It's time to think about winterizing your cooler

We know it's still hot out. We know we will have several more weeks of warm weather, but it's not too early to discuss winterizing your evaporative cooler (or what some people call a swamp cooler). You don't want to wait until the first cold snap to be winterizing the cooler as you might not be able to get an appointment or, worse yet, your water supply line could freeze and cause damage.

Many property owners don't give a whole lot of thought to their cooler except when it isn't working, but winterizing the cooler is an important part of home ownership. The crew over at John the Plumber has seen firsthand the damage caused by frozen water supply lines that break and flood the home from above. Owner John Nelson tells such a story...

"The occupant had gone away on vacation without winterizing the cooler. Unfortunately, there was a freeze which caused a small crack in the copper water line which had been run through the attic crawl space. The line seeped for days, soaking the ceiling to the point where eventually the sheet rock fell. The occupant came home from vacation to the sight of the ceiling collapsed onto their entertainment center directly below. It was a pretty traumatic event that didn't have to happen," he said.

Another issue to consider is loss of heat through the uncovered unit. John tells another story (he's got a lot of them) ...

"I got a call, mid-winter, to a customer's house. I needed to get on the roof to run a snake though a vent line. While I was up there I could smell the odor of the cat litter box coming up through the cooler. I couldn't feel the heat from the furnace but I could smell the odor which was a sure sign that heat was also escaping. Having an un-winterized cooler is like having a window open while the heat is on," he said.

Winterizing a cooler consists of draining water from the unit, shutting off the water supply, unplugging the pump and covering the entire unit with a pre-made cooler cover. Give the folks over at John the Plumber a call at (661) 823-8031 and get on the schedule for the fall. You can always push back your appointment if it stays warm. Don't get caught unprepared by an early freeze. Call today.