On a hot day the sound of something icy cold can be extremely pleasant. While ice cold water or even ice cream is great to help you cool off, an icy evaporator coil in your air conditioner is not.
If you didn’t know this already the collection of ice along your evaporator coil is a sign that you need to schedule air conditioning repairs in Vineland, NJ as soon as possible. But let’s back up and assume you aren’t at the “frozen” stage yet. How do you prevent ice from building up on your evaporator coil? We can give you some tips to help you avoid this chilly issue.
Change that filter!
The filter in the return air duct for your AC system has a very important job. That job is to keep dust and other airborne debris out of the internal components of your system. If too much dirt and debris get into your AC they can cause a lot of problems for the cooling process. However, if your AC filter becomes too coated in that debris, it will end up hindering the airflow into your AC which also causes problems. If it goes on long enough it can actually lead to the buildup of ice on your evaporator coil because there is not enough hot air getting into the system to heat up the coil itself. Changing out your AC filter every one to three months is the best way to avoid this issue.
Keep the evaporator coil clean.
The evaporator coil needs to be as clean as possible to be able to absorb heat. If too much debris gets into your AC system, it may collect along the evaporator coil insert to hinder that heat absorption. If your evaporator coil gets too dirty, the refrigerant inside of it won’t be able to absorb heat almost at all, which will cause it to cool down the air directly around the coil. Combine that with the moisture that is bound to collect within that layer of dust on your evaporator coil and you have the perfect breeding grounds for ice. Make sure to keep your evaporator coil clean by scheduling maintenance with a professional.
Check for refrigerant leaks.
The refrigerant in your AC system is the substance used for heat transfer. This means that refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air in your house and moves it outside which creates the cool air that you were looking for. If your refrigerant line springs a leak though, the loss of refrigerant will make it increasingly hard for your system to pull heat out of the house. The longer the leak goes on the worse things will get. One issue that a refrigerant leak can cause is a frozen evaporator coil! Having regular maintenance is a great way to catch this issue early before it leads to bigger problems such as a frozen coil. If your technician finds a leak, they can repair it and “recharge” your refrigerant before things worsen.
Now that you know how to avoid a frozen evaporator coil you should be much better equipped to know if and when you need help from a professional. Our team is here to provide maintenance repairs and more for your air conditioner to help keep you cool.