Your home’s cooling system can seem like an absolute necessity when those hot summer days hit. Unfortunately, you may experience a problem with your system from time to time. If your AC system is blowing warm air, here are seven of the most common reasons.
1. Low Refrigerant Level
Refrigerant is a necessary part of your air conditioning system. It absorbs heat from inside your home and transports it outdoors. When your refrigerant level is too low, it won’t be able to adequately absorb heat. Your blower fan will simply keep blowing warm air over your evaporator coil and further circulate it throughout your ducting. You’ll need to contact an HVAC professional to recharge your refrigerant level.
2. Frozen Evaporator Coil
Just as your cooling system needs refrigerant to remove heat from your indoor air, it needs adequate airflow throughout your ducting. When airflow is restricted due to a dirty air filter, an adequate amount of heat isn’t able to be absorbed by the refrigerant. Due to the unique chemical makeup of refrigerant, if it doesn’t absorb enough heat, the evaporator coil will freeze up.
You’ll need to turn your HVAC system to fan mode and let the evaporator coil thaw out. If your air filter isn’t dirty, there are various other causes of frozen evaporator coils, like a dirty coil. If you don’t have a dirty filter, then you should have an HVAC technician further assess the reason why your coil froze before attempting to run your system again.
3. Blocked Condenser Unit
As refrigerant transfers heat to your outdoor condenser unit, the condenser coil will release that heat into the air outdoors. Unfortunately, if debris gets pushed against the outside of your condenser unit, its airflow can be greatly restricted. This debris will prevent your condenser from adequately dispersing the heat outdoors. Cleaning up around your condenser unit will usually do the trick. If not, you may need to call an HVAC technician to clean your condenser coils.
4. Thermostat Problems
The reason you may be getting hot air out of your vents instead of cold air is your thermostat is on the wrong setting. You want to ensure it’s set to cool mode and not heat mode. Furthermore, it should be set to auto and not fan. If you have your thermostat set on cool mode with the fan, the fan will still blow warm air when your air conditioning system isn’t actively working to cool the air to your desired temperature.
5. Faulty Compressor
Your system uses a compressor to transport your refrigerant from the indoor air handler unit to the outdoor condenser unit. By altering the pressure of your refrigerant, your compressor can easily trap heat from inside and disperse it outdoors. However, if your compressor fails to run, then your indoor air handler unit will simply circulate hot air throughout your home without your refrigerant being able to remove heat from it. You’ll need to get the compressor replaced to fix your system.
6. Malfunctioning Condenser Fan
Just as your indoor air handler unit has a blower fan to move air across the evaporator coil, so does your condenser unit. When your condenser fan is malfunctioning, it won’t adequately disperse heat from the refrigerant to the outdoors. There are various reasons that your condenser fan may not be working. These include a broken fan belt, faulty wiring, an obstruction in the fan’s housing, and a worn-out fan motor. An HVAC professional will be able to further assess your condenser fan to determine the root cause of its malfunction.
7. Faulty Capacitor
Your air conditioning system has a capacitor that is responsible for storing excess energy and providing an initial boost of power to your system’s compressor. When your capacitor fails, your compressor won’t get the jolt of energy it needs to start up. Without proper circulation of your system’s refrigerant, it will simply blow hot air. You’ll need to have an HVAC professional replace your faulty capacitor to get your system back to producing nice, cool air for your home.
Expert AC Service
GVEC Air Conditioning & Heating offers expert AC service for the entire Gonzales, TX, and surrounding communities into New Braunfels and Schertz. We can also help with all of your heating, commercial, ductwork, indoor air quality and energy audit needs. If you have any questions on your air conditioning system or need to schedule a service, contact our experts today!
