The storm of the year for our town is on it’s way and its time to batten down the hatches. We’re getting out as a precaution. My girlfriend and I will be going to stay with friends further south. Before we go, we’re making sure the home has been reinforced in every way possible. While most folks will tell you to board up your windows and doors, people tend to forget about something else that will cost you a lot more than a few new windows. While I go around with our screw gun, applying plywood over every last window, my girlfriend is taking in the house plants and tending to the HVAC system. The last thing we want is to have to replace our entire HVAC system just because we didn’t reinforce it against the storm. My girlfriend turns the entire system off through the main system switch before wrapping up the condenser. we use waterproof tarp designed to work with our central A/C condenser. While it comes with ties that you stake down like a tent, my girlfriend and I know these aren’t enough for the storm. My girlfriend uses ratchet straps as well around the condenser, so that waterproof tarp isn’t going anywhere. With that done, we’ll take all the houseplants inside, and transfer anything pricey that we can’t necessarily take with to the ninth floor. We’ll also duct tape plastic over the HVAC duct vents, to try and keep water from getting into the HVAC duct, hopefully the damages won’t be to bad when we return.