There’s nothing worse than expecting to walk into a nice cold home and instead walking into an extremely hot and humid one. Unfortunately, from time to time, your air conditioning system may experience some problems that can cause it to not produce enough cold air. Here are a few common issues to help you identify what particular issue you’re facing. If you live anywhere in the Phoenix, AZ. metro area, we can help. We dispatch AC Repair Technicians throughout the Valley!
Clogged AC Filters
The most common reason that your air conditioning system may not be producing cold air is that the air filter is completely clogged. Your air filter is responsible for removing unwanted airborne particles like dust and debris from your indoor air. As the filter works, it eventually becomes clogged up with all this unwanted debris. This blockage will cause your air conditioning system to work much harder to force air through the filter and, ultimately, won’t allow it to produce enough cold air for your home.
Fortunately, a clogged HVAC filter is a very easy fix. You simply need to remove the existing air filter out of the filter housing. To ensure that the filter is indeed the problem, you want to hold it up to the light to try and see through the filter. If you can still see through the filter, then it’s not a filter issue. However, if you can’t see through the filter, it needs to be replaced. Experts recommend replacing your air filter once a month during the long summer season.
Low Refrigerant
Over time, it’s not unusual for the refrigerant inside your air conditioning system to leak out. Your refrigerant is responsible for transporting heat from the inside of your home to the outside of your home. Whenever there is not enough refrigerant in your air conditioning system, your AC struggles to remove heat from inside your home, leading to your home feeling too warm.
To address this problem, you need to call in an air conditioning professional. They can evaluate your coils and copper tubing to identify where the leaks are. They’ll be able to fix those leaks and recharge the refrigerant level. When your refrigerant level gets back to normal, your AC will be able to cool down your home.
Leaky Ductwork
If you’ve noticed that your air conditioning system seems to be cooling some rooms of your home but not others, it could be due to leaky ductwork. The ductwork that runs throughout all the walls and floors in your home is responsible for circulating the cold air throughout each room. If there are gaps or leaks in sections of your ductwork, the cold air can escape into the wall or floor cavity.
A good way to diagnose this issue is to walk around to all the supply vents throughout your home. Realize that there are two different types of vents. Supply vents deliver cold air to the room, and return vents pull warm air out of the room.
If you notice that the supply vents in certain rooms are not blowing out any cold air, then you know that the issue lies in between that room and that the previous supply vent was blowing cold air. To fix this issue, you’re likely going to have to call in an air conditioning professional. They have specialized equipment that can allow them to see into your ductwork and seal it up without having to rip apart the walls or the flooring in your home.
Condenser Unit Blockage
An important part of your air conditioning system is the outdoor condenser unit, which is responsible for dispersing the hot air from your home into the outdoors. As you go through the normal summer season, leaves and other debris can get blown around and end up stuck to the exterior of your condenser unit. If you take a look at your unit, you’ll see that there are a lot of openings in it that allow fresh air from the outside to blow through the unit.
To remedy this problem, you’ll need to remove the debris stuck up against the unit. You’ll also want to trim back overgrown shrubs and low tree limbs that are within two to three feet of the outdoor condenser unit. Ensure that there is adequate airflow around the entire unit so that it works properly.
Frozen Evaporator Coil
Your air conditioning system has an evaporator coil that is responsible for removing the heat from the air inside of your home. As the hot air from your home is blown over the evaporator coil, the heat from it is transferred into the refrigerant. In addition, as the heat is removed from the air, so is the excess humidity. This moisture shows up in the form of water drops on the evaporator coil.
If there is a problem with getting adequate airflow over the evaporator coil, the refrigerant inside of the coil can get extremely cold. The water drops that are sitting on the evaporator coil will turn into ice as the refrigerant gets too cold. This leads to a frozen evaporator coil and no longer allows your air conditioning system to produce cold air.
Fixing this issue requires two steps. First, you need to figure out why there is reduced airflow over your evaporator coil. Some of the most common culprits include a dirty air filter, dirty coils, and even a rodent infestation in the ducting. Once you get this first problem figured out, you can move on to the second step of defrosting your evaporator coils. It’s recommended to simply leave your system off for a couple of hours and to let the coils thaw out. You can speed up the process with a space heater or a dryer if you want to.
Malfunctioning Thermostat
One cause of this issue that you may not take into consideration right away is your thermostat. It’s not uncommon for someone to bump the thermostat or for a child to mess with the settings. Take a moment to make sure that your thermostat is set on the cooling function and that your desired temperature is below the current room temperature.
If everything is set correctly, it could be your thermostat that is the actual issue. Before replacing your thermostat, it’s a good idea to contact an air conditioning professional. They can verify that the thermostat is the root cause of your problem and then go ahead and replace it with a new one.
Too Much Heat
If your air conditioning system is still struggling to keep your house cool after assessing all the issues above, it could be that you’re letting too much heat inside of your home. Your air conditioning system simply may not be able to keep up with the amount of heat that is being produced. The most common culprit for bringing heat into your home is direct sunlight. If there are rooms throughout your home that receive direct sunlight throughout the day, you need to block out that light. To keep your home cooler without air conditioning, you can simply try putting up your blinds
or by pulling down curtains.
Unparalleled AC Repair Professional
AC by J is here for all of your air conditioning system repair needs in the Scottsdale region. We can also provide you with heating, cooling, plumbing and indoor air quality services. Simply pick up the phone, and give us a call today!
