The summer months are upon us in Washington State and this means outdoor activities, beach trips, and hiking to name a few. But it also means more use of the HVAC. The air conditioning will be running more to keep us cool in the summer and one of the maintenance tips during the spring is to service your HVAC before the summer heat sets in. While the servicing is being conducted on your HVAC, ask your technician if you have a float switch. A float switch is a necessity on your HVAC unit and let’s find out why.
What is a Float Switch?
An HVAC unit cools, heats, and dehumidifies a home. Excess condensate from this process usually goes through the drain and out with no problem. However, a drip pan on an HVAC unit collects the water and it can become clogged and back up. The float switch will activate as soon as the water reaches a certain level and shut down the HVAC unit, thus not allowing the water to continue to flow.
A Minor Expense vs. A Major Expense
The last thing you want is a large home expense in the summer. Let’s say that you go out of town for a weekend. You have set the timers for your lights, secured your house and the temperature feels nice and cool inside. You come home and your wood floors have 2 inches of water on them. The floors are damaged and you have a house of mess with a bill of many thousands of dollars. The float switch would have turned off the air conditioner as soon as it felt the water rising and you would have been fine. Now you will be paying thousands to have new floors put in, instead of less than $50 or so for the float switch plus labor you could have paid instead. Instead of letting this scenario happen to you, install a float switch!
A Float Switch Will Mitigate Mold Growth and Save You Money
A float switch will keep the water from backing up and there won’t be a place for mold to grow. Mold can lead to other health issues and be a hazard for your family. If enough mold builds up, it can be a hefty expense to remove it. Invest in this cheap to buy switch to avoid a potential disaster!
If you have any questions about float switches or your HVAC unit, please contact us at Boggs. We are here to help!
