Walking into your home on a hot summer day can be a bit of a shock if your air conditioner has not yet turned on. And you may become frustrated when your AC system won’t cool your home down fast enough for you to feel comfortable. Don’t accept this as a normal part of your AC system’s operation. If it takes a very long time for your home to cool down, it’s time to get control.
Issues You Can Fix
Sometimes, longer-than-average cooling times have a surprisingly simple fix.
- A dirty air filter – A struggling air conditioning system might just have a dirty filter, blocking air from coming into the unit and taking longer to cool your home. You might just need to replace it (as you should every month).
- Warm ducts – Warm air ducts take longer to cool down, and your home takes longer to cool as a result. A programmable thermostat allows you to schedule the air to turn on 20 minutes before you arrive home, so that it is already cool once you get there.
Problems Requiring Professional Repair
However, many problems require the attention of a professional—ASAP. Otherwise, the problem may spiral out of control, resulting in a potential AC system breakdown when you really need it to work properly.
- Dirty coil – Outside of your air conditioner, refrigerant flows through a coil and heat dissipates into the air around the unit. If the coil is dirty, though, heat has trouble dissipating, which means longer cooling times.
- Low refrigerant – You might have refrigerant leaking out of your system. It should not only be refilled, but also sealed up so it cannot happen again.
- Frozen coil – A frozen coil inside of your air conditioning system does not allow the heat exchange process to occur efficiently. While it seems like your home would cool faster, this usually isn’t the case.
- Compressor and motor problems – Any mechanical or electrical problem should be checked out by a technician soon, before it has a chance to break down.
Robbins Heating & Air Conditioning provides air conditioning services in Colorado Springs, CO. Call our friendly team to learn more!
