Autumn! It’s finally here! It’s time for festive activities, family gatherings, and enjoying the fact that the weather has started to cool down! But what about that little air conditioner issue you’ve been noticing? You don’t have to worry about that now, do you?
Actually, you really should. Here are four air conditioner concerns that are worth addressing now rather than putting off until next spring.
1: Noises
We certainly don’t mean that your air conditioner should make no noise. But it should make consistent sounds, not sudden, unusual, or worrying ones. The whirring of the fan and humming of the compressor should be the main things you hear. If your AC unit has been banging, rattling, buzzing, clicking, or hissing, there’s a problem. If you address it promptly, you are preventing the problem from worsening. You don’t want to have a small, easily-fixed problem and ignore it until it damages the rest of the unit! And you certainly don’t want to try to turn your air conditioner on in the spring to find that it isn’t working at all.
2: Low Airflow
If you put your hand in front of the air conditioner’s outflow vent during a cooling cycle, you should feel a strong breeze. If, instead, you only feel the slightest movement of cold air, there is a problem. It may be that damaged or deteriorating ductwork is allowing your cold air to flow out in unoccupied spaces like your attic or between your walls, leaving only a trickle for the rooms you actually want to cool. Or, some sort of obstruction could be preventing airflow. A professional technician in AC repair in Red Rock, AZ can determine the cause and get things flowing again.
3: Warm Air
What if, when you put your hand in front of the outflow vent during a cooling cycle, you feel a strong breeze but it’s not particularly cold? Again, this could be the result of a ductwork issue, allowing warm air to be pulled in and directed out your vents. But it can also happen when a component inside your air conditioner is overheating. This means the air has been cooled, but excess heat being created by the unit is warming it up again. You don’t want to use energy and spend money running an appliance that cools the air and heats it up again before you can enjoy it! A technician can get things sorted out so you don’t waste money trying—and failing—to cool your house.
4: Short Cycling
This is a problem that you can notice by listening to your air conditioner. Although the fan is blowing all the time, the cooling power of the compressor cycles on and off. It’s meant to run in cycles of 15 or even 20 minutes, but sometimes an issue can cause the cycles to start and stop much more frequently. This can have many causes, from a miscalibrated thermostat to a refrigerant leak, and many consequences from hot spots the cool air can’t reach to high utility bills because the startup is the most energy-intensive part of the cycle. You don’t want to let that continue unaddressed. Make an appointment today so you don’t find yourself without cooling on a hot autumn day or on the first hot day of spring.
Contact Picture Rocks Cooling, Heating & Plumbing today to schedule an appointment with our professionals.