Refrigerant is your A/C unit’s lifeline. It is the agent used to cool the air and also help keeps your A/C unit from overheating. During those hot summer months the last thing you want is your A/C unit to overheat or break down, and not be able to cool your home or business. Ambient Heating & Air Conditioning wants to help you know when your air conditioning unit is running low on refrigerant.
How Long Should it Take for Air Conditioner to Cool House?
Is your home or business taking a longer than normal time to cool down? This is one of the biggest warning signs that your A/C is running low on refrigerant. The refrigerant is what absorbs the hot air. If there isn’t enough refrigerant to absorb the hot air, it won’t be able to cool the room down inside the building. If it seems to be taking a long time to cool down, place your hand over the vent to see if it is blowing lukewarm air out. This is another way for you to test if the refrigerant is low.
High Electric Power Bills Indicate Air Conditioner Problems
Sometimes, even though the A/C unit can still cool everything down, this doesn’t mean that your unit has sufficient refrigerant. A good indicator that you are running low on refrigerant without the hot air telling you so is that you might notice your electric bill is a little higher than normal. When you are running low on refrigerant, your A/C unit has to work much harder to reach the temperature set on the thermostat. This can cause your unit to work twice as hard and run longer to cool the temperature down in your home or business. Running low on refrigerant could also be due to leaks. If you are hearing hissing or bubbling noises from your A/C vents, this is the sure sound of a refrigerant leak.
Refrigerant Lines Freezing Up
Another good sign that you’re running low on refrigerant, is an ice buildup on the refrigerant line. If you go out to inspect your unit, check the copper line. If you find ice around it this could be a problem. When the unit is low on refrigerant the inside of the A/C units evaporator coils will get cold. This will cause the cold liquid refrigerant to flow back through the refrigerant line or copper pipe. In turn, this will cause the surrounding moisture to freeze. When that happens this can cause problems for your unit. Eventually the refrigerant will make its way to the outside unit’s compressor. The compressor is the beating heart of your A/C unit. If the outside compressor gets damaged, it can’t compress the liquid quickly converting into thousands of pounds of hydraulic pressure. This can break valves, rods, and plates in your unit.
Air Conditioning Preventive Maintenance, Emergency AC Repairs, Installation & Replacement in Springfield, Granby, Holyoke, South Hadley, Monson & Agawam Massachusetts
If you are experiencing any of these signs you’re most likely running low on your A/C unit’s refrigerant. If left unchecked the unit compressor can break and will need to be replaced. Compressors are expensive and a lot of the time people will just end up replacing the whole unit. Not to mention the higher electric bill. To save you time and money, be sure to have your air conditioning checked if you find the signs warning you that your unit is low on refrigerant.
