Lone Star Cooling and Heating
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Call (325) 219-0005An air conditioner that runs but blows warm air or cannot bring the temperature down, traced through airflow, coil condition, refrigerant charge and whether the system is simply at its limit on the hottest days.
01Not cooling
A system that runs but does not cool can fail in several different ways, and each one narrows the search.
The house gets moving air but no cooling because the outdoor unit is not starting. A failed capacitor or contactor, a tripped breaker or a wiring fault are the usual reasons, and most are electrical repairs.
The system is working but losing ground. Restricted airflow, a dirty outdoor coil, a low charge or leaky ducts in a hot attic are common reasons, and on the hottest days a correctly sized system may also run without stopping.
Weak airflow usually means something is choking the air path: a clogged filter, a dirty indoor coil, a failing blower or a disconnected duct. Less air across the coil also means less cooling, and it can lead to ice.
Heat rises and upper floors gain more from the roof, so some difference is normal. A large or growing gap can point at duct problems, closed or blocked returns, or a system that was undersized for the building.
02Limit or fault
A system working at full capacity and a system with a fault can look alike from inside the house.
It runs without a break only on the hottest afternoons, the air from the vents still feels cool, and the house catches up once evening comes. That is a system working as designed in weather beyond what it was sized for.
It falls behind on mild days, the air from the vents is barely cooler than the room, the outdoor unit is silent, or the problem started suddenly. Each of those points at a failed part, an airflow restriction or a charge that has leaked away.
AC Not Cooling
Serving Abilene, TX.
03Why it happens
Cooling is heat moved from inside to outside. Anything that slows either end of that move shows up as warm rooms.
Indoors, the coil can only absorb heat from the air that crosses it, so a clogged filter, a dirty coil or a weak blower all reduce cooling. Outdoors, the condenser has to release that heat, and a coil matted with dirt, grass clippings or cottonwood fluff holds it in. Leaky ducts running through a hot attic can lose much of the cooling before it reaches a room.
A system that is short of refrigerant cannot carry heat at its full rate, and because refrigerant is not consumed, being short means there is a leak. Past all of these, some systems were simply sized too small for the building, or the building has changed since, and no repair will add capacity that was never there.
04What changes the answer
The same complaint can end in a filter change or a new system. These are what decide it.
Measured at the equipment, airflow shows whether the filter, the coil, the blower or the ducts are holding air back before anything on the refrigerant side is blamed.
Pressures and line temperatures show whether the system holds the charge it was built for. A low reading turns the visit into a search for the leak.
An addition, a finished attic or new windows can change how much cooling a building needs. When the equipment no longer matches the load, repairs restore it to a capacity that still falls short.
05Questions
Systems are sized to handle the usual peak weather for the area. On days hotter than that, a healthy system can run without a break and the house can drift a few degrees above the setting. If it struggles on ordinary summer days too, it is worth having looked at.
Yes. A clogged filter cuts the air moving across the indoor coil, so less heat is removed from the house, and in time the coil can ice over. It is one of the first things a technician checks.
Not necessarily. An oversized system cools the air quickly but shuts off before it removes much moisture, leaving the house cool but clammy. The right size comes from a load calculation of the building, not from the size of the old unit.
What the system is doing, when it started, what the thermostat is set to and what it reads, and whether the outdoor unit is running. The age of the equipment and a photo of its label help a technician arrive prepared.
If it smells of burning, is leaking water, or the outdoor unit is humming without its fan turning, yes: switch it off at the thermostat. A system that runs but does not keep up can usually stay on until it is looked at.
Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
Prefer to talk?
Call (325) 219-0005