There is nothing like coming home to a cool and comfortable living space after being out in the heat of summer here in Texas. That heat can get pretty extreme at times, and our “summers” tend to extend well beyond the official dates of that season. You need a great air conditioner in Houston, TX if you are serious about making it through the season unscathed.
With this in mind, we want to remind you that there is no problem “minor” enough with your air conditioner to ignore. Even those problems that you think are relatively minor issues can lead to much more serious ones if you don’t take care of them in a prompt manner. A refrigerant leak, by any measure, is one of the more troubling problems that you may encounter with your system.
What Refrigerant Does
It is no exaggeration to say that your air conditioner would truly be useless were it not for the refrigerant in the system. Why is that? Because it is the evaporating and condensing of refrigerant, a heat transfer fluid that easily changes its physical state, that allows for cooling to begin with!
Your air conditioner doesn’t generate “coolness” the way that a heater generates heat. That cool feeling you get from the air coming from the vents is really the absence of heat. Refrigerant draws heat out of the air as it evaporates in the evaporator coil. It travels outside to be condensed and to disperse heat, while the cooled air is recirculated throughout the house. The process is repeated over and over until temperatures reach the desired level in the house.
Spotting Refrigerant Leaks
As you can imagine, since the cooling process hinges on the refrigerant in your system, a low refrigerant charge will affect your comfort, your system, and its overall performance in a number of ways. You may notice that the air simply isn’t as cool as it should be. You’ll probably see a spike in cooling costs, as your system runs longer and longer. Eventually, your evaporator coil and the refrigerant lines themselves may ice up, and the system may also start to short cycle if it overheats due to added strain.
Remember that your AC doesn’t consume refrigerant, but recycles it over and over. A low charge means that there is a leak, and our technicians will find it, fix it, and recharge the system to the right level.
Schedule your AC repairs with Milton Frank Plumbing & Cooling.