Air conditioners or ACs are household appliances that help to make a living space or room comfortable and habitable during times of extreme heat. They can do this by removing humidity and replacing warm air with cooler air. They are useful in most buildings including residential homes and commercial buildings like offices, hotels, hospitals and so on.
For their usefulness, regular maintenance of your air conditioning system is important as well as its repair when it is faulty. While maintenance helps to identify potential issues, rectifying the same and ultimately prevent a breakdown, repair is done when the system is malfunctioning.
This cannot be truer for residents of Albuquerque, a city in New Mexico, United States. The climate of Albuquerque is cold and semi-arid with a dry warm temperate. For about 6 months of the year starting from late April to early September, the city experiences hot weather. During the summer months of June through to August, temperatures peak and can reach up to 900F. You can read about Albuquerque here.
Not having an effective and functioning unit during this period can be tantamount to self-sabotage. This is because you or any other occupants of the building will be quite uncomfortable. Therefore, it is crucial that you must not let this happen.
What Can Cause Your AC Unit to Malfunction?
An air conditioning unit has different parts like most other systems that work together to produce the cooling effect you enjoy. An issue with any of these parts can result in a malfunctioning of the unit. Thankfully, it can always be repaired. Some of the common issues you can experience with your unit include:
AC Won’t Turn On
Imagine on a very hot July afternoon, you try to switch on your AC and it won’t turn on. This can be quite exasperating. First things first, you should check to ensure that the device is properly plugged and powered on. Next, you should check the batteries of the thermostat if they are still functional or needs a replacement. The next point of call is to check if the circuit breaker has not tripped off. If it has, simply flip the switch back to “ON”. If you tried all these and the device still won’t turn on, then you should call for an HVAC technician such as the folks at Bosque Heating & Cooling immediately.
Insufficient Flow of Air
When your AC unit comes on but can hardly blow sufficient air to cool the space around you, it could be because of a number of reasons. The first culprit might be the air filter. This is an important part of your unit and when it is dirty or old, your AC will not function effectively. Sometimes by simply cleaning the air filter, the system can begin to work again. At other times, it may simply need to be replaced.
Secondly, it could be as a result of low refrigerant. An AC unit cannot cool without the refrigerant. When it is low or it is frozen due to a dirty filter or frozen evaporator coils, then the AC cannot cool. Finally, it may be as a result of leaky ductwork or a blockage in it. For AC units that have two parts, the ductwork is used to bring cool air from the external unit to the internal one. When there is a leakage or blockage, cool air will either be lost into space or it would not get into the room where you need it.
Noise from the Unit
An AC is designed in a way that it runs quietly and should not be making any noise other than a silent humming sound. If you begin to notice it is louder than usual or you begin to hear strange noises, do not ignore this. This can signify an issue. It may be some loose parts or broken components but whatever it is, it should be attended to soon enough.
An issue with the Fan
Typically AC units come with fans. One cools the air by blowing it over the evaporator coil while another expels hot air to the outside. An issue with any of these fans will affect the compressor and needs to be repaired right away.
You will find some other issues you may experience here https://www.consumerreports.org/air-conditioners/troubleshooting-air-conditioner-problems/.
Conclusion
While it pays better to prevent experiencing any issues with your air conditioning unit, you might not be able to avoid a breakdown. When this is the situation, endeavor to call the attention of an HVAC expert immediately. This will help you to avoid experiencing discomfort on a hot summer day.