Welp, you’re in big trouble. It’s hot enough to fry an egg on the concrete outside and your air conditioner isn’t cooling your home very well. In Arizona, this is almost like a death sentence (a very slow and painful one). Most people will jump to conclusions and say, “Well, obviously you need more Freon!” But honestly, there are several reasons why this happens. To make things simple, we’ll give you a few things you can do right now that may fix this problem. If none of them work, you'll need to schedule an air conditioning technician to diagnose your problem. First things first:  Check the thermostat one more time to make sure it’s on the right settings. Obviously, if it’s accidentally set to “heat” your A/C is never going to come on. But also check the fan settings. If you have it set to “on” then the indoor blower will keep blowing air into your home even when it’s not being cooled. This gives the illusion that your air conditioner is low on refrigerant because it’s blowing cold air sometimes and warm air other times.

Set the thermostat to “auto” so your A/C only blows cold air.  If that didn’t work, then... Go to your return vent and check the air filter. Does it look like the one on the right in this picture? If so, change it (it should be changed once a month). A dirty air filter blocks return airflow to your air conditioner. This makes it harder for your air conditioner to circulate the amount of cooled air  needed back into your home. If changing the air filter didn’t work, then... When’s the last time you had the outdoor air conditioning unit cleaned? If the answer is “never”, well you may have found your problem.  We’ve already talked in detail about why you need to clean your outdoor unit at least once a year. To summarize, the outdoor unit needs to be clean and clear of obstructions (grass, bushes, tree branches, fences)  so it can cool down the refrigerant, which is then used to cool your home’s air. You can clean the outdoor unit yourself using a water sprayer and a special A/C coil cleaner.

But doing it properly requires a professional touch. And most professionals will clean it as part of an A/C maintenance visit. (Psst, we have a coupon that takes $40 off an AC tune-up visit) If you’ve cleaned the outside unit, and your A/C STILL isn’t cooling your home well, then you’ll need a professional’s help. They can check for things like low refrigerant, malfunctioning condenser fan, malfunctioning compressor, and so forth. If your air conditioner needs repairing, we have a coupon for $50 off A/C repairs. George Brazil has been keeping Phoenix-area homes safe, comfortable and energy efficient since 1955.Copyright © 1997 Hannabery HVAC. These are probably the most common Summer-Time HVAC-related complaints! But first things first, please check all of the obvious things (listed below), before scheduling a service-call. Is the thermostat set to "cool" and turned down below room temperature? Is the Power on to the indoor unit? Did you check the breaker?

Is the Power on to the outdoor unit? how to use a/c recovery unit If yes to these, is the outdoor unit running?air filters for home ac If no, see if the outdoor unit has a red reset button (most Rheem equipment does, located near refrigerant lines), and push it.central air conditioner prices for mobile homes If that didn't work, see if you have a condensate pump at the indoor unit. If you do, some pumps have a safety switch that shuts off the outdoor unit if the pump overfills and fails to pump. So check the pump to see if it is working. If that wasn't the problem, back outside at the unit there should be a disconnect box mounted on the wall. These come in many styles. Some have an on-off switch, some have a pull-out plug.

Some have a circuit breaker and some even have fuses. If it has a breaker, make sure it didn't trip. If it has fuses, they should be checked. Caution: High Voltage, danger of electrocution. Please do not attempt this unless you are familiar with working with electricity. For more possible causes as to why your outdoor unit isn't running, please see: If you have checked all of these things, and your unit still isn't running, then you should schedule a service-call. If your outdoor and indoor units are BOTH RUNNING, BUT NOT COOLING, make sure that all windows and doors are closed, your supply and return vents are open - not blocked, and that your air filter is clean. If no problems there, then you should probably turn the air conditioning off and schedule a service-call.The bottom four causes in blue are commonly found problems and can be addressed, even fixed by the homeowner. Refrigerant flow-related problem - restriction Poor efficiency- needs cleaning and servicing

Duct leak in unconditioned space Outdoor coils damaged or very dirty [Must be in our service area]Is your home’s central air conditioner not cooling your house? Perhaps it’s blowing luke warm or hot air. There are a variety of things that could cause your AC to not cool your home properly. But for your convenience, we’ll categorize the problems into ones YOU can solve and ones only a professional air conditioning repair technician can solve. Does your AC blow out cool air sometimes and lukewarm air other times? Then the fan setting may be set to “ON” which just runs the fan 24/7—even when the air isn’t being cooled. Solution: Set the thermostat to AUTO. A dirty air filter reduces airflow into your AC, causing several problems: Solution: Check the air filter and change it if it looks like the filter on the right Here’s how your AC cools your house: the air conditioner’s inside unit (called an evaporator) absorbs heat from your air and then transfers that heat to the outside unit (called the condenser).

But the condenser can’t dissipate heat if it’s dirty or crowded with debris. This causes your air conditioner to struggle to cool your home. This condenser could use some cleaning. Solution: Spray the outside unit with a garden hose on a gentle setting. DON’T blast it on a high setting or you’ll bend the fins that allow airflow to cool the condenser off. Also, remove any weeds growing around the AC unit. Give it some breathing room! Here are just a few problems that a professional air conditioning contractor may need to fix: If the fan motor is bad, then the outdoor unit’s fan can’t help dissipate heat, meaning that the AC can’t cool your house. Refrigerant is the liquid that absorbs the heat from your air. When you don’t have enough, your AC can’t absorb enough heat to cool the air. A low refrigerant level means one thing: you have a refrigerant leak. Signs you have a refrigerant leak include: If you see these signs, turn off your AC and call a professional ASAP.