Surely, you’ve heard of the “domino effect.” The internet is full of videos where one domino starts a chain-reaction, knocking down hundreds of thousands of dominos to form intricate patterns or pictures.
There’s a “domino effect” in your air conditioner, too, but it’s not nearly as cool or pretty. Unfortunately, we are talking about what happens when one component of your AC malfunctions. More often than not, that malfunction causes more damage or, in the best-case scenario, lowers efficiency.
In this post, we’ll talk about two “harmless” problems that can cause serious a serious domino effect on the rest of your AC.
Dirty Air Filter
The air filter. The harmless, flat piece of cardboard and mesh that you insert into the HVAC system. Its job is to keep dust out of the air conditioner. Once it fills up with too much dust and dirt, however, you’ll want to have it changed.
Just how important is it to change the filter? Well, as it turns out, dirty air filters are notorious for causing some of the worst issues in air conditioners. Fortunately, just changing the filter can solve most of them, but that doesn’t mean it won’t cause damage or lower efficiency in the meantime.
Dirty air filters are known to cause problems such as:
- Short cycling: Air conditioners cool your home through numerous cooling cycles, but these cycles should last about 15 minutes or longer. Cooling cycles that happens within minutes or even less are dangerous to the machine and represent a serious problem.
- Frozen evaporator coil: If airflow is restricted too much, the evaporator coil won’t have enough warm air to absorb. That can cause it to get too cold, to the point that it freezes over! A frozen coil presents several issues, including inefficiency and even damage to the compressor.
- Uneven cooling: If your home isn’t being cooled evenly, it’s hard to pinpoint the problem. It could be leaks in the ducts, a lack of insulation, problems with the blower… or, simply, a dirty air filter.
Pinhole Leaks
It’s not a particularly common problem, but one that is capable of happening with any air conditioning system. We’re talking about leaking refrigerant. Refrigerant is the chemical that acts as the lifeblood for your air conditioner.
But full-blown leaks don’t just occur overnight. They first begin as microscopic bits of corrosion that eventually expand into pinhole leaks. A pinhole leak is often spotted by the presence of tiny bubbles, but unless you’re having the line inspected by an expert of air conditioning services in Atlanta, GA, it’s not something you’ll notice easily.
And if you did notice it, it might be easy to pass off as nothing. But as the pinhole leak begins to grow wider, it can cause some serious issues:
- Lowered efficiency: The first symptom of leaking refrigerant is none other than a drop in your efficiency.
- Frozen evaporator coil: Once again, a disruption in the cooling process can cause this issue to occur.
- Damage to the compressor: Without the right level of refrigerant, the pressure in the lines can cause damage to the compressor—and that’s not a cheap part to replace.
Are your cooling bills higher than usual? We can get to the bottom of your efficiency issues. Contact American Comfort today to schedule a service. Bringing Comfort to America, One Home at a Time.
