Living near the ocean is a dream come true. All the high rollers from the movies live in luxurious beach houses – plus, who wouldn’t want to go to sleep each night listening to ocean waves crash on the sand?
It’s true decadence!
How could there be a downside to living near the ocean?!
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but most houses located within three kilometres of the sea experience salt damage over time, including the erosion of lime mortar in brickwork, rusting of structural elements and even holes in roof tiles.
Ocean air can also affect the performance of your home air conditioning. AC struggles to work at peak performance in the presence of salt, and can even break down if not cared for properly.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading.
Salt water contains corrosive minerals that damage air conditioner parts
It sounds kind of frightening, but salt water contains a corrosive chemical called sodium chloride.
In small doses, sodium chloride can be found on our table tops alongside the pepper shaker, but in large doses sodium chloride can be used for industrial purposes.
Sodium chloride makes it into the sea air and carries across the coastline, sometimes settling on internal parts of air conditioning units, causing deterioration and poor performance.
Over time, sodium chloride can build up and cause major damage or, at worst, a breakdown.
Your copper condenser coils are vulnerable to the ocean air
The internal parts of an air conditioning unit are vulnerable to moisture and sodium chloride, but none more so than condenser coils.
Condenser coils are responsible for removing heat from the refrigerant inside an air conditioner. Split system units have an evaporator coil located indoors and a condenser coil located outdoors – open to the effects of the elements.
The aluminium fins of a condenser coil are bound with copper tubes and when salt gets between the copper and the coil, corrosion starts to occur, causing freon leaks and inefficient operation.
In other words, when condenser coils start to rust, air conditioning units can’t keep up with the temperature demands of even a small household. Instead, your air conditioning unit will have frequent malfunctions, breakdowns, and cause you to spend a long summer without air conditioning relief.
How to stop your home air conditioning from corroding in the sea air
You can avoid unnecessary damage from the ocean air through regular cleaning and inspections.
We provide reliable cleaning services to homes and businesses throughout Newcastle, Central Coast and the Hunter, ensuring homes sitting on the beach are protected against fast-acting salt damage.
Our team can also recommend special coatings that can help protect your internal AC parts from getting damaged from corrosion. We’re experts when it comes to protecting against corrosive elements – just give us a call and ask us what we can do to help.
