If you’re the owner of an air conditioner, then you might already be aware of the fact that it doesn’t use ice to cool your home. Air conditioners, just like other household appliances, use electricity to run a compressor and cool the air of your home. The moment ice enters this equation, you’re in for a rough time.
In fact, human beings haven’t used ice to cool the space in their homes for a long time. It’s not because it’s aesthetically unappealing (some people love the look of icicles), but it’s because it just doesn’t work very well. Ice only cools objects, liquids, and the immediate space around it. Air conditioners need to cool tons of air throughout your home, which requires a more efficient method.
So, keep reading to learn why spotting ice growing on your air conditioner’s coil is almost always a bad thing that requires AC repairs in Wellington.
Where Does Ice Come From?
If you think back to your high school chemistry class, you probably know that ice forms from two things–water and cold temperatures. As water gets cooled down, it turns from a liquid to a solid until it melts. This is important, because we need to identify where this problem is coming from, and knowing how ice is made is the beginning of this process.
First things first, ice comes from the water in the atmosphere that’s condensing as the temperature drops. Then, due to one of the problems we’re going to talk about below, the temperature might reach critical freezing points where the condensate actually freezes and turns into ice. This is how the ice forms, but we want to remind you that it’s never a good sign.
Here’s Why Ice Is a Bad Sign
First of all, ice is an object. If there’s ice in your system or along your coils, that means there’s less space where air is being cooled. This is the first reason why ice is bad sign, since it’s going to inhibit the ability for your home to actually cool down.
Second, if it’s cold enough to freeze ice inside your air conditioner, then your air conditioner is consuming electricity to cool things down drastically lower than they should be. This means you’re likely going to be spending more on your electricity bill at the end of the month for subpar temperature control in your home and a freezing AC unit.
And thirdly, ice can be caused by a number of different problems that can manifest in additional ways as well.
Refrigerant Leaks, Clogged Air Filters, and More
A refrigerant leak can cause ice to form on your AC because there’s just not enough refrigerant to correctly disperse the heat outdoors. It’s going to continue cycling and malfunctioning, causing all of the cooling to be stuck inside of the system while it struggles to keep running at all.
Clogged air filters can be a cause of this kind of problem as well. Since the air of the AC unit isn’t properly entering or exiting the system, the stagnant air will supercool and become freezing, which can lead to ice forming on the system.
There are additional ways that ice can form on a system, but they all require professional attention.
It’s time to call Seaside Air Services for reliable and affordable AC support.