In this short episode of The Comfort Experts, host Derek Cole introduces the topic of outdoor HVAC units that become unlevel over time. William Skipper explains that, like a house, an outdoor unit’s concrete pad can settle as the surrounding soil compacts, dries, or becomes soft from water, causing the unit to droop or lean. He distinguishes normal settling, which can be corrected by gently prying the pad and adding packed dirt underneath, from more serious “sinkhole” situations where the unit stands on its side and requires professional attention. Derek emphasizes that a level unit is crucial for proper oil circulation within the compressor, and that spotting unevenness during routine maintenance can prevent larger problems. The segment ends with a call to visit 1houraircarolinas.com for more information.
Hey, this is Derrick Coleman with Williams Skipper, and welcome to the Comfort Experts. And today we're talking about your unit, your outdoor unit settling at your house. So, William, we've had this question, believe it or not. What would be causing that unit to settle?
Well, it's no different than your home. I mean, how many people— I mean, I can raise my hand— have saw and noticed your home had been settling? And you know, they can do, take all the precautions you want, and they do when they're building a home, and your home will still settle. Now, if we take a heavy unit, we pack the dirt dirt outside and we set, set the unit down on that concrete pad, over a period of time that unit is still going to settle. That dirt's going to pack just a little bit more. Water, everything else getting on it, the ground getting soft. So it's going to happen. There is a difference. Now, now you may need to be aware, I'm talking settling to where your pad droops a little bit, or you might get it leaning one way or the other. You can fix that yourself, or you could get somebody out and do that by just simply You know, prying the pad up a little bit, packing dirt up under the spot. Now, if you've got one that is standing on its side, that's more of a sinkhole type thing, and that's something you need to be concerned about. But, you know, it's normal, it happens.
Yeah, it is important though for your outdoor unit to be on a level ground for the operation of that unit because you don't want the oils and things to go to one side or the other. If you see this happening, you know, something easily you can catch on the maintenance when you're looking at the unit, and it's something you can solve before it gets too far. Correct. So for any more information, go to 1houraircarolinas.com.
Today's episode was brought to you by the Comfort Experts. See us for all your heating and air conditioning needs. For more information, visit 1houraircarolinas.com. That's 1houraircarolinas.com.
