All AC problems are worrisome, but some are downright dangerous. A refrigerant leak is one of those AC problems that you absolutely cannot put off addressing. If you suspect that you have a refrigerant leak, call our team to schedule AC repair in Charlottesville, VA.
You can also keep reading to learn more about the dangers of a refrigerant leak, and how to identify the early signs so you can get the problem fixed before it causes any damage to your home. Leaving a refrigerant leak without addressing it can cause additional damage to your air conditioner as well as surrounding areas of your home.
Lack of Cooling
When your air conditioner has a refrigerant leak, there isn’t enough of the chemical available to provide adequate cooling for your home. The remaining refrigerant continues to cycle through the lines and works to cool air for your home. However, the air blowing through your vents may not feel as cool as it usually does. When you hold your hand up to a vent in your home, the air should feel very specifically cold.
This is because in order to lower the temperature of your home, the cold air has to mix with the existing warmer air inside of your home to lower the temperature. Air that is only cool or lukewarm will never offer the results you expect. This is harmful to your air conditioner because the system will begin running for longer periods of time or run more frequently in an effort to cool your home down without ever being able to achieve the results.
Hissing or Bubbling
A refrigerant leak can also make sounds, although they may not be very loud. You have to listen closely and pay attention to be able to identify a refrigerant leak by sound. Refrigerant alternates between being a liquid and a gas in the lines, depending on its location during a cooling cycle.
If there is a leak in the line where the refrigerant is in its gas form, you will hear a hissing sound as the gas under high pressure escapes. If there is a leak in the line where the refrigerant is in its liquid form, you may hear a bubbling sound instead.
Frozen Coils
Refrigerant leaks can also contribute to ice developing on your AC’s evaporator coils. There are other factors that can also contribute to frozen coils, so if you give our team a call about this problem, we will troubleshoot a variety of different factors. However, refrigerant leaks are one of the top reasons that we see frozen coils.
When refrigerant leaks out, it can increase the humidity around the coils. As a result, when a cooling cycle, happens this humidity can condense down into ice on top of the coils. This process repeats again and again until the coils are covered with a thick layer of ice that prevents adequate cooling.
We can’t control the weather outside of your home, but we can control the weather inside your home. The team at Mack Morris Heating & A/C is here to help with AC repairs, so schedule your appointment today.