Your Air Conditioner: Does It Have A Safety Cap?

There are more than 1,400 products found around the home, garage or garden that can be abused by young people wanting to “get high.” The latest crime for young thieves seeking a cheap high is to break into outdoor air conditioning units and huff the refrigerant gas running through the system.

Do you know if your air conditioner has a safety cap? If not, it could become the source of a cheap high that could actually cause brain damage or even kill the person using it. The thought that teens could be using a product inside your air conditioner to get high probably never occurred to you, but the results of not having a safety cap on the refrigerant line can be tragic.

This dangerous trend has resulted in teen deaths across the country, caused primarily by the fact that young people have no idea how dangerous refrigerant huffing is. There are two important steps you can take to protect your loved ones, as well as the efficiency of your air conditioner:

• Talk with your children about how dangerous huffing is. It may seem like the popular thing to do among friends, but the fact that refrigerant huffing can cause permanent brain damage or death is obviously not worth the instant gratification of getting high. Make sure your children understand this important fact and that they won’t give in to peer pressure.
• Install a safety cap. The next time you have your air conditioner serviced, ask the technician to install a special lock that can prevent access to the refrigerant. A key is then required to remove the safety cap. This can deter thieves and prevent tragedy, not to mention that it ensures your air conditioner retains the proper refrigerant charge for the most efficient operation.

For more information about taking care of your air conditioner for safety and efficiency purposes, please contact Air-Tro, Inc. Heating & Air Conditioning in Pasadena today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about air conditioners and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

Air-Tro Inc. services the greater Los Angeles area as well as the metro areas of Riverside and San Bernardino County.

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