Is your AC struggling to withstand the summer heat? Sometimes days are just so hot that any air conditioning system would struggle to cool your home. Other times, an AC not blowing cold air is due to a combination of factors inhibiting air from efficiently being pushed into your home. If you don’t want to go another day waking up in a pile of sweat, read on to learn which one of these problems is causing your AC to blow cold air.
How Does Your Air Conditioner Work?
Before diagnosing problems with your AC unit, it’s important to understand how air is cooled and transferred into your home. Cooling the house is an intricate process that uses refrigerant to cool the air in your home. Refrigerant travels over your evaporator coils and absorbs the heat from the air in your home.
This turns the refrigerant into a gas, upon which it blows throughout the ductwork and into the home. The gas refrigerant is then taken to the outdoor condenser, where it transforms back into liquid after releasing the heat in your home and repeats the process.
Incorrect Thermostat Settings or Readings
Occasionally, an AC blowing hot air doesn’t indicate a problem with the unit itself. Homeowners sometimes forget to change the thermostat to cool or set the temperature to an appropriate home temperature.
In addition, thermostats placed near windows or by appliances that affect their temperature readings can trick the thermostat into thinking the home is a cooler or higher temperature than it is. In this case, your unit is working properly, but you need to make a few adjustments to the thermostat settings or location.
Causes and Solutions for Refrigerant Leaks in Your AC System
Refrigerant levels should stay steady throughout the life of your unit. As you read, the refrigerant is changed back into a gas and repeats the process of cooling the air in your home. There is no refrigerant loss in the process, so if you have low refrigerant levels, it means you have a leak somewhere in your unit. It’s important to get refrigerant leaks addressed by a professional, as these leaks can be tricky to fix.
Dirty Air Filters
Homeowners are advised to change air filters every 30-90 days, and usually on the earlier end of the timeframe for extreme weather conditions or if you have pets. If you haven’t touched your filter in a while, it’s probably filled with a ton of debris that’s getting in the way of proper airflow and preventing your AC from blowing cold air. Dirty filters will let debris into the air inside your home while also lowering the amount of air that flows into your unit. This causes your parts to work overtime, which can eventually wear them out, on top of the fact that your unit won’t be providing adequate air to your home.
Clogged Drain Pipes
Air conditioners help remove moisture from the air, and a drain pipe is attached to the unit to release the water safely away from the unit and your home. Because there’s a ton of moisture being released during warm and humid weather, your drain pipe can sometimes get clogged and stop your central AC unit from producing cool enough air. The unit will likely shut down, but fortunately, you can either replace the piping or clean it out with a mild bleach and water solution to destroy any algae or growths in the pipes.
Leaky Air Ducts
Another issue that doesn’t involve the unit itself is leaky air ducts. When this happens, your air ducts allow warm air from outside and around the house to enter your air ducts. This warm air travels through your vents and into different areas of your home. One of the biggest symptoms of leaky air ducts is different temperatures in the rooms of your home, indicating that the air ducts leading to those rooms are leaking air.
Don’t Struggle With a Malfunctioning AC — Contact King Mechanical Today!
What do all of these problems have in common? They leave you struggling for cool air, and they can be solved by contacting your local HVAC professional! Don’t go another day with an AC that won’t blow cold air; get in touch with our professionals! For more information about our HVAC services in Lake Charles, LA, or to simply learn more about us, contact our team today!
