How to Keep Your Condenser Unit Free of Leaves and Weeds

Now that October is nearly over, most of us have a daily deluge of autumn leaves coating our yards, so it’s a good time to learn how to keep your air conditioner condenser unit free of leaves and weeds.

While it’s easy enough to rake up the leaves from the grass, cleaning up the leaves that slip into the corners of your yard can be difficult, and it’s even trickier once leaves start to build up around your outdoor AC condenser unit.

Here are a couple of steps you can take to make autumn maintenance of your condenser unit simple:

1. Trim your trees and shrubs so they grow away from the unit

Prevention is always easier than treatment, and that’s just as true for yard maintenance as it is for your air condenser

If you regularly trim or shape your shrubs so they grow away from your condenser, leaves are much less likely to get tangled in the vent.

The branches of the plants themselves will also stay further away.

2. Surround your unit with a bed of gravel and pebbles

Your condenser unit probably sits on a slab of concrete which prevents grass from growing straight under it

But that slab isn’t big enough to keep tall weeds away, especially since it can be harder to cut the grass around the slab.

Surround it with gravel or river rocks, instead, which will prevent weeds from growing around it and also looks decorative.

While you regularly have to clear obstructions away from your unit and get it looked at by a professional, building your backyard to minimize problems can help keep your air conditioner running for longer.