Most people in the Collinsville, IL area would assume that having an Air Conditioner freezing would be good for producing cold air. However, this is very far from the truth. An AC system works through a series of controlled pressures, airflows, and temperatures. If any of these aspects fall out of balance, the refrigerant system can create cold air that freezes itself, preventing your system from making your air actually colder. Having a frozen ac will either result in warm air coming out or no air at all. Below we have some reasons as to why this is happening to your system.
How Your Air Conditioner Makes Cool Air
The main piece of an ac system is the coil that is full of cold refrigerant. When it is activated, this refrigerant needs warm air to blow across them. This will cool your air and also keeps the coils warm enough to prevent them from freezing over. When it comes to straight cool systems, your indoor coil removes heat from the inside and transfers it using the refrigerant to go to the outdoor coil, which then pushes all the heat to the outside. This is why sometimes your outdoor unit feels as if it is blowing hot air, hotter than the temperature outside. This is because your system is transferring the excess heat from the inside to the outside.
Reasons Why Your System Can Freeze
When there is a high level of humidity in the air, the issue of freezing can become worse. You will notice that the coils start to develop ice. This can be caused by a variety of different issues including the blower motor, and the air intake. Below we have several reasons as to why this could be happening to your system.
Lack of Airflow
A major reason why your air conditioner can freeze is the lack of airflow. This issue can be caused by a number of different malfunctions including a collapsed duct, a bad blower motor, a clogged air filter, and low voltage going to the fan. If anything in this system stops the warm air from flowing over the coils while the compressor is running, you will start to see your ac freeze up.
Dust Blocking the Coils
Running your system without an air filter or using a low-quality air filter, gives you another risk. AC refrigerant coils are usually damp due to moist air condensing on the cold surface. When you have dusty air blowing past these coils, it can build up into a blanket of dust on top of the coils. This combined with the moisture that is building up on the dust can create an ice-box effect.
Low on Refrigerant
The level of refrigerant that is inside your ac unit’s coils matters. This is because this is how your ac manages its pressure. The compressor, also known as the outside unit, compresses the refrigerant after releasing the heat that it collects. This warm air then converts the liquid refrigerant into a gas which heats up and drops pressure. If there is not enough refrigerant in the system, this will occur too early due to the lack of pressure. This process creates enough cold at the moment to condense moisture onto the coils, which freezes it instantly.
If you are noticing ice forming on your air conditioner, give our team at Dixon Heating & Air Conditioning a call today. We are here to make sure that your unit is working as best as it can be. So give our team of professionals a call today.