Will You Know What to Do if Your Air Conditioner Stops Working?

Keeping your air conditioner in great shape through regularly scheduled maintenance can help prevent unexpected breakdowns from happening. If a breakdown does happen, however, you'll want to know how you should handle being without air conditioning for a brief period before your HVAC technician can arrive with a quick fix. Here are a few pointers that can help you survive until your technician shows up.

Keep Those Windows and Blinds Closed

Keeping as much cool air indoors as possible should be your primary concern at this point. Unless there's a cool breeze coming in, an open window can rob your home of its cool air during the day. Keeping your blinds and curtains closed will also help block out solar heat that would otherwise radiate into your home's indoor spaces. You can safely open your windows and curtains during the evening after the sun has gone down and outdoor temperatures have dropped.

Move to the Basement Level

Heat rises, so staying on the top floors of a home without air conditioning is just asking for trouble. Instead, you'll want to move towards the basement level of your home, if it has one. A typical basement tends to be several degrees cooler than the other floors of your home, making it an excellent sheltering spot if your air conditioner goes out.

Use Fans to Circulate Cool Air

Another temporary measure you can use to keep your home relatively cool without air conditioning involves using ceiling fans and portable fans to generate air movement throughout the house. This can also create a wind chill effect that makes your home feel several degrees cooler without actually lowering measured temperatures.

If you're using ceiling fans for this purpose, make sure they're rotating counterclockwise to push air downwards and create a cooling flow of air. If you have box fans or oscillating fans running, place them near an area with cooler air in abundance.

If All Else Fails, Vacate the Premises

There's only so much you can do to beat the heat without working A/C. If keeping your home cool proves to be a losing battle, consider leaving your home for a hotel room, next-door neighbor or close relative until your home's A/C system is repaired and working again.

There are many places in the United States where life without an air conditioner can be almost unbearable. For this reason alone, it's important to have your air conditioner checked out by an HVAC service before the summer starts.