Your condensing coil—the outdoor unit portion of your air conditioning system—probably isn’t the most attractive thing in your lawn. So why not get it out of sight with a clever solution, like building your deck over it?

For a whole lot of reasons, actually.

In short, interfering with airflow around your condensing coil means your air conditioner works harder—and costs you money.

Here’s why: The condensing coil is where all the heat that was collected from your home gets released outside. To effectively remove heat, your AC requires a certain amount of airflow over the condensing coil. If less air flows over the coil, less heat is removed. That means the whole cycle warms up a bit, and your AC works harder to keep your home cool.

Additionally, the refrigerant within your unit needs to be able to release heat to change from vapor to liquid. If that process is held up, you see a loss in efficiency.

All this inefficiency means that you pay more each month for the extra electricity your AC needs to run, and your equipment fizzles out much faster—meaning more repair bills and having to replace the unit sooner than you otherwise would.

Get the most out of your air conditioner, and keep it running effectively as long as possible by keeping obstructions out of its way. That includes plants that might spring up or grow toward it.

You want at least two feet of clearance around your condensing coil, and your decking nowhere near it. Small price to pay for the money you don’t spend on extra electricity and repairs, right?