The modern air conditioning system is a complex piece of refrigeration equipment. Actually, electromechanical air conditioning has always been complex: newer systems have added on more computerized parts and taken away refrigerants that are toxic or explosive, so although you aren’t likely to cause an explosion by tinkering with an air conditioner on your own, you’re likely to make whatever is wrong with it much worse. You want only licensed and trained HVAC professionals to handle any air conditioning repair in Newberry, FL.
However, there are a few basic tasks you can do yourself
These aren’t actually repairs. They’re more like troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. When you run into an air conditioning problem such as poor cooling or a system that won’t turn on, there are a few simple checks to make before you call for the professionals.
- Look for a tripped circuit breaker: If the air conditioning system’s fans or compressor aren’t coming on at all, go to the electrical panel and see if there is a tripped breaker. During hot stretches when the AC puts in a lot of work, an overheated system may cause a breaker to trip. Reset the breaker and see if the air conditioner works. If the problem with the tripped breaker persists, call for professionals, since there’s an electrical malfunction somewhere in the AC.
- Examine the thermostat: This seems obvious, but ask any HVAC professional and they can tell you stories about finding a mistakenly set thermostat as the reason a house wouldn’t cool off. Someone else in the house may have adjusted the programming or you may have put in an old program and forgot to change it. If the AC appears to be non-responsive to the thermostat, you’ll need a technician to look at it.
- Put in a clean air filter: The air filter on the HVAC cabinet is a part people often forget about. The filter prevents dust and debris from getting inside the AC and causing damage, but it doesn’t clean itself. After one to three months, the filter will clog to the point that it can cause the AC to lose cooling power, experience a drop in air flow, or overheat. If you haven’t changed the filter in months, put a new one in to see if that fixes things.
- Clean the outdoor condenser: An air conditioner that’s struggling with cooling down a home may have a dirt-coated condenser cabinet making it harder for it to release heat. Wash off the cabinet with a hose (please don’t put high-pressure blasts into the cabinet, however) and remove as much mulch, leaves, rocks, and branches from the immediate area of the condenser as possible.
- Unblock vents: Vent covers in rooms should never be closed off or blocked. (No, you can’t save energy by shutting the vent; you may end up damaging the AC.) If you have hot spots in the house, make sure all vents are open and no furniture is blocking them.
You’ve gone down the list—and you still have a grumpy, uncooperative air conditioner. That’s where we come in! It takes a trained technician to solve problems that involve internal components of the AC. You can count on our experienced HVAC repair experts to get your cooling system back to work.
Schedule your repairs today with Touchstone Heating & Air Inc.