Common Air Conditioner Issues Homeowners Face
Without proper care, air conditioners may not give the proper performance all year long. To properly take care of your air conditioner, you need to know the common issues that may make it malfunction. While some of these issues are simple to spot, others may require the help of an expert to identify.
The following are the 5 common air conditioner issues that homeowners face:
Clogged Filters
After being used for a prolonged period of time, air conditioner filters may become clogged leading to increased energy consumption. There are suggestions that replacing a clogged filter with a new one can save you up to 15 percent in energy costs. If anything, clogged filters block the free flow of air, allow in the dirt, and prevent the coils from effectively absorbing dirt. For the system to continue working efficiently, the clogged filters must be replaced.
Faulty Thermostat Sensor
Have you noticed any erratic behavior from your air conditioner? Is it going through one cycle for longer than you expect? The thermostat sensor could be the problem. The thermostat measures the temperature of the surrounding air and adjusts the air conditioner according to your settings. When it is not functioning properly, the problem could be that it is dislodged from its position. When that happens, it will not be able to correctly measure the temperature of the surrounding air.
Leaking or Low Refrigerant
In the air conditioning system, the air is cooled with the help of a chemical known as the refrigerant. Faulty cooling may mean that the refrigerant level is either running low or it is leaking from the system. The first thing you ought to check is if it was recharged in accordance with the specifications of the manufacturer. Also, check for signs of leaking and if you find any, you should take care of the problem immediately. Bear in mind that leaking refrigerant is a harmful pollutant.
Frozen or Dirty Coils
It has already been established that you need to regularly replace air filters to improve the efficiency of the air conditioning system. But that is not enough. The coils also tend to accumulate lots of dirt over time. This may prevent them from working as efficiently as before. When your air conditioner has a reduced level of refrigerant, the coils may also freeze. Instead of the air conditioner giving you the services you need, the dirt and frozen coils will find it hard to cope.
Dysfunctional Outside Fan
A properly working air conditioner must of necessity have a functioning outside fan. When this fan becomes dysfunctional, the entire system may break down. The work of the fan is to remove hot air from the system. When it becomes dysfunctional, it prevents the heat transfer process from working properly. This results in the overheating of the air conditioner compressor causing the tripping of the safety overload.
It is important to check if any of these issues is causing the malfunctioning of your air conditioning system. You should ask a qualified HVAC technician to make an assessment of the entire house setup to see if it could be to blame. Make sure you rule out all possible air conditioning issues.