Air conditioners are sturdy systems, but they can be surprisingly vulnerable to certain issues. Many homeowners are actually doing quite a bit of damage to their air conditioners by neglecting them in a number of ways. One of the easiest issues to resolve with your air conditioner is also one of the most potentially damaging. Read on to find out more about this one simple way you could be killing your air conditioner.
The Air Filter
The air filter sits in the air return duct for your system, and protects it from the various contaminants that are often found in a home’s ductwork. Dust, dirt, and the like are all blocked from entering the air conditioner and reducing its efficiency. The problem is that the air filter can’t get rid of any of the contaminants that it captures over time. If you don’t change your air filter often enough, it will eventually become clogged. This will cause all kinds of problems for your air conditioner over time.
The Consequences of a Clogged Air Filter
The first consequence of having your air filter clog is that your air conditioner’s output will drop. The clogged filter will prevent most of the airflow from reaching the air conditioner, which will prevent it from circulating enough air to cool the home. That’s not the worst problem the filter will generate, though.
Without warm air flowing over the air conditioner’s coil, the temperature around the coil will drop much lower than it should. The combination of freezing temperatures and the condensate that forms on the coil as a byproduct of evaporating refrigerant will eventually cause it to ice over. As the ice builds up on the evaporator coil, it will cause the system to stop working entirely. The ice will prevent the coil from siphoning thermal energy from the air around it, causing the output of the system to drop. If your air conditioner spends a long enough time with its coil frozen, it will eventually break down entirely.
There are a couple different ways you can address this. The first is to prevent it from happening entirely. Change out your air filter every three months or so while you’re using your air conditioner and you shouldn’t have to worry about it clogging. If you happen to forget and it does clog, you may notice ice starting to form on your air conditioner coil. Make sure that you call for repairs as soon as you notice your air conditioner icing over. The faster the issue is resolved, the less you’ll have to pay in repair costs. It’s much easier to just change your air filter on a regular basis, though. If you don’t know how to do it, contact a technician and have them show you.
Tuckers Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing provides air conditioning repair services in Silver Spring, MD. Contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our expert technicians. We’ll make sure that your air conditioner is in top condition for summer.