Summer Is Just Around the Corner, Is Your Air Conditioning Unit up to the Task?

We’re in that transition time of the year where the nights are staying cool but manageable and the days are getting warmer and can often times be countered with open windows.  Regardless of the officially recognized “start of the season”, many people gauge the coming of summer by when they turn their thermostat from heat to cool.

With some recent days in surrounding areas hitting the mid 80’s, if you haven’t officially toggled your “cool” switch – it won’t be long now!

This time of year is a great time to get necessary maintenance performed on your air conditioner and HVAC system in general.  The nights aren’t so cold that unit replacements or extended maintenance will radically affect comfort, and the same goes for the warm, but still milder days as well.

So, what are some of the things that can ‘go bump in the night’ with your AC unit if it needs repair? Here are some of the common problems we find with air conditioning systems and fix for our customers every day:

The ‘Cool’ switch is toggled on your thermostat but the forced air never seems to turn on.

This can of course be a variety of things but there is some troubleshooting you can do yourself.  The first thing you might want to try, is to replace the batteries in your thermostats.  If you have more than one thermostat, make sure to replace the batteries in all of them.  A low battery will often be obvious with a blank screen, but if you have more than one thermostat and one that doesn’t get much attention in particular, it can negatively impact the system overall.

With the batteries replaced, turn your thermostat to the ‘off’ position.  If you have multiple thermostats, make sure you set them all to ‘off’. Let them stay this way for 15 minutes or so and then try again to set them back to ‘cool’ with a temperature setting 2 degrees below your thermostat’s displayed temperature and wait.  If you still don’t hear the air come on within a couple of hours after that, then it’s likely time to give us a call.

The ‘Cool’ switch has been toggled and the forced air comes on, but the air doesn’t seem to get cool/cold.

In this scenario, your system seems to be working and reacts to the setting on your thermostat as it normally would but the air coming from your vents just never seems to cool down and stays at room temperature. This is another common scenario we see quite often this time of year and there are some great things you can do from your end to get started on troubleshooting this issue.

The first thing here is to set all of your thermostats to the same temperature and ensure they are otherwise set the same.  It is not uncommon to accidently have one thermostat set to ‘cool’ and one mistakenly set to ‘heat’ or ‘off’.  This alone can cause issues with overall functionality.

The next step is to look at your outside air conditioning unit while the forced air is running.  Is your air conditioning unit on and is the fan moving? If the fan isn’t moving and the unit isn’t turning on when the forced air is on, then it’s time to give us a call.

If the outside unit is running and the fan is going, the next thing to look at is where your refrigerant line comes into the home from the unit and the area around the unit itself.  It should look normal and free of debris, or frost on the refrigerant line.  If the unit is covered in leaves and debris, then turn the system off from the thermostat and clean everything off and try again. If you see that frost has formed on or near the refrigerant line, then the best bet is to leave the system in the off position for the remainder of the day to thaw.  If it continues to frost over or not function, then we’ll need to take a look at it.

Regardless of what type of air conditioning system you have, they all require general upkeep to ensure they operate in tip top condition. This is why we offer a regular maintenance program to give you peace of mind and to make sure you get the most life out of your HVAC system.

If you’re having problems with your air conditioner while getting ready for warmer weather, then give us a call!  Our certified technicians have seen it all and are ready to get your system back up and running quickly.