How pest prevention can help your ducted A/C system

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No one likes to think about pests crawling through their homes but unfortunately creepy crawlies are an inevitable issue for most home owners unless they already have pest prevention for their home. Rats, mice, cockroaches, geckos, possums; the list goes on, and they are usually looking for shelter and food.

What does this have to do with ducted air conditioning?

Well it’s quite simple; rats and mice in particular can leave unrepairable damage to your cables and wires by chewing through them. These wires and cables are essential to your air conditioning functioning. Ultimately getting the cables and wires replaced is the only option. Pests can also get stuck in the electrical components of the outdoor unit cause malfunction.

Many times we have encountered this problem from clients who have called us about their system not working when in fact it has nothing to do with the unit being faulty. As our service technician climbs into their roof or inspects your outdoor unit and finds cables chewed by rodents. Unfortunately this is not covered under warranty so you will be paying for something that could usually be avoided.

Repair work will often cost the customer:

• a call out fee
• the cost of labour
• the cost for new parts if needed

The best way to counteract this problem is to use preventions before the problem starts; deterrents or fumigation that can be carried out by pest professionals. If you already have an infestation, you could buy mice traps or bait poison or there are humane traps too to help your situation. Moth balls have also proved to be a great deterrent to put behind the unit to keep rodents away. All of these options are much cheaper than the cost to repair damage to your ducted air conditioning system.

Unfortunately this is what becomes of creatures that are crawling where they shouldn’t be. These pests can cause all types of troubles for your system ultimately costing you time and money to get the problem fixed (as this will not be covered under warranty) and the animal’s life.

When a customer calls because their ducted air conditioning system has shut down, there are certain steps that should be followed so the issue can be identified and repaired. Once our technician has come out to the property (which involves a service call out fee) and found a pest has caused damage, the following steps are followed:

Steps after finding an animal has caused damaged to your system:

1. Locate full fused parts/electronic componentry damage caused by pests.
2. Assess the damage to its full extent.
3. Provide a detailed report and quote to repair.
4. Order necessary parts required to rectify the issue (which can take up to 2 weeks).
5. Revisit site and fit new parts.
6. Check and test system operation.
7. Recommend options to prevent pest damage from happening again.

Most of our clients have never had to worry about this issue because they have already taking precautions against pests. However, after reading about the time and money it takes to get your system fixed after pest damage, do you think it’s really worth the risk of not using prevention methods to keep pests away?