Regarding heating and cooling repair services, the Best New York Heating and AC Repair team is here to deliver high-quality services for your home’s cooling and heating system. A team of expertly trained and licensed contractors with years of experience handling the needed services.
The Air conditioning system provides a lot of comfort and convenience, especially during the hot summer days. Each component and part of the unit is important, especially its refrigerant. It is a chemical compound that absorbs the heat from your home and releases it outside. All AC units use a specific amount of refrigerant, which is known as its charge that helps facilitates efficient heat exchange.
However, the common problem with the air conditioning system is its low refrigerant level. The unit can lose refrigerant due to leaks along with its compressor line, lack of maintenance, or improper installation. Even the smallest amount of refrigerant lost can lead to a different problem with the unit’s operation that will ultimately cause a complete air conditioning breakdown. A low level of refrigerant in an air conditioner needs to be immediately fixed by an expert.
If your air conditioner has a low level of refrigerant, this can cause the following:
1. Poor Performance of the Unit
A drop in the refrigerant level can impact the AC’s performance. It can also affect the unit’s ability to absorb moisture, leading to a rise in indoor humidity levels. The low refrigerant lowers the unit’s ability to remove the excess heat and release it outside to provide efficient cooling inside the room. If the AC system fails to keep the indoors at a comfortable temperature, it may be due to low refrigerant.
2. Unusual Increase in Energy Bills
As the coolant drops its level, the air conditioner operates less efficiently. As a result, the system will work hard and uses more energy to make up for the cooling deficit, which causes an increase in your monthly energy bill. An abrupt rise in the energy bill indicates that the unit needs servicing.
3. Faulty or Failed Compressor
The refrigerant is responsible for keeping the compressor’s electric motor cool. When there’s a low refrigerant, an AC unit will run continuously, and the motor will overheat and eventually burn out. Replacing the failed compressor can be an expensive repair. Finding and repairing the refrigerant leak fast is important to prevent a damaged or broken compressor.
4. Warm Air Vents
An air conditioner needs refrigerant to cool the air. With inadequate refrigerant, the AC vents’ air feels warmer than usual. In some instances, the vents may blow less air due to ice buildup caused by the low refrigerant level.
5. Frozen Evaporator Coils
The frozen evaporator coils are an indication of the refrigerant leak. The evaporator coils fail to warp up sufficiently when the refrigerant leaks and the moisture condenses to form ice. Ice builds up along the refrigerant lines when the indoor coil freezes. When this happens, immediately call an HVAC technician like Best New York Heating and AC Repair to inspect and recharge the refrigerant.
6. Hissing or Bubbling Sound
A small refrigerant leak can be silent, but a significant leak can cause the AC to produce a faint hissing and bubbling sound. Routine maintenance by an HVAC expert ensures that the refrigerant leak is determined and fixed before it causes damage to the system’s components. Refrigerant is a harmful chemical, and it needs careful handling.
If you notice that your home’s air conditioning system does not work as it is and can be due to low refrigerant, immediately contact Best New York Heating and AC Repair to address the issue.
How To Determine If the Air Conditioner Unit Needs the Refrigerant
If you are looking for heating and cooling services in the area, Best New York Heating and AC Repair can assist you. We have a team of experienced professionals that can do heating and cooling repair services.
Refrigerants play an important role in the air conditioner unit working efficiently. But, in some instances, it will run low, affecting how the unit works. When this happens, determine if your air conditioning unit needs to be charged or if any other problems cause the low refrigerant.
Many possible situations can go wrong with your home’s AC systems over time, one of which is that it will simply stop circulating the cool air. A common cause of this problem is the low or improper amount of refrigerant. Identifying the issue takes a professional HVAC contractor using special tools. Still, there are also other ways where homeowners will be able to diagnose the low refrigerant could be the reason.
Here are some ways to help determine whether your air conditioning unit has low refrigerant.
1. AC Unit Blows Warm Air All The Time
The warm air from the vents is usually a sure sign of a low refrigerant level. You may notice that the air feels much heavier or more “moist” from the humidity levels, which becomes more noticeable as the cooling abilities are reduced. Low refrigerant is not only the possible reason for warm air, so you wouldn’t be able to rule out problems like a faulty compressor or clogged filter.
2. It Takes Longer To Cool Down
Similar to the warm air blown, an uncomfortable indoor temperature despite the mildly cool air indicates the low refrigerant. The vents may not be able to blow the warm air, but the air does not seem as cool as it should be despite the temperature set.
3. Increase in Energy Bills
If your AC has to run much longer or ends up constantly running, you notice a sudden increase in your energy consumption over a month. Since cooling costs are a significant portion of most of the home’s energy bills during the summer, low refrigerant levels could easily be the reason, even if you cannot feel the difference.
4. Ice Build-Up Around The Outdoor Unit
As the refrigerant level drops, the pressure in your lines also does. The condenser coil normally vents heat from the interior of your home to the outside. Instead triggers the low-pressure reaction that causes the temperature on the part of the unit to fail. After this happens, you will notice that the ice crystal has begun to form on the condenser.
Ensure that the filter is changed and that most interior vents are open to rule out other low-pressure causes. If ice still seems to be forming, you may need more refrigerant.
5. Water or Ice Build-up Around the Indoor Unit
Your indoor unit is the location of your AC system’s evaporator coil. The same problem that causes the icy outdoor unit could lead to ice or water buildup inside the home near your furnace.
When experiencing a refrigerant problem with your home’s AC, don’t hesitate to let Best New York Heating and AC Repair assist you. Contact us anytime to set an appointment at your convenience or for same-day repair services.
