Why Is My Air Conditioner Blowing Hot Air?
If you live in a hot and humid climate like Forney, TX, your air conditioner can be a necessity that’s right up there with food and water. No one wants to even go one day without a way to stay nice and cool. That’s why it can be more than just a little irritating when you try to turn on your AC on a 95℉ day, and only hot air blows out.
There could be a few reasons for the unwelcome change in temperature. It can be anything from something wrong with the settings of your unit to something that needs to be repaired. But before we get to those reasons, it might be helpful to know a little more about how your air conditioner works.
How Does Your AC Make Cold Air?
For your AC to cool off the air in your home, it has to go through the process of taking hot air from inside your home, and putting it outside where it can’t bother you. Your air conditioner will have refrigerant that runs through the whole system. There is a coil in your house called the evaporator coil, and one in the outdoor unit called a condenser coil. The refrigerant cycles through these coils.
When the coolant is in the evaporator coil, it’s colder than the surrounding air. It absorbs the heat that’s in the room and then heads to the compressor. The compressor takes the coolant and pressurizes it so that it’s hotter than the air outside. It goes through the condenser coil where the heat is transferred to the outside air. Then the cooled-off refrigerant heads back inside where a fan blows across the cold evaporator coils, putting the chilly air into your home. When any part of this process doesn’t work, you could end up with an air conditioner blowing hot air. Remember that since the job of your outdoor unit is to get rid of heat, an AC unit blowing hot air outside is working fine as long as the air inside is cool.
Reasons For Your Air Conditioner Blowing Hot Air
So why is your air conditioner blowing hot air? The problem could be coming from several different places. You can troubleshoot some of them on your own, or you could have a technician from Premier HVAC Services come and troubleshoot your air conditioner.
Thermostat Problems
The first thing that you may know how to fix on your own is your thermostat. If your AC is blowing warm air, you might have accidentally bumped it and switched it over to a “heat” or “fan” setting. Check to make sure it’s still set to “cool.” If your AC is blowing hot air on cool, you have a different problem on your hands.
Clogged Air Filters
If your thermostat is set correctly but it’s still blowing hot air, the next thing you can check is your filters. When a filter is dirty, your AC won’t be able to move the cold air properly and you might end up with low or warm airflow.
Electrical Problems
Sometimes electrical problems like a tripped breaker can cause your outdoor unit to stop working. When half of your system has stopped, your indoor unit will start blowing hot air instead of cold. You can check to make sure nothing is tripped on your electrical panel before calling for repairs.
Low Coolant/Refrigerant Levels
One of the more serious problems is low refrigerant levels. If there isn’t enough coolant in the system, it won’t be able to absorb heat from your home. Refrigerant levels never decrease over time unless there is a leak, so low levels can be a more urgent concern.
Dirty Evaporator Coils
If the evaporator coils in your AC are covered in dirt or minerals, they won’t be able to absorb the heat that’s in the air very well. If your air conditioner is blowing hot air, it could just mean that you need some maintenance to get the coils cleaned off.
Air Conditioner Blowing Hot Air? Call a Technician!
Whether it’s your central AC or a window air conditioner that’s blowing hot air, since the process works the same with both, the same problems could be behind the breakdown. At Premier HVAC Services, it’s our job to find the problem and fix it. When your air conditioner is blowing hot air and you can’t fix the problem by resetting your thermostat or changing a filter, then it may be time to call a technician! Your AC will be blowing out cold air again in no time.