If your air conditioner freezes or you notice it starting to ice up, the first thing you need to do is shut the unit off immediately. Allowing your air conditioner to continue running while it is frozen can cause serious, sometimes irreparable, damage to your unit. If your AC does freeze up, you’ll most likely notice even if there are no visual indicators because there will be very minimal airflow coming through your registers. Not to worry, there are a few reasons air conditioners freeze up and most of them can be avoided or repaired if caught early enough.

Low Refrigerant
Low refrigerant levels can cause your evaporator coil to get too cold, which can cause your air conditioner to freeze up. Low refrigerant levels are usually caused by a leak in the line or occasionally they are the result of the refrigerant being charged incorrectly during installation. If you suspect there is a refrigerant leak or that your unit was improperly charged, be sure to call an HVAC professional to inspect your unit. Homeowners should never attempt DIY refrigerant-based repairs, as the chemicals can be dangerous to your health if improperly handled.

Airflow
If the coils in your unit aren’t receiving a sufficient flow of warm and humid air it can cause your air conditioner to freeze. There are a few steps you can take to make sure your unit is receiving adequate airflow.

• Check that your furnace filters are clean and have been changed recently.
• Make sure no more than a quarter of your supply registers are closed.
• Have a technician confirm that the fan speed is adequate enough to supply the evaporator coil with the right amount of air at the correct rate.

Drainage
Your AC unit takes the warm, humid air from your home and removes the heat as well as moisture before sending it back through the supply registers. As water is removed from the air, it drips into the pan at the bottom of the AC unit and out the drain. If the drain is clogged with debris, the pooling water can freeze all the way back to the evaporator coil, which can cause the drain to become further clogged with ice and the problem begins to cascade. The best way to avoid this is to clear the drain once a week during the summer. If you can see water dripping into the pan and flowing out the drain, it’s good to go.

If your air conditioner freezes or you’re worried your unit isn’t functioning properly, contact the experts at Fahrhall to schedule a service appointment.

Fahrhall has been proudly serving the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent regions since 1967. We are committed to providing our customers and our community with reliable service and quality equipment.

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