If you pay close attention to the news circuits you’ll notice that there are typical at least one or more cases of air conditioning theft a week. Most of these go unreported unfortunately. Why are these thieves all a sudden targeting air conditioning units? It’s because the condenser’s copper tubing inside of the Air Conditioning unit sells for about $1 to $1.50 per pound. This amounts to about $20 dollars per stolen air conditioner condenser.
Unfortunately, the cost to replace an outdoor HVAC unit is thousands of dollars, and if you have an older split-system air conditioner you’ll likely have to replace the entire system because it won’t be compatible with the newer versions. So it’s certainly worth putting some effort into protection for this outside component, Here are a couple of things you can do.
Obstruct the Thief’s View
There are all sorts of things you can use to obstruct the potential thieve’s view, for example shrubs or any other view blocker which would make it harder for thieves to spot the air conditioner condenser from the street. However, this technique can possibly backfire since the bushes or whatever you decide to use to block the air conditioner can hide the thief while he does his dirty work, once spotted.
Install Motion Lighting
If its consistently dark all around your home your making yourself a easy potential target for criminals, that’s the main reason lights are one of my favorite ways to stop a thief from carrying out his crime on your home. Aim your motion lighting directly towards the condenser so anytime someone approaches the unit at night, the light will shine brightly in his direction and scare him off. Of course you run the risk of small animals, swaying tree branches or any pedestrian that is innocently passing by creating a false alarm. That’s a small inconvenience to deal with as long as you don’t plan on running outside every single time the light goes off.
Install Surveillance Cameras
For a chance to catch the criminal in the act consider installing security cameras, this is in case the other prevention methods don’t work you can at least have recorded evidence of the thief in the act. Also even the presence of a camera’s red light will indicate that it’s catching footage which possible maybe enough to make them change their mind about touching your air conditioner condenser.
Set up an Air Conditioner Cage
Install a thick steel cage closely surrounding the unit in order to make it difficult for thieves to get to the condenser. The cage won’t prevent your units airflow and will also provide extra protection against the elements as well increasing the life of your unit. All a technician will have to do is unlock an access door to remove the cage for tune ups. Interested? Here’s one company that sells air conditioner cages: Click Here. Keep in mind that a strong willed thief can break the lock on the access door, but it would take more effort than would usually be worth the risk. If such a lock is broken, it can quickly be repaired with a quick call to a repair specialist.
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A-1 American provides Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing Services, like Heating Repair for homes and businesses in the Hampton Roads Virginia cities of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News and Hampton and north into Williamsburg. A-1 American provides emergency service and repair, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and holidays. A-1 American charges by the job, not by the hour. A-1 American prides itself on immediate response, punctuality, courtesy and customer satisfaction. Call today 757-425-2400
