If you notice ice forming on your air conditioner this summer, your system is in trouble. Air conditioner ice is caused by an issue with the air flow in the system, which can dramatically lower the output and eventually cause a full breakdown. If you don’t deal with the problem soon, you may end up paying far more than you need to in repair costs. Lets’ take a look at what causes air conditioner ice, and why it’s a problem.
Touchstone Heating & Air Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Air Conditioning Repair’
The Problem with Air Conditioner Ice
Tuesday, May 31st, 2016Do I Need to Fill My Air Conditioner With Refrigerant?
Monday, March 7th, 2016Most people have a basic grasp of how their air conditioners work, enough to understand that refrigerant is the primary liquid used to keep the system operating. What far too few people understand, however, is how exactly refrigerant operates in the system. If you’re unsure whether or not you need to top off your air conditioner’s refrigerant levels, read on.
What Qualifies as an Air Conditioning Emergency?
Monday, August 17th, 2015There are a myriad of different problems that can afflict an air conditioning system. Some of them are bigger than others, but all of them should be dealt with as quickly as possible. Even so, there are a handful of problems that can destroy the system if not fixed immediately. If you notice that your air conditioner is exhibiting symptoms of one of these problems, you should turn it off and call for emergency repairs. Let’s take a look at some of the symptoms of these problems that you should watch for.
3 Air Conditioning Problems That Require Immediate Repair
Monday, April 13th, 2015No air conditioning problem should be left alone, once discovered. The longer a problem with your air conditioning system is allowed to continue, the worse it’s going to get. However, there’s a difference between problems that need to be addressed as soon as possible and those that need to be fixed right now. There are some problems that, if allowed to continue for any appreciable length of time, could cause catastrophic damage to the air conditioning system. The following are 3 of those problems.
3 Common Problems With Condensate Overflow
Friday, May 23rd, 2014One of the basic parts of air conditioning operation is the removal of heat from the inside of a house. The evaporator coil absorbs heat, and as it does so it collects moisture condensation. This water has to go somewhere, and ACs are designed to catch the excess water in a condensate drip pan along the bottom of the evaporator unit. A pump and drain line then remove the water from the shallow pan and out into the standard plumbing wastewater system.
Insufficiently sized and pitched drainage lines and algal growth in the drain can cause the condensate pan to overflow. This can potentially damage your air conditioner, but it will create even larger problems outside the AC. If you notice water dripping from your AC, call for professionals right away to solve the problem.
You can reach the Gainesville, FL air conditioning repair team at Touchstone Heating and Air Inc. 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Don’t let any of these problems from condensate overflow affect your home:
- Water damage: The immediate effect of condensate overflow is damage to your property from standing water. Depending on the location of your air conditioning system’s indoor unit, this can rapidly add up to thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs. It will also attract destructive vermin like cockroaches and rats.
- Raised humidity: Humidity is already a significant problem in Florida during the summer. The last thing you want to do is let humidity increase inside your home. But it only takes a few standing pools of water around an air conditioner to create a source for a spike in indoor humidity, leading to decreased comfort that will defeat the purpose of having an AC.
- Mold and mildew growth: There is another potential threat to your air because of dripping water, and that’s how it encourages the growth of mold and mildew. Not only are these organic pests unpleasant to look at, they can also have a toxic effect on indoor air quality. Mold remediation is often a difficult process; if possible you want to cut mold and mildew off at the source before they can take hold by stopping excess water anywhere in your home. Because air conditioners are often located in shadowy places, they are especially susceptible to developing mold in the areas when leaking starts.
It’s a good idea to make an occasional visual check of the indoor and outdoor cabinets of your central AC to look out from problems such as leaking. Should you see the indoor unit leaking, or if you detect a rise in humidity in your home and see mold growth, call for repair technicians right away.
Touchstone Heating and Air Inc. is ready any time of day or night and year-round to help you with regular or emergency air conditioning repair in Gainesville, FL.
How High Humidity can Damage Your Air Conditioner
Wednesday, April 30th, 2014Believe it or not, high temperatures aren’t the only thing that your air conditioner must fight. High humidity plays a big part making our homes uncomfortable too, and unless your air conditioner can combat it, it’s not going to do its job. Air conditioning repair in Gainesville must often deal with overworked A/C units, whose components have worn down under the strain and need to be replaced before the unit will function again. Our stifling Florida mugginess often plays a large role in that, and understanding the reasons why can help you get a jump on correcting the problem.
How Humidity Damages Air Conditioning
We stay cool by sweating, which sends moisture to the surface of our skin and cools us off when it evaporates into the air. As long as relative humidity levels stay below about 55 percent or so, that biological process isn’t unduly affected and your body can sweat normally. When humidity levels increase beyond that, however, there’s too much moisture in the air to absorb the sweat off of your skin, and your body won’t cool down the way it should. Needless to say, our relative humidity levels are often higher than 55 percent here in Florida, especially during the hot summer months.
Ostensibly, your air conditioner can pull humidity from the air in your home and help keep it comfortable. That process, however, often forces your air conditioner to work harder in order to lower that humidity level. As a result, the various components undergo greater strain, which increases the likelihood of a breakdown somewhere along the line.
In some cases, your AC unit may be powerful enough to handle the additional workload that our muggy atmosphere provides. In other cases, however, you might want to consider upgrading your air conditioner, which can help prevent high humidity from damaging it.
Touchstone Heating and Air Inc. handles air conditioning repair in Gainesville, and can fix the issue of high humidity in your home with ease. Pick up the phone and give us a call today.
Air Conditioning Repair Question: Why Is My Fan Running but AC Not Cooling?
Tuesday, October 29th, 2013In matters of air conditioning repair, Gainesville FL know they need to schedule cerise right away. The sooner you can spot a problem, the more rapidly you can contact a qualified service technician to help. It helps to know the signs that you need AC repair, so that you can spot them early and call in the cavalry before something worse happens. For example “why is my fan running but AC not cooling?” is a common question we experience in our work. The answer is pretty straightforward.
The fan serves to blow cool air into your home. As refrigerant moves through the evaporator, it goes from a liquid state to a gas state, absorbing heat from the surrounding air in the process. A blower then moves the air through your ducts into your home. If the fan is running, the problem obviously lies elsewhere, and if you’re getting a good flow through your vents, there isn’t any blocked in your ducts.
The problem therefore lies in the cooling cycle itself. In some cases, it may be that the refrigerant levels have dropped below acceptable levels. Ice will form on the evaporator coils: which insulates them and prevents them from absorbing heat. Another problem may arise with the compressor motor itself. If it isn’t running, the refrigerant isn’t circulating and the air isn’t getting cooled.
Regardless of the causes, a good repairman can hunt the problem down and fix it quickly. When dealing with air conditioning repair, Gainesville FL has a team of experts ready to help. Touchstone Heating & Air has served North Central Florida since 1998, and offer 24-hour service for emergencies. We pride ourselves on your complete satisfaction, and we know how important it is to get your air conditioner up and running again. If you’re asking, “why is my fan running but AC not cooling?” contact us today!
Air Conditioning Repair: Fan Not Turning On
Monday, September 16th, 2013With high levels of humidity and a warm season that lasts all year, living in Florida requires a reliable air conditioner to keep you comfortable. If an important part of your AC stops working, like the fan, you can’t afford to wait to do something about it. If you need air conditioning repair in Gainesville, FL, look no further than the skilled staff at Touchstone Heating & Air for professional help.
Your air conditioner needs two fans to operate, one each in the inside and outside units. The inside fan blows cool air through your vents, and the outside one takes care of removing the heat. If either fan stops working, you will not receive the cold air you expect from your AC.
The most common cause of the fans failing to turn on is a burned out motor. Without maintenance, the motors can run down from long use and overheat, damaging their wiring. It’s a good idea to have an HVAC specialist take a look at your AC after the intense summer months so you can avoid a motor failure that will leave your fans stuck in one place.
A problem with the capacitor could be one of the reasons for your fan not turning on. The capacitor is a small cylinder-shaped device that acts as the catalyst for the motors that run the fans as well as the compressor. If the capacitor is unable to send voltage to the fan motors, they won’t operate. Don’t try to repair a burned-out compressor on your own—there is a danger of electrical shock! Let a professional handle this problem.
It’s possible that all the components inside the air handler and the condenser are working fine—and the problem is actually the thermostat. If your thermostat is improperly calibrated, it might think that your home doesn’t need the fan in operation and won’t turn on. You might need to have the thermostat fixed or perhaps have an up-to-date unit installed in its place.
A non-working fan needs attention right away. Don’t hope that it will fix itself and start spinning the next time you turn on your AC. Regardless of the root problem, Touchstone Heating & Air can get your air conditioning repair needs taken care of in Gainesville, FL. Contact us today to schedule service.
Air Conditioning Repair: Why is My AC Blowing Warm Air?
Monday, July 22nd, 2013When you turn on your air conditioning system, you expect it to start producing cool air immediately. But if it is pumping warm air into your home, it likely means that you need to call for air conditioning repair in Jacksonville, FL. Here at Touchstone Heating & Air, we’ve responded to countless calls for service and we often get asked why our customers’ AC system is blowing warm air. Here is a quick explanation of what might be causing this problem and why you should call for repairs immediately.
- Low refrigerant – Your air conditioning system uses a compressed refrigerant to remove heat from your home and exhaust it outside. If there isn’t enough refrigerant in the system, then your AC won’t be able to remove the heat from your home’s air and it will just get circulated back into your home.
- Broken compressor – Your air conditioning system uses a compressor to compress the refrigerant that it then uses to remove heat from your home’s air. If the compressor is broken, it won’t be able to compress the refrigerant, which means that your AC won’t be able to provide you with any cooling. Instead, the fan will just circulate the warm air from your home back through your ducts and into your house.
- Thermostat issues – An often overlooked component of your air conditioning system is the thermostat. Your thermostats detect the temperature in your home and then activate your AC based on the temperature that they read. If the thermostats aren’t working ell they could be telling your AC that your house is cool enough and to just run the fan. This would cause your air conditioner to just circulate hot air through your home.
No matter what kind of air conditioning repair in Jacksonville, FL you need, just call Touchstone Heating & Air immediately. Your air conditioning system won’t automatically fix the issues that its having and they will likely only get worse. Calling for professional repair early is a great way to nip the problem in the bud before it causes further issues with your home’s AC system.
My Air Filter is Wet: Do I Need Air Conditioning Repair
Tuesday, July 9th, 2013Your air conditioning system has an air filter in it that is there to protect the moving parts from dust and debris. If this air filter isn’t properly maintained it can cause a whole host of issues for your home. A common problem that we get called to repair is a wet air filter. Make sure that you call for professional air conditioning repair in Gainesville, FL whenever you have any issue with your system. Here at Touchstone Heating & Air, we wanted to put together a quick explanation about what could be causing the problem of a wet air filter.
In order to cool the air in your home, your AC system passes the warm, moist air from your home over a series of evaporator coils. Similar to the way condensation forms on the outside of your glass on a hot day, condensation will also form on these evaporator coils. Normally, this condensation will drip down into a collector pan and rain away.
However, if the condensation pan or the drain lines get clogged then water can leak out and cause many problems for your home. One of the things that can happen is for the water to leak out and get absorbed by the air filter in your system. Not only can this cause mold in the air filter, but it will also likely restrict the flow of air through your system.
But this is just one possible explanation of what might be happening. It could also be that your AC system was installed poorly and the condensation from the evaporator coils somehow gets onto the air filter. It might also be that the air filter is installed in the wrong place. Either way, call for professional air conditioning repair in Gainesville, FL today.
How to Avoid a Wet Air Filter
There are a couple of different ways for you to potentially avoid getting a wet air filter in your AC system.
- Get regular maintenance – One of the best ways to avoid air conditioning repair in general is to get your system regularly inspected and maintained by a pro. During regular maintenance visits, your AC technicians will look for any small issues that could be developing. They will fix these things before they cause further damage to your system and to your home.
- Get professional installation – Another great thing to have done if you’re getting a new air conditioner installed is to get it done by a professional. This will allow you to avoid many repairs that result from bad installation work.
If you need air conditioning repair in Gainesville, FL, make sure that you call the friendly experts at Touchstone Heating & Air.
