A working air conditioner is one of life’s greatest pleasures, especially when you’re trying to survive the hotter temperatures of the summer. Even though the middle months aren’t as intense here in Milwaukee as they may be in other parts of the country, we still encounter some pretty hot times.
One of the most frustrating things that can happen, though, is when the AC gets a little *too* cold and it ices over. Figuring out how this even happened in the first place can be stressful and difficult, and often you’re left irritated and still stuck with an icy AC. The AC experts at Roman Electric have compiled a few of the reasons why this might be happening so that you can get a better handle on why you’re dealing with this problem!
Not Enough Airflow
One of the key parts of your air conditioner is the evaporator coil. As the final stop in the air-cooling cycle in your home’s air system, it’s responsible for holding the cooled liquid refrigerant that has been circulating. Air blows over the evaporator coil, absorbing the cool gas and carrying it through your vents.
When the evaporator coil can’t get rid of the cool air, though, the temperature around it steadily drops. When it gets too cold, the air condenses, creating liquid. And when the liquid continues to get colder, it freezes. Inadequate airflow prevents your AC system from moving the cool air through your home, leading to a buildup of ice.
Make sure your home’s airflow has enough power behind it so this doesn’t happen!
Low Refrigerant
As we touched on earlier, refrigerant is key to your home’s air conditioning. It’s a liquid that changes states into a gas and back again as it travels through the AC system, and without it you wouldn’t have any cold air at all! So when you’ve got leaky refrigerant, your AC system isn’t going to know how to handle it.
When there’s a leak, the mixture moves through the various tubes and coils at the wrong speed, and this throws the whole cycle out of whack. The chemical will flow incorrectly, and it will start to clog up at various points through the system. As the cold air blows over this stagnant refrigerant, it’ll freeze and cause a buildup of ice.
Finding a refrigerant leak can be tough since it may be small, but an expert will find it for you in no time!
Broken Components
Of course, there’s a chance you could have a broken piece of machinery somewhere. Whether it’s a blocked drain, a broken blower motor or a cracked/tangled refrigerant line, there are a lot of potential issues that could result in excess ice forming.
All that is a long-winded way of saying that there are more than one or two possible reasons why there might be ice forming on your air conditioner. If you’ve noticed some and aren’t sure why it’s there — or if you do know why and just want someone to fix it — let Roman Electric make it go away!
Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to speak to our AC experts today!
