The warm weather arrives in Florida early, and already air conditioning systems are switching on around the state to cool down homes. And that also means that some air conditioning systems will start running into malfunctions.
If you’ve already arranged to have your AC maintained, then the chance of running into an air conditioner malfunction early in the cooling season is low. (If you haven’t had your AC maintained yet, give us a call!) We still recommend you watch for early warnings that something is wrong with your AC as it starts up for the season. Moving fast to have air conditioning repair in Live Oak, FL will make the rest of the season and its hotter weather easier to bear.
The AC keeps shutting down early
This is a common AC trouble known as short-cycling. It often affects an AC that hasn’t had maintenance yet. Dirty outdoor coils, leaking refrigerant, and a clogged air filter are often at fault if this problem crops up at the start of summer. You don’t want to allow short-cycling to continue because it puts immense strain on the AC and wastes power. If the source of the short-cycling is something like leaking refrigerant, the whole air conditioning system is in danger of failure.
The AC isn’t evenly cooling the house
A central air conditioner is designed to provide comfort to all parts of the home connected to the HVAC system. You can expect some temperature discrepancies in rooms because of different light exposure and insulation. But if you notice certain rooms are much less cool than others, it’s a warning that the air conditioner is losing cooling capacity for some reason. You’ll want technicians to get to the bottom of this.
The first bills of the season are too high
We recommend you compare your utility bills for the first month you use your AC to the same bills from the last few years. Check if the cost of electricity has risen, which will account for an increase in costs. If there’s a steeper rise than you expect and you haven’t changed how often you use the air conditioner, you may have a malfunctioning AC—even if it outwardly seems to be working right.
Your house has higher humidity
Although air conditioners aren’t dehumidifiers (unless they have dehumidifier features built into them), they still remove some moisture from the air. A faulty AC will often cause a noticeable rise in humidity. It’s easier to detect this before you notice a decline in cooling. Higher humidity can also indicate an AC struggling with proper air circulation.
The AC is making unusual noises
Air conditioners generate a predictable set of sounds as they run. They aren’t silent, but they turn into the “white noise” of summer. When a strange sound interrupts this, it usually means trouble. Abnormal sounds your AC may make when it needs repairs include hissing, bubbling, clanging, loud clicking, grinding, rattling, and high-pitched shrieking.
Call our expert team when you suspect you’ve got a faulty AC. We’ll find what’s wrong and have it repaired fast.
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