While it isn’t abnormal to hear running water inside of your air conditioner or notice drips going into the drain pan, your air conditioner should never actually have a leak. If you do have a leaking AC, there are three common factors that may be to blame.
When you need to schedule air conditioning services in Statesville, our team is here to help. In the meantime, you can keep reading to learn more about AC leaks and why you need to call a professional anytime you notice one.
Clogged Air Filters
If you don’t change your air filters on time each month, dust and dirt will continue to collect. This can clog your air filter and cause blockages to prevent airflow from entering your AC. When this happens, your air conditioner tries to make accommodations by working harder to bring air in.
But with the lack of air, the coils inside your air conditioner begin to freeze. They don’t have air to remove heat from in order to cool your home. This produces ice that will eventually melt and drain out of your air conditioner. While it is normal for water to drip out in small amounts, having your coils freeze and release that much water at a time can be a problem.
Refrigerant Leaks
Water is not the only thing that can leak out of your AC. It’s also possible that you have a refrigerant leak. If you hear a bubbling or hissing sound coming from your AC, a refrigerant leak may be to blame. If the refrigerant leak happens in an area of the line where the refrigerant is in its liquid form, you’ll hear a bubbling sound. If it is in gas form, you may hear a hissing sound.
It’s important to address refrigerant leaks if you suspect that you have one. Refrigerant leaks can be dangerous and they also impact how well your AC works. Letting a refrigerant leak persist can cause more damage to your air conditioner and lead to a more costly repair bill.
Blockages
One of the most common reasons for an AC leak is the drain lines being clogged. When this happens, water flows in any other direction to find a way out, leading to a leak. Blockages can be caused by things like dust and dirt or even mold and fungus growth inside the lines.
Your drain pipes are not very wide and so it’s easy for a fairly small amount of buildup to cause a problem. Plus, once you have even a small clog, the buildup continues to capture any other particles that come down the line, making the problem even worse. This is why it is important to invest in annual AC maintenance.
You can’t completely prevent blockages from happening, but you can stay ahead of them by taking preventative steps. You can also listen and watch for signs that something is wrong and give us a call sooner rather than later. It’s better to have your AC get checked out and learn that everything is OK than to ignore a problem only to create a bigger one.
Thank you for choosing Ace Hardware Home Services. Call us today to schedule an appointment for AC service.