One of the more common and aggravating cooling season afflictions is a frozen air conditioner, or more accurately, A/C coils that freeze up. When the coils freeze, your A/C’s performance will suffer and at a certain point, it will stop working altogether. Find out what causes the coil to freeze. That knowledge will help you prevent or reverse a frozen air conditioner.
Insufficient airflow. If not enough air is passing across the evaporator coil of your A/C, the heat-exchange process will be impeded, and refrigerant in the coil won’t be able to absorb heat from the air (which is what creates cool air). Without that heat absorption, the refrigerant’s temperature will continue dropping, and ice will form on the coil. Make sure the system’s air filter is clean, registers aren’t blocked, and ductwork isn’t kinked or leaking. Your blower fan may also be the culprit if it’s not blowing at the right speed.
Low refrigerant. If your system doesn’t have enough refrigerant, either because of a leak or faulty installation, it won’t be sufficient to absorb heat from the air, and as with lack of airflow, ice will form on the coil as airborne moisture comes in contact with the frigid coil. A trained professional will have to diagnose and address this issue.
An overworked system. Asking too much from your A/C, such as setting the thermostat at 66 degrees on a day when it’s 95 degrees outside, may result in pressure loss in the system, and coil freeze-up. This is an easy one to prevent — just don’t make excessive demands on your A/C.
Mechanical defects. A variety of malfunctions can reduce pressure in your cooling system and result in an air conditioner freezing up. Most will need to be addressed by a certified professional. They include a defective blower motor, a kinked refrigerant line and a faulty compressor. One simple way to avoid these issues is to schedule annual professional maintenance on your A/C system.
For help fixing a frozen air conditioner in your Indianapolis-area home, please contact us at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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