Is your AC not blowing cold air into your Florida home?
With Florida's hot and muggy temperatures, having a broken AC is a serious problem. If you feel warm air coming from your vents, you’re probably wondering what the issue is. Understandably, you’ll want a solution to return your home to a more comfortable and cool temperature ASAP!
The most common issues that could cause an AC to blow warm air are:
Let’s look at each of these issues to help you determine the cause of the problem and find a solution.
At Red Cap Plumbing & Air, our family looks out for your family. We provide quick, hassle-free AC repair services. Call us or schedule service online today!
Higher energy bills could mean that your AC has a refrigerant leak.
If your AC is low on refrigerant, it will have a hard time cooling your home.
Refrigerant is a liquid substance that absorbs the heat from the air inside your home. If your AC is low on refrigerant, it won’t be able to absorb as much heat from the air and will recycle warm air back into your house.
Other common signs of a refrigerant leak include:
Solution: Refrigerant cycles through your AC system in a closed loop, so there's a leak somewhere if it’s suddenly low on refrigerant. An HVAC technician will need to inspect your AC unit to find and repair the leak. They should also test the repaired system and then charge it with the correct amount of refrigerant.
A dirty outdoor condenser unit.
Your air conditioner has two components: the indoor air handler, and the outdoor condenser unit. The outside unit’s job is to disperse heat gathered from your home’s warm air and release it outside.
But if your outside unit is clogged from debris then it could decrease your AC’s performance which could cause warm air to blow into your home.
Solution: Clear your outside unit of debris. To do so, follow these steps:
A dirty air filter prevents your AC’s evaporator coils from doing their job.
The evaporator coil inside your indoor AC unit contains the refrigerant that absorbs heat from the air blowing over the coil. If the evaporator coil gets too dirty, the refrigerant inside it can’t absorb enough heat, so the AC won’t be able to cool your home like normal. The air coming out of your vents will feel warmer.
Usually, excessive dirt buildup on the evaporator coil is due to a lack of maintenance or running the AC with a dirty filter. While you can easily replace the air filter yourself, the evaporator coils should be left to a professional to carefully clean with the proper tools. This AC component is fragile and vital for a functioning system.
Solution: The best way to take care of a dirty evaporator coil is to hire a professional HVAC company for a system check. The technician will have the right tools and experience to properly clean the evaporator coil and the rest of your AC. An AC system check visit also includes other preventative services, including:
The AC compressor is located in the outdoor unit.
The compressor is a pump that pressurizes the refrigerant in your AC system. If it’s malfunctioning or failing, your AC system won’t be able to cool your home well. As your AC ages, the compressor does too, and it may not perform as well as it used to. When it starts malfunctioning, it could also cause unnecessary wear and tear on other AC components, leading to system performance issues.
Solution: If your AC’s compressor is malfunctioning or failing, an HVAC technician will need to inspect it for a repair or replacement. Unfortunately, the compressor is a costly part to replace, so you might want to consider replacing your entire AC unit. A reliable HVAC professional can provide honest recommendations based on your budget and the system's current condition.
If your outside unit isn’t receiving electrical power, then it could cause your system to blow warm air instead of cold air.
Solution: Check for loss of power. There are 2 places an outside unit can lose power:
If your AC is blowing warm air, double-check your thermostat settings.
It sounds minor, but a small user error could cause the warm air coming from your vents. You may have accidentally set your thermostat to the wrong setting.
If this is the cause, you’re in luck because there’s an easy solution!
Solution: Head to your thermostat and check that the settings are on COOL instead of HEAT. Also, make sure it’s on AUTO mode instead of ON.
Here’s why:
Ducts in an attic space.
Your ducts are located in hot, unconditioned spaces like attics, walls, and basements. If your ducts are leaky or disconnected, then warm air from those hot spaces will enter into your home.
Duct leaks are very common. In fact, according to ENERGY STAR®, a typical house loses 20–30% of the air that moves through the duct system to leaks or disconnected ducts.
You’ll need a professional to inspect your ductwork and fix any leaks since they’re located in hard-to-reach places and require special skills to fix.
Contact Red Cap Air’s highly-trained technicians if your AC is not blowing cold air.
Our Red Cap family is committed to keeping you cool and comfortable in the heat of Florida’s summers. If you need help figuring out what’s wrong with your AC, we’ll send over one of our trusted professionals to provide AC repair services and quickly fix the issue. Call us or schedule service online today!