Air Conditioner Cages: A Smart Decision

Imagine sitting in your house or business and slowly starting to feel the temperature reach an uncomfortable level. Your standing in front of the thermostat and realize that that the inside temperature does not match what you have it set for. There’s a problem. What can I check? The filter? Is the thermostat broken? These are questions any normal person would ask in this situation. Now imagine going outside to see if the condenser is running and realize that it is completely gone. Or worse, looking at a carcass of what used to be your air conditioner, ravaged and scattered across the area like a bomb had went off inside it. This is what happens every single day because of air conditioner theft.

Why me? What made my air conditioner so desirable? The problem of air conditioner theft is not a new one and the thieves do not discriminate. A/C units have been stolen for years, mostly in times past due to a quick sale to a shady contractor who will then re-sell it to someone needing air conditioning. However, now that the economy is in bad shape and copper prices are at all time highs, the focus has shifted to quick Snatch-N-Grab thefts and the units are stripped of the copper and then sold. The thief sells the copper to a scrap yard for pennies on the dollar. They get maybe $40-$50 dollars for an air conditioner that costs you upwards of $3500 or more to replace. This also means no air conditioning or heat. Having no A/C in your home for a while is bad enough, imagine having to conduct business or hold church in the freezing cold or unbearable heat.

This problem in compounded by the desire of wanting a replacement right away, but a fear of leaving it exposed again. What can I do? The crooks will be overjoyed to see that you supplied them with a brand new unit, that is unless they see that you have protected it with an air conditioner cage. The sight of an A/C cage itself would send most crooks down the road to seek for an easier target. This alone gives you the advantage over other theft deterrents such as alarms or simple lighting. These methods help, but do not actually keep your air conditioner from being stolen. They are purely re-active approaches when a pro-active approach is needed. An air conditioner cage by Property Armor by far is the best device you can purchase to protect your investment. They are sold in several different styles and some even actually enhance the aesthetics of your unit as oppose to looking like a crime zone.

Wayne Blackmon, an HVAC business owner has seen several of these first hand. “I have actually been called to a doctors office who had their air conditioners stolen right in the middle of the day, located on a busy intersection. Neighboring businesses admit seeing a van earlier but assumed they were just working on the units.” Mr. Blackmon adds “We work closely with Property Armor which stocks and supplies air conditioner cages. Sometimes the replacement unit itself is not in stock and has to be ordered, but thankfully, the air conditioning protection is usually available when the units are ready to be installed. I usually get a big smile when I get an air conditioner working again, but now I get an additional smile and sigh of relief when they know they are now protected also.”

You can visit www.propertyarmor.net to learn more about the problem, check out solutions, as well as browse through a gallery of past projects.

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