Your air conditioner is vital for keeping your home cool and comfortable during the summer, which makes it especially annoying when the system stops working correctly. If your air conditioner is not cooling your home as well as it should be, there could be a number of different reasons why. Most of those reasons are going to require professional services to be fix, but there’s no harm in learning a bit more about them while you wait for your appointment.
Read on to find out why your air conditioner output is low, and what you can do about it.
Clogged Air Filter
Let’s start with one that you can do something about. The air filter is the part of the air conditioner that is responsible for protecting the system from the dust and other junk that often resides in ductwork. It does this job well, but it needs to be changed every three months or so while the air conditioner is being used on a regular basis. If it isn’t, it will eventually become clogged and prevent a lot of the air in the ducts from making it into the system. Lack of airflow will cut into the air conditioner’s output capacity significantly. Fortunately, this is easy to fix if you know how to change your air filter. A word of warning, however: if your filter is the source of your output problems, you should change it sooner rather than later. If the lack of airflow is allowed to continue for long enough, it can cause the evaporator coil to freeze over and create a whole range of other problems.
Air Handler Issues
The air handler is the part of the air conditioner responsible for circulating air throughout the home during operation. As such, a problem with the air handler can cripple the air conditioner in terms of output. Common symptoms that indicate an air handler issue are when the system makes a loud grinding noise while it’s running. That could mean that the bearings in the air handler are worn out and in need of replacement. Your air handler may have completely failed if your air conditioner is on, but you don’t hear the sound of air moving through the system at all. You’ll need a professional technician to take a look at the system in order to repair that.
Refrigerant Leaks
Refrigerant is the fluid that your air conditioner uses to keep your home cool. The system evaporates and condenses refrigerant to absorb heat from the air in your ducts, and release it outside the home. A refrigerant leak is a problem because it robs the air conditioner of the fluid over time. The lower the refrigerant level in the air conditioner drops, the less able the system will be to cool the home. This can lead to the system breaking down at some point, so you should call for repairs if your air conditioner is blowing air that doesn’t seem as cool as it normally is.
Sunset Air offers full air conditioning services in Tacoma, WA. Contact us today for an appointment.
