AC Repair: Three Reasons Your Air Conditioner May Be Blowing Hot Air

Your air conditioner is an important piece of equipment in your home, especially when the weather is particularly hot and humid. However, when the air coming out of your air vents is warm, you have a huge problem on your hands. If you keep up with routine air conditioning maintenance, the system can generally be restored to peak performance, although it is important to determine the root cause so that it can hopefully be prevented in the future. Your first step should always be to check the thermostat, but if it is set to cool, then here are three other potential causes of the hot air blowing out of your AC.

Low Refrigerant

ACs utilize refrigerant in order to absorb the heat from the air inside the home and then provide the home with cool air. Over a period of time, general wear and tear, as well as damage, to the overall system can result in a leak that could cause refrigerant levels to decrease. If there is not a sufficient amount of refrigerant in your system, then the air conditioner will be unable to properly cycle through the entire evaporation process in order to create cool air.

A professional will be able to examine the system and identify the source of the leak. Once the source has been identified, repairs can be performed. Once the system has been restored, more refrigerant can be added so that the system can be recharged.

Grimy Evaporator Coil

Evaporator coils are located inside of your indoor AC unit. These coils accumulate dust and dirt from the air that gets sucked inside. If they do not undergo a periodic cleaning, the accumulation will begin to interfere directly with the ability of the system to distribute cold air. A professional will have the right tools to get rid of the accumulation.

It is also possible for the evaporator coils to get dirty when the air filter becomes clogged. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that you are regularly cleaning or replacing the system's filter every three months at a minimum.

Electrical Issues

A number of AC systems have an air handler inside the house and a condensing unit outside of the house. In the event that the power should get switched off or a connection to the outside condenser gets loose, the interior fan will keep running, but the AC system will be unable to properly cool the air. Because of this, you will only feel hot air coming out of the vents.

It may be as simple as checking the circuit breaker/connection to remedy the situation. However, if power continues to be a problem, a professional will need to assess the problem and determine if the electrical issue is far more serious.

For more information, contact an air conditioning repair service near you.