When your air conditioner is working properly, you grow accustomed to the temperature of the air that comes out of your vents. So it can be pretty easy to recognize when your system is underperforming. This usually starts when you notice that your home is not as cool as usual or your air conditioner seems to be going through longer cooling cycles.
When you put your hand over an air vent, you’ll notice that the air that’s coming out is surprisingly warm. Today we’re going to talk about why your air conditioner’s air might not be as cold as usual and what you can do to prevent this problem from occurring!
Reasons Why Air Conditioner is Blowing Warm Air
There are many reasons why your air conditioner can start to produce warm air, but the most common problems relate to issues with your system’s ability to remove heat from your home, including:
- Dirty cooling coils. Your air conditioner has two sets of coils: evaporator coils located inside your home and condenser coils located outside your home. The evaporator coils are responsible for absorbing heat from your home’s air, and your condenser coils are responsible for releasing that heat to the air outside. If dirt builds up on either set of coils, it will form a layer that makes it harder for the heat-transfer process to take place. As a result, a smaller amount of heat will be removed from your home and your home’s supply air will be warmer than usual.
- Frozen evaporator coils. One common issue with air conditioners is that the evaporator coils can freeze over with ice. When this happens, it causes the same types of problems that occur when your coils are dirty, because the ice forms a layer on the coils that inhibits the transfer of heat.
- Low refrigerant levels. Cooling coils are simply the sites where the transfer of heat from your home’s air take place. The refrigerant inside those coils is what actually does the job of moving that heat out of your home. If your air conditioner is low on refrigerant, it will reduce the amount of heat that your system is able to remove from your home’s supply air.
- Malfunctioning compressor. Your air conditioner’s compressor is one of your system’s most essential components because it makes it possible to transfer heat to the air outside. If the compressor is malfunctioning, your air conditioner will not be able to effectively remove heat from your home and your system will distribute warm air.
- Improper thermostat settings. One of the simplest explanations for an air conditioner blowing warm air is that your thermostat is not set properly. If your thermostat is not in the “cool” mode but your fan is set to “on,” air will be cycled throughout your home but it will not be cooled.
Warmer Supply Air Can Be a Sneaky Problem
When your air conditioner starts to produce warmer air than usual, you might not notice it right away. Instead, the problem will get progressively worse over time until someone in your home actually starts to feel it. In some ways, this can be worse than your system shutting down completely, because you might go days or weeks without realizing what’s happening, and your system will be consuming more and more energy as the problem gets worse. That’s why it’s important to do what you can to prevent the problem in the first place, which we’ll help you do below.
How Can I Prevent My Home Air Conditioner from Producing Warm Air?
There are two ways that you can prevent your air conditioner from producing warm air.
- First, make sure to change your air filter every month. Not only will this protect your cooling coils from dirt buildup, but it will also help prevent them from freezing up.
- Second, schedule a tune-up for your system every year. During a tune-up, we’ll clean your coils, check refrigerant levels and perform a full-system inspection so that your air conditioner can continue to produce cool air all summer long.
If you have any questions about why your air conditioner is not producing cold air, or if you’d like a cooling system serviced or installed in your home, contact Hydes, your Indio, CA, air conditioning contactor.
