On Jan 17, 9:31*am, Name Classified wrote:
Hi ,
I have central air in my house and I live in the northeast.
There is an outside unit that sits on a slab that I think brings in
the air. Its a box and every side is metal screen.
I was driving around my neighborhood yesterday and I saw that some
people in my neighborhood had their AC units covered, just the top,
with plastic. This would cut down on the air intake but maybe it is
more important that ice and snow do not get inside? Are you supposed
to cover the top of the intake in the winter? Thanks

That's simply the condenser unit. Similar to the AC in your car it
blows air over the condenser coil that has tubing in it with the freon
(working fluid) to cool it down after it's been compressed, then it's
expanded in the coil above your furnace (assuming forced air furnace)
and the air from the return plenum in your house is blown over that
and cooled.

In short, there's no air being drawn into your house from the outside
unit. But covering it may not be a bad idea when it's not being used
just to keep leaves, dirt, etc. out which can reduce efficiency and/or
cause corrosion of the condenser's fins and tubes.

NB: if you have a heat pump system, the condenser is actually used as
an evaporator in heat mode (basically the inside and outside coils
switch functions) and therefore the outside unit is used year round
and therefore shouldn't ever be covered.

nate