on this coil. The best way to do that is to take the fan out and wash it from the inside out with these covers removed. If you just wash it from the outside in, it'll just push that dirt farther into the coil. We always want to wash it out of the coil and then knock it down from the outside once it's loose. You'll end up with higher pressures inside the unit, and then the unit can lose capacity or even just stop cooling altogether. Young Rose