During the summer, a problem you may run into with your home air conditioner is that your AC will be running, but cold air is not blowing out of it. This is frustrating because if the air conditioning is running, it should be blowing cold air. However, there are problems that are hard to see from the outside that could cause your AC to not blow cold air. Below is a guide that will help you understand some of the potential problems with your home cooling unit and offer you some ideas to troubleshoot the issue.
Refrigerant levels are low
One reason why your HVAC system may not be blowing cold air is that the cooling unit is low on refrigerant. Your AC system may be low on refrigerant if there is a leak in the pipes. When there is a leak, the refrigerant could drain out of the cooling system in less than 24 hours. Without the refrigerant running through the pipes and into the coil system, there will be nothing to cool the air passing over the cooling unit. As a result, your air conditioner will still function, but it won’t blow cold air.
There are some ways that you could troubleshoot this issue. You could try to open your home air conditioning unit and check the levels of refrigerant in your system. However, a problem such as this usually requires an HVAC contractor. A technician typically fixes these problems because AC refrigerants contain harmful chemicals that could hurt someone if they are not handled properly. Our professionally trained repairmen will safely refill the refrigerant in your home’s cooling system.
Unclean filter
When the filter in your AC unit gets dirty, it begins to collect dust and other small particles. As dust, lint, and other filth accumulate in the filter, the steady flow of cold air is restricted. Filters can gather so much dust that it begins to act like a wall. This “wall” will trap the cold air in the cooling system, preventing it from entering your home. If cold air can’t leave the air conditioning unit, then the cold air will freeze the evaporator. When the evaporator freezes, blocks of ice build in the air conditioning unit which will also block the flow of cold air.
A simple way to fix this problem is to clean your air filter. It is recommended that you clean your air conditioning filter every few months. This will help prevent dust from making your filter act as a wall. However, if there is ice in your AC unit and you have a dirty filter, you will have to buy a new filter and wait until the ice melts. Once the ice melts and you have a new filter, then cold air will blow through your house again. But sometimes, the accumulation of ice in your AC system will damage other parts of the air conditioning unit. If this is the case, you will need an HVAC contractor to take a look at your cooling system to assess the damage.
Broken compressor
A broken compressor inside of an AC unit is a severe problem. The compressor is the heart of the air conditioning system. Inside of your HVAC unit, the compressor takes cold, low-pressure gas from the inside of your home and transforms it into a hot, high-pressure gas. This high-pressure gas then gets pumped out of your air conditioning unit and enters the outside air. Without a functioning compressor, the cold air has nowhere to exit the AC system from. If the cold air can’t leave, then it will freeze the entire system resulting in ice accumulation. A damaged compressor, if left unattended, could ruin your entire air conditioning system.
If you think there is a problem with your AC compressor, you should contact us and we will dispatch an HVAC contractor to your home ASAP. A broken compressor is not something you should try to fix on your own. It is also not a problem that you should leave unattended. If a damaged compressor is not fixed quickly, a simple fix could turn into a whole project. Also, it is much cheaper to fix and replace a single compressor than it is to fix and replace an entire AC unit. We highly recommend that if you think you have a broken compressor, you fix it right away. Contact us today if you have a compressor that needs repairs.