Rats invade homes to find warmth or evade predators, and they may damage your home's air conditioning system in the process. Rats will chew through anything that's in their way when they try to get inside your home, including air ducts and electrical wires, and this can cause your home's air conditioner to stop working or work poorly. To learn some common signs that your air conditioner has been damaged by a rodent infestation and how these problems can be fixed, read on.

Your Air Conditioner Won't Start

When rats go through your home's air conditioning system to get inside your home, they may chew through any electrical wires that are in your way. If they sever the wires leading to your outdoor compressor unit, your air conditioner won't turn on. They can also chew through the insulation on the wires, exposing them. If two exposed wires are near each other, electricity can arc through them and cause the fuse in your air conditioner to blow. A blown fuse will also cause your air conditioner to not turn on.

To fix the problem, you'll need to have an AC repair service inspect all of the wires in your home's air conditioning system. They'll test the wires with a multimeter to see if electricity can flow through them, allowing them to find out if any of the wires have been damaged by rats. Once the damaged wires have been found, they'll replace the wires and get your home's air conditioner running again.

Your Air Conditioner Has Poor Cooling Performance

The flexible air ducts in your home's central air system give rats a convenient pathway to move around your home. Rats will chew through them to get inside, and they'll crawl through the inside of the ducts. Once there's a hole in your air ducts, cool air will leak through it instead of being delivered through the registers in the rooms of your home. Your home will feel hotter than normal because your rooms aren't receiving as much cold air.

To fix the problem, you'll need to have all of your air ducts inspected. Any missing insulation will need to be replaced along with any ducts that have been chewed through by rats.

Your Energy Bills Are Higher

If the air ducts in your home are leaking because rats have chewed holes in them, your monthly energy bills will go up. The leaking air can end up in areas that don't need to be cooled, like your attic or the voids behind your drywall. Your air conditioner has to run more often to keep your home at the temperature you set on the thermostat, increasing your energy bills. An AC repair service can repair the torn air ducts and insulate them to stop air from leaking out of them, enabling your air conditioner to keep your home cool more easily.

If you think that your home's air conditioner has been damaged by rats, call an AC repair service in your area and have it inspected. An AC repair service will check all of the electrical wiring in your home's air conditioning system along with the air ducts to determine if anything has been chewed through by rats. If any rodent damage is found during the inspection, they'll replace the damaged components to fix your air conditioner.