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In case you are thinking that your AC unit being covered in ice would make the air cooler in your home or office, you couldn’t be more wrong. The functioning of an air conditioner requires a certain balance of pressure, air flow and temperature. When any of them gets out of control, the refrigerant system that produces the cool air tends to overwork itself and gets frozen on its own, but it doesn’t make the air any colder.
You’d notice that if your air conditioner gets frozen, it blows out either warm air or absolutely nothing. Bearing with the heat in Cypress, TX can be agonizing so it’s best to get hold of an air conditioning service. But you if you’re curious about this phenomenon, we’ll tell you why it happens in the first place.
How Does the AC Produce Cool Air?
The coil is the most crucial part of the AC, which is filled with the cool refrigerant. When the coils are operational, the refrigerant needs to blow heated air over the coil. Doing so makes the air cooler and also allows the coil to stay warm so that they don’t get frozen. The indoor coil withdraws the heat from the air inside which is carried away by the refrigerant to the outdoor coil and then heat gets pushed outside. You’d be able to feel that the outdoor unit blows hot air as the extra heat gets transferred by the system from the inside to the outside.
This happens through the manipulation of pressure through the refrigerant circuit. The coils get cold and freeze up when either the warm air gets obstructed by anything and is unable to blow over the coils or in case the pressure inside the coil is less than optimal. So, when the insides of your AC start to ice up, you should turn to an air conditioning repair service and they’ll fix the problem that lies with the pressure or airflow, or perhaps both. Let’s go through the details for each of them.
Moisture Makes the Situation Worse
High humidity levels tend to worsen the problem of a freezing AC unit. The ice formation on the coils insulates it making it impossible for the warm air to get to them. Higher moisture content in the air promotes excessive ice buildup. The AC looks similar to a deep freezer as the insides get covered with ice and gradually creeps up the copper pipes. You’re more likely to notice this during the monsoon season, when the ice crawls up the copper pipes reaching towards the outdoor unit.
Airflow is Lacking
Lack of airflow is one of the most common reasons why your air conditioning unit might be freezing up. This can be due to several different parts malfunctioning, which ranges from the air intake to the blower motor. If the compressor keeps running while something in the airflow is blocking the warm air to flow over the coils, the unit would begin freezing up and it would grow worse over time.
Duct Has Collapsed
The ducts are designed to allow airflow within your place. But if the ducts get blocked by anything, the airflow would be obstructed and eventually lead to blockage of air to the coils. In case the air duct system of your place collapses or is blocked, the AC unit would lose the airflow, despite the fact that the remaining system is functional. Due to the absence of enough warm air, the ideal temperature can’t be maintained and as a result the coils start freezing. You can call an air conditioning service for a duct cleaning service at your place.
Blower Motor Has Stopped
A lot depends on the blower motor to keep the system running well. Be it the spinning motor itself or the blower motor’s run capacitor, when the blower fan comes to a halt the air won’t flow as fast over the coils as required. So when the air doesn’t flow over the coils, they start to freeze. An indication of a deteriorating blower motor is when you start to hear an unusual or rattling noise from the AC unit. Get it fixed by an air conditioning repair service company.
Fan Isn’t Receiving Enough Voltage
At times, low voltage could be the one to blame. The various high-power components inside the AC need electricity to function, that’s why you tend to notice a hike in your electric bills during the summer season. An airflow problem might be created when the fan or the blower motor run on low voltage and the compressor continues running, causing the unit to build up ice. Get the wirings of your unit checked by a professional to avoid this issue.
Air Filter Has Clogged Up
Although you can miss out checking up on the AC air filter, it shouldn’t be ignored for too long. The air intake filter keeps the air clean as it’s strategically placed between the AC unit and your dirty home vent. Overtime the filter can accumulate dust over itself that can get clogged up. It hinders the pathway of the airflow causing the airflow to slow down. Despite an efficient blower motor, the coils are bound to get frozen. You can get an air conditioning service to clean them for you.
Blocked Coils
Whether you’re lazy about replacing your air filter, using a low quality air filter or none at all, it can get risky. The damp air condensing on the cold surface makes the AC’s refrigerant coils moist. When the air passes through the damp coils, the dust in the air gets deposited and forms a thick cover over them. The dust works as an insulator as it traps the cooling in the coils in itself, producing an unnecessary amount of cold air. This gets along with more moisture that builds up on the dust producing an ice-box effect. To protect the refrigerant coils of your system, call an air conditioning installation and get high quality air filters installed or replaced.
Low Refrigerant Levels
The AC controls the pressure with the help of the refrigerant inside the coils, which is why it is important to have the right level of refrigerant at all times. The outdoor unit compresses the refrigerant after the collected heat is released. Liquid refrigerant heats up and releases pressure when it’s converted into gas by warm air. It’s compressed to a liquid back again and pushed forward to the blower fan inside with the help of the condenser.
In case of low levels of refrigerant, the flashing occurs too soon as the pressure is lacking, creating enough cold to condensate moisture on the coils that freezes immediately. Early occurrence creates higher ice buildup filling the AC and then crawling up to the copper pipes. So, whenever you contact an air conditioning repair service for maintenance, make sure they check the refrigerant levels.
How to Deal with Ice on the Condenser
If you notice ice buildup on the outdoor unit of your AC, shut down the thermostat without further ado. Doing so would turn off the compressor and let the refrigerant to stop getting colder. Remember to leave the fan working when the AC is turned off. The fan would allow airflow and assist melting of ice.
Be quick to contact professional air conditioning repair service in the Cypress, TX area and handover the situation to them. As it can result in a permanent damage of the system until the source is detected and fixed. You can hire Cypress Heating and Air as they’re the most reliable service providers in the Cypress, TX area. They’ll be quick to reach at your doorstep to fix the issue as they’re available 24/7.